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Caleb Kenna Nick Grandchamp
Remember the phone booth? That big glass thing Superman was always naked in? (P.S. Where do they do stripping in supermarkets these days? Is it just swinging in restroom restrooms? Or fitting rooms at department stores?) Gen Z has probably never seen it. But Rutland's Nick Grandchamp is trying to solve that problem.
Now we have cell phones and everyone hates talking on the phone anyway, so why does Grandchamp, a veteran of Vermont's punk scene, install a phone booth in Rutland's Mountain Music record store?
“I want everyone to remember a time when our phones didn't have screens,” Grandchamp told me over the phone — not on Zoom (phew!). “I hate fiddling with my phone, but I love old things and I love nostalgia. I think telephone booths are a great thing, and they're something that a lot of young people have never really experienced. I think it's part of history.”
Before you ask, no, you can't actually call anyone from a phone booth. That's meaningless in modern American society. Instead, with a lot of help from his friends, Grandchamp turned the phone booth into a jukebox of sorts.
After purchasing the booth online last fall and drilling open the locked door using an industrial-grade drill press, Grandchamp installed a Raspberry Pi computer and linked it to the original phone's dial pad. He then loaded more than 100 sound clips onto his phone, ranging from music by Iggy Pop and the MC5 to films such as Empire Records, field recordings of environmental sounds, motivational speeches, and jokes for children. did.
“Each clip has its own number that you can dial,” Grandchamp explained. There is also a telephone directory inside the booth.
On Monday, the booth made its debut at a Rutland record store, sitting next to another of Grandchamp's works, the Mystery Art Machine, an old sticker machine filled with works by local artists.
The phone box is free to use, but quarter slots are also available if you'd like to make a donation to Grandchamp's next project. He didn't offer any hints, but I'd take a rough guess and say he's going to outfit his old Atari with an industrial weed grinder. Or turn your fax machine into a karaoke machine? Those ideas are free, Nick.
After 29 years, Ripton Community Coffee House's music series is coming to a close with its final show.
“Richard Ruane and I have been involved with the concert series since its inception,” Andrea Chesman wrote in an email. “But the volunteer population is getting smaller and older, and it's time to stop.”
For the past 30 years, this nonprofit series has featured nearly 900 performers at the historic Ripton Community House on Route 125, serving as the area's premier source for live music. The series will conclude this Saturday, May 18, with a performance by New England folk duo Green Heron, but the final performance will take place in May 2025 to even out the 30 years, Chessman said. There is also a story.
WGDR, a former Goddard College radio station turned community radio station, has been broadcasting from Plainfield since 1973 and celebrates the Big 5 O's and the Big 5 1's. The station will host a weekend of 51st anniversary programming from Friday through Sunday, May 17-19, on two stations on the network, WGDR 91.1 FM and WGDH 91.7 FM from Hardwick. The lineup includes live in-studio performances, interviews with past and present show hosts, fundraisers, and more.
The “51st Party at the Pratt” is scheduled for Saturday, May 18th at Plainfield Station. It's an open house featuring food, live music from a bluegrass band, the Glassers, and a tour of the station, where area residents can see how (radio) sausages are made.
“We are very excited to celebrate this great milestone for WGDR,” said Station Manager Lou Mulvaney Stanak. “So many Vermonters have a connection to this station, whether as listeners or programmers. We believe in putting community at the center of everything we do on the air and in the day-to-day operations of the station. And this station has flourished.”
For more information about the party, visit centralvermontcommunityradio.org. Happy birthday, WGDR!
Eye on the Scene Photographer Luke Autry's live music highlights from last week Click to enlarge 
Luke Autry Satildag at the Palace in Burlington
Satildag at the Palace in Burlington, May 11: At an undisclosed location in town, a former social club is occasionally restored to its former glory for an evening of music and society. Unlike many apartments in Burlington, this property retains an old charm worthy of its palace nickname. The whimsical décor and glittering drapes create a feeling of being in another world of Burlington rather than somewhere else. I arrived late as bassist Mowgli Giannitti's Saturdag was launching their “Alchemy Art Rock” project. I've seen the 10-piece band with a strong horn section before, but Saturday's band included Giannitti, saxophonist Avery Cooper, trombonist Eileen Choi, guitarist Mark Edwards, It consisted solely of drummer Jack McChesney. The quintet's musicality seemed to know no boundaries, jumping between genres, rhythms, and tempos with abandon, but the groove was always present and danceable throughout. Giannitti's work is different from anything I've heard before, so maybe I was able to get a glimpse of another dimension. I hope it's a venue where you can actually dance.
Listen to the Vermont Jam playlist on Spotify
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