Peach Fest alum Twiddle and Gatos Blancos return to Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on April 19
From a press release:
Regulars of both the Peach Music Festival and Camp Bisco in Scranton, jam band Twiddle will return to the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on Friday, April 19 at 9 p.m. with fellow Peach Fest alum Gatos Blancos.
Gatos Blancos, who made their hometown area debut at the River Street Jazz Cafe in Plains in early 2017 and opened for Twiddle at their last Sherman show, features members of popular Scranton/Wilkes-Barre jamgrass band Cabinet (who reunited for their only 2018 show at Peach Fest), local groove rockers Starbird, and the bands of folk rock singer/songwriter Ryan Montbleau, psychedelic Americana singer/songwriter Brad Parsons, and founding Phish bassist Mike Gordon. Currently based in Vermont, the lineup includes Pappy Biondo (banjo/vocals), Justin Mazer (guitar/vocals), Dylan Skursky (bass), Al Smith (keyboards), and John Kimock (drums).
Tickets, which are $22 in advance or $25 the day of the show, go on sale this Friday, Jan. 25 and will be available through the Sherman Theater box office (524 Main St., Stroudsburg) and online at shermantheater.com and Ticketfly. VIP boxes and sky boxes are available for this show and include eight tickets (VIP box) or 12 tickets (sky box) and waitstaff. To purchase box seats, call the theater at 570-420-2808.
With over 12 years of relentless touring behind them, Vermont-based rock band Twiddle has built an impressive resume spanning Red Rocks to Bonnaroo, and with multiple sellouts of historic rock venues, including Port Chester, New York’s Capitol Theatre, and Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club. And with the second half of the band’s third studio album, “Plump,” out in 2017, the band’s career continues to catapult forward. Buoyed by the generous support of 359 Kickstarter donors, the 27-song album does more than showcase the group’s beautiful music, but also tells an important story, comprised in “Plump: Chapters 1 & 2.”
Recorded during a two-year span with legendary producer Ron St. Germain, “Plump” serves as a reflection of four brothers’ triumphs and struggles, both individual and as a whole. On “Chapter 1,” songs like “Lost in the Cold” and “Every Soul” detail what it’s like to hit rock bottom and how to rise back up.
“So many fans have shared how these songs carried them through very difficult times, and that alone makes this all worth it,” said Brook Jordan, Twiddle’s percussionist and vocalist.
Comparatively, “Chapter 2” contains genre-bending instrumentals, as well as mystifying epics like “Nicodemus Portulay” and “Orlando’s.” More than 10 years later, these songs mirror the earliest Twiddle arrangements of 2004-2005 when Mihali Savoulidis and Ryan Dempsey were collaborating in their freshmen dorms at Castleton State College. The completion of “Plump” is timely, coming at a moment when the band’s fervent fan base is at an all-time high and expanding rapidly.
2007 manifested Twiddle’s debut release, “The Natural Evolution of Consciousness.” This breakout album showcased the band’s eclectic inspirations, imaginative lyrical abilities, and superb instrumentation. Twiddle’s sophomore production, “Somewhere on the Mountain” (2011), delves into the human spirit, speaking to our ambition, grief, and love. “Live at Nectar’s” (2014) is a double-disc live album recorded in August of 2013 at Nectar’s in Burlington, Vermont. “Live at Nectar’s” truly captures Twiddle in its element – the live experience. (The band also released a live recording from the 2015 Peach Music Festival.)
In the live setting, more and more people are invigorated by Twiddle’s community, promoting positivity and the band’s skillful improvisational music. So many like-minded people believe in the greater good, and they find that good in Twiddle. In 2018, the band was featured on sports talk program “The Dan Patrick Show.”
Twiddle is comprised of Zdenek Gubb on bass and vocals, Ryan Dempsey on keyboards and vocals, Mihali Savoulidis on guitar and lead vocals, and Brook Jordan on percussion and vocals.
See NEPA Scene’s photos of Gatos Blancos at the seventh annual Peach Music Festival here, their 2018 River Street Jazz Cafe show here, and their first show at the Jazz here.
Listen to guitarist Justin Mazer talk about Gatos Blancos, traveling the country as a touring musician, the Jazz Cafe’s importance to the local music scene, and more in Episode 40 of the NEPA Scene Podcast:
