Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present roots, old time and Americana quintet The Mammals (featuring Mike + Ruthy), plus folk/rock singer/songwriter Brian Dunne, at Next Stage on Saturday, October 28 at 7:30 pm.
Woodstock, NY-based Ruth Ungar and Mike Merenda founded The Mammals with Tao Rodriguez-Seeger (grandson of the legendary folk singer Pete Seeger) in 2000, and after touring the world for the next seven years with the likes of Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger, emerged as one of acoustic America’s most revered musical duos – Mike + Ruthy. The daughter of fiddle legend Jay Ungar and country singer Lyn Hardy, Ruthy is an earthy country-blues singer with the unmistakable stage presence of a natural-born performer. Mike is an artfully prolific songwriter with an indie rock soul and feather-touch vocals.
This year, Mike and Ruth have brought back the original band name that energized crowd in the 2000’s and gave them their start. This time around, The Mammals’ goals remain two-fold: raise positive social awareness and have a good party. This stringband of subversive acoustic traditionalists was always known for its rabble-rousing musical statements which sometimes caused a stir with politically divided audiences. With former Mammal members including Jacob Silver and Ken Maiuri, the 2017 lineup features the signature mix of Americana hoedowns, sassy blues, Motown soul, old-timey harmonies, rock-n-roll energy and inspired, political songwriting.
“A string band at the core, The Mammals augment their sound with drums and electric guitar to create a collectively harmonized howl as thrilling and rocking as any band currently subverting folk traditions” – No Depression
New York City-based, folk rock singer/songwriter and guitarist Brian Dunne is quickly gaining attention and praise across the US for his sharp lyrical prowess and country-influenced vocals. His second album “Bug Fixes & Performance Improvements” was released in May, 2017, debuting at #10 on the iTunes Songwriter charts and earning Brian performances on NPR’s Mountain Stage, 2017’s Cayamo Cruise and the Philadelphia Folk Festival.
Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, VT. Tickets are $18 Advance / $22 At the Door. For information, call 802-387-0102. Advance tickets are available at www.nextstagearts.org, Turn It Up in Brattleboro and Putney Food Co-Op in Putney. For more information, visit www.themammals.love, www.briandunnemusic.net, www.twilightmusic.org and www.nextstagearts.org.