As spring continues to warm up into summer down here in North Carolina we are so grateful to be seeing all of your smiling faces over the first half of our Shakori Hills GrassRoots Live! concert series!

“And I don’t get anxious about my pancreas. To be honest, I’m not even sure what that thing does. I’m just so grateful that it’s in me.” Working at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) this line immediately stuck out. I was streaming Ryan Montbleau’s new record but was distracted making a cup of tea. Hearing my non-profit’s namesake as the kettle began to spit and shout, I realized I had to dive further into “Ankles,” or my work would never forgive me.

Chad Hollister, Ryan Montbleau, members of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and more will take part in VT Sounds, A Bash to Bring Back Vermont Music, a streaming concert to keep music alive in Vermont. All proceeds will go to the New England Musicians Relief Fund (NEMRF), an organization that provides grants to working musicians facing financial difficulties. VT Sounds will be broadcast from ZenBarn on Friday, January 22 at 8:00 PM EST. Anyone can watch the show on the Facebook and Youtube pages of Zenbarn and the NEMRF.

It was great to learn that The Trey Anastasio Trio, as listed on the schedule, was actually playing as a quartet, given that Ray Paczkowski had just returned to his keyboard the night before, after recovering from a health issue. That may have been Trey’s first real interaction with the crowd, there before the encore, where he played two solo songs with his acoustic, including a lovely “Waste,” before bringing his bandmates back for a third together. I did love how he phrased it, the news about Ray being better, genuinely thrilled to share “some good news in what seems like a world of bad news.”

Ryan Montbleau’s latest album, I Was Just Leaving, is a stripped-down journey into the nature of loneliness. Directly off the heels of the astronomical success of his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” which has clocked in over 15 million plays on Spotify as of the writing of this review, I Was Just Leaving operates in the same vein of profound simplicity. This solo offering marks a departure from some of Montbleau’s funkier work, providing listeners with a clear lens through which to experience his inspired songwriting.