My Music Hall, My Community
Some of the local and regional acts that we’ve seen come through the Loft this summer have been truly incredible: Patrick Dorow; Ruby Rose Fox; Ben Baldwin and the Big Note; Rene Marie; Tom Brosseau; and Sojoy – Beauty Pill is playing tomorrow night Saturday, October 10. They bring back fond memories of the Elvis Room. Coming up on November 6, Guy Capecelatro III returns to the Loft with Tiger Saw. On a side note: Ruby Rose Fox was making some headlines this week in the Boston Herald, and we can’t wait to have her back!
It is great when we see acts that have played the Loft come back in support of artists at the Historic Theater. Buffalo Tom was the inaugural show the Loft back in April 2011. They came back this spring for a double-bill with The Juliana Hatfield Three on the stage headlining as part of our Portsmouth Singer Songwriter Festival. Just last month, I was thrilled to catch up with Mike + Ruthy just before they went out to open for Ani DiFranco. I had seen them play the Loft twice in the last couple of years, and they were so excited to be performing in the “big room” before Ani.
Melissa Ferrick, who did a phenomenal songwriting Master Class with Portsmouth Music and Arts Center (PMAC) students before her Loft appearance back in 2012, returned to open for Joan Armatrading in September. It is so wonderful to see these artists pass on their expertise and wisdom to the next generation, and I am honored we can act as the facilitators for that mentoring process. She was over-the-moon to meet Ms. Armatrading, one of her idols, and the PMAC students benefitted greatly from Ferrick’s years of experience teaching at Berklee Academy of Music, playing, touring, and writing.
Ensuring that The Music Hall is deeply involved in the Seacoast community is a priority for me. One of the most stunning examples of how we act as a community hub is pictured above. We gathered over five tons of food this summer to feed hungry kids and families when we partnered with Seacoast Family Food Pantry to Fill the Hall. We host the Main Event for PARMA Music Festival, we are the home for the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra, and the The Oyster River Middle School Band Silent Film Night. Both our theaters and venues all over town are filled every October for the New Hampshire Film Festival. We work with over 60 area nonprofits to help them further their missions.They host their fundraisers with us, their staff participates as experts on panels, or like with one of my favorite undertakings, we present an annual fundraiser for the Portsmouth Halloween Parade, this year screening the original silent film, Phantom of the Opera, with the fantastic Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys performing a live, original score on October 28. Full disclosure, I’ve been named the Portsmouth Halloween Parade’s Grand Marshal – a huge honor for me. And as a commitment to showcasing the local digital creatives, I’ve had the pleasure of curating Digital Portsmouth (with some help from Joshua Cyr at Alpha Loft) for the past four years. The next event in that series is The Art of Social Media coming up on October 21.
We as an organization are committed to Portsmouth thriving as a vibrant, arts-rich city, and I am so fortunate to play a role.