BRATTLEBORO — LATCHfest, a two-day showcase of local music, performers, and video art, returns to the Latchis Theatre on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 1 and 2.
A homegrown music and arts festival, LATCHfest promotes and celebrates Brattleboro's sonic scene with 10 local bands offering an array of sounds and styles.
Music on Friday, Sept. 1, runs from 8 to 11 p.m., in the Latchis Underground (enter on Flat Street). The festival continues Saturday, Sept. 2, in the Latchis Main Theatre from 4:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Festival tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door or in advance at app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=larts.
The festival opens on Friday, Sept. 1, at 8 p.m., with the local duo MV EE, featuring Matt Valentine and Erika Elder in music that fuses Indian ragas, Appalachian folk, and post-psychedelic electronic experimentation. Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth said “MV and EE take their homespun hypnotics and cosmic country sounds to new levels.”
Music on Friday continues with the blues, gospel, and R&B of Blood & Sunflower and concludes with 11:11.
Saturday's lineup opens with Inside Outsider, featuring the music of Peet Wilson, a Latchis staff member and the driving force behind LATCHfest. Wilson first conceived of a Latchis-based gathering of the local musical tribe and put together the first LATCHfest in October 2015.
Headliners on Saturday night are Impulse Ensemble, featuring Derrik Jordan, Tony Vacca, and Jim Matus performing “a red-hot, way-cool fusion of World Music, jazz and spoken word.”
Saturday's lineup continues with The Coprolites, then the original rock of Belle Machine, followed by the indie folk duo The Big Empty. The fun continues with pop and jam rock fusion of Elliot Street Alibi, then Deep Seize, concluding with Impulse Ensemble.
With the support of a team of volunteers and funding from the Vermont Community Foundation, LATCHfest organizers hope it can be an annual happening.
According to a news release, “the common thread that ties all this music together is that there is no common thread - other than the love of music. The diversity of styles, sounds, and creative ideas showcase a local music scene that is eclectic, inventive, energetic, and very active.”
LATCHfest is one ingredient in an energetic and active weekend in and around the Latchis Memorial Building, 50 Main St. Friday night's music coincides with Gallery Walk, and on Sunday, the second annual Tiny House Festival returns to Flat Street.
“Our neighborhood is going to be the epicenter of a pretty amazing weekend of events,” Latchis Arts Executive Director Jon Potter said in the news release. “Come on down to LATCHfest and check out some of the music that's happening right now in our creative town.”