BELLOWS FALLS — Popolo, the community restaurant and promoter of shows in the Windham Ballroom, opens its December festivities with live performances by international touring musicians Winterpills, Peter Mulvey, and The Jack Grace band with support from The Once Hollow and The Weisstronauts.
On Thursday, Dec. 4, Winterpills bring their new album “Echolalia” to the Windham stage with an acoustic performance by Flora Reed and Philip Price.
Hailing from Northampton, Mass., Winterpills play around the world. They were last at the Windham in 2005, and have grown with the venue.
Jonathan Lethem, writing in Rolling Stone, ventured, “I don't know why Winterpills aren't one of the most cherished pop bands in the world.” In Bellows Falls, they already are. Doors open at 8 p.m. The show starts at 8:30.
Peter Mulvey has also played in the Windham, and his performance feels like a homecoming. His shows have always collected enthusiastic crowds to hear his eclectic repertoire sung in a luxurious baritone.
Mulvey's stage presence is immediately disarming and it's hard not to fall in love with him during his set.
The evening opens with area favorites The Once Hollow, featuring the brassy vocal stylings of Walpole, N.H.-redheaded powerhouse Rebecca Holtz. The Once Hollow's last headline show at the Windham Ballroom sold out as people clamored to hear the acoustic ensemble's combination of jazz, folk, and - yes - a hint of show tunes.
In celebration of this great double bill, Popolo serves a full regular menu before this rare Sunday night show. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and the show starts at 8.
Long a sensation in New York City, his customary haunt, Jack Grace and his band call their music “experimental country alt-rock.”