Feb
4
Sun
The Jim Kweskin Extravaganza @ Regent Theatre
Feb 4 @ 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
The Jim Kweskin Extravaganza @ Regent Theatre

The Jim Kweskin Extravaganza is a live concert that will honor and celebrate Jim’s legacy and his contributions to the music industry over the past 60-plus years.

Jim Kweskin is the founder of the legendary 1960s Jim Kweskin Jug Band with Fritz Richmond, Geoff Muldaur, Maria Muldaur, Mel Lyman, and Bruno Wolfe. During the five years they were together, they successfully transformed the sounds of pre-World War II rural music into a springboard for their good-humored performances. Their imitators were legion, including a San Francisco jug band that became the Grateful Dead, a Los Angeles jug band that became the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and a New York jug band that became the Lovin’ Spoonful. No other group attained their unique blend of youthful energy and antiquarian expertise, tight musicianship, loose camaraderie, and infectious swing.

The concert will feature songs from Jim’s soon-to-be-released recording on StorySound Records, Never Too Late:  Jim Kweskin, Duets with My Friends, which will be released on Friday, January 26, 2024.  The show will also feature artists and songs from Jim’s storied career, including the renowned and influential Jim Kweskin Jug Band.

Scheduled to appear along with Jim Kweskin, are Maria Muldaur, Geoff Muldaur, Samoa Wilson, Annie Raines, Paul Rishell, Juli Crockett, Suzy Thompson, and Matthew Berlin.  Additional artists appearing will be announced soon.

More Last Dance Productions events here.

Jun
9
Sun
An Evening with Kathy Mattea @ The Regent Theatre
Jun 9 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
An Evening with Kathy Mattea @ The Regent Theatre

Kathy Mattea. Hailed by The Washington Post as “one of Nashville’s finest song interpreters,” Kathy Mattea has enjoyed much success and acclaim during her 35-year career in Country, Bluegrass, and Folk music, including 2 Grammy wins, 4 CMA Awards, four #1 country singles, and five gold albums (plus a platinum Greatest Hits collection). Her latest album is “Pretty Bird,” produced by her old friend, roots music wizard Tim O’Brien. The wide-ranging collection of songs chronicles a period of rededication to singing, digging back in with a vocal coach and emerging with a poignant and eclectic CD. In addition to creating and recording music and performing live on tour, Kathy is increasingly involved with public broadcasting, consulting and contributing on screen in Ken Burns’ 2019 documentary for PBS “Country Music,” and recently replacing founder Larry Groce as the host of the long-running NPR show “Mountain Stage.” For more Last Dance Productions events, click here.

Feb
14
Sat
Krisanthi Pappas With Love @ Mass Arts Center
Feb 14 @ 8:00 pm – 10:30 pm

Join award-winning singer/songwriter Krisanthi Pappas and her band performing Burt Bacharach and Beatles Love Songs! Bring your Valentine or your “Galentines” and enjoy such songs as “What The World Needs Now,” “The Look Of Love,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” “This Guy’s In Love With You,” “All My Loving,” “In My Life,” “If I Fell,” “Can’t Buy Me Love” and more. With Krisanthi Pappas on lead vocal and piano, Steve Forrest on guitar and vocal, Steve Skop on electric bass and John DiSanto on drums. Krisanthi has performed the Xfinity Center pre-shows for Sheryl Crow, Queen with Adam Lambert, Hall & Oates, The Doobies, Chicago and several others. She last directed Reality Romance at the Mass Arts Center. Her music has had over 5 million spins on Pandora Radio as well as Apple Music, Spotify, Sirius XM, Google Play, Amazon and more. Also included in the show will be interesting stories of how the songs were written. Enjoy this wonderful evening of music.

More Last Dance Productions events here.

Mar
14
Sat
Laurie MacAllister @ Rose Garden Coffeehouse
Mar 14 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Laurie MacAllister, Member of Red Molly returns to Garden!

In late 2024, Laurie MacAllister embarked on an exciting new chapter, launching a solo career with a sold-out performance at the legendary Club Passim.

Two decades earlier, she co-founded the beloved Americana trio Red Molly, which released seven acclaimed albums and toured both the U.S. and internationally, including appearances at MerleFest, Cayamo, and Boston Symphony Hall.

Along the way, ad executives heard Laurie’s voice on the Red Molly album “Never Been to Vegas” and invited her to sing the iconic Folgers Coffee jingle for a national TV commercial.

Her 2018 self-produced solo album “The Lies the Poets Tell” is a heartfelt tribute to the contemporary folk music scene, celebrating a handful of its best songs and songwriters. It features duets with six male artists, including the late Americana master Jimmy LaFave. SiriusXM praised the album as “Defining. A curated collection packed with emotional vibrancy.”

Laurie’s earlier solo album “The Things I Choose To Do” was produced by folk luminary Cliff Eberhardt and was first released independently. Hearing it, Barnes & Noble re-released it as an exclusive on their label, saying, “MacAllister wholly inhabits these songs as subtly as a chameleon, convincingly taking on the persona’s skin, quite simply singing her heart out.”

From a young girl with a quiet dream of becoming a singer, Laurie’s journey has unfolded one song at a time. Over more than two decades, she’s made her dream into a reality.

Laurie has announced her Solo Debut Tour, headlining shows in 2025 across the Northeast, bringing her soulful, loving voice and presence to fans old and new.

For More Last Dance Productions events, click here.

Apr
12
Sun
The Jon Pousette-Dart Duo @ Mass Arts Center
Apr 12 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Jon Pousette-Dart is best known as an American Classic and Folk Rock songwriter, musician, and performing artist. Growing up in Suffern, NY with a household of artists, including his father, grandfather, and sister, he separated himself by picking up a guitar at the age of 10 and mapping out a life in music before he ever attended a little league game. Since then it’s been a long and well-traveled road in the world of music.

A little bit of time has passed between when Jon Pousette-Dart as a teenager started forging a path in the musical landscape that started in the 60’s and laid a foundation with the original Pousette-Dart Band. Throughout the 70’s and into the 80’s the band earned a loyal national following and produced 5 releases for Capitol that made a deep imprint in the world of album radio, when we all used to only listen to vinyl. When the band parted ways, Jon continued working and slowly began navigating back to where he started writing and recording in earnest with many of Nashville’s finest, and some twenty odd years ago Jon crossed paths with Jim Chapdelaine one of the more formidable musicians he crossed paths with. Jon continued touring as their musical collaboration continued to brew into a satisfying vital musical landscape of it’s own.

Come see Jon Pousette-Dart and Jim Chapdelaine in this intimate acoustic duo setting.

Apr
26
Sun
A Healing Garden Concert with Lance Cowan, Irene Kelley, and Antsy McClain @ French American Victory Club
Apr 26 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
A Healing Garden Concert with Lance Cowan, Irene Kelley, and Antsy McClain @ French American Victory Club
The Healing Garden Concert” Brings Renowned Singer-Songwriters to the French American Victory Club
Prepare for an afternoon of world-class storytelling, soulful melodies, and acoustic mastery. A special matinee performance featuring three of Nashville’s most respected musical voices: Lance Cowan, Irene Kelley, and Antsy McClain.
This intimate “In-the-Round” performance offers New England audiences a rare opportunity to hear the stories behind the songs from artists who have shaped the landscape of folk, bluegrass, and Americana.
May
16
Sat
Christine Lavin & our 2026 Performing Songwriter Competition @ Rose Garden Coffeehouse
May 16 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Christine Lavin is a veteran folk artist and fearless musical storyteller.

Christine Lavin started her professional life as a waitress/bread baker at the Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY in 1975 where she met Dave Van Ronk who encouraged her to study guitar with him in NYC. She took his advice and is now a singer/songwriter/guitarist/recording artist/author/videographer based in New York City. Her latest solo album, her 25th, ON MY WAY TO HOOTERVILLE, includes 10 new songs and one re-worked song, “Ramblin’ Waltz,” a re-telling of her time in 1975 when she was an entourage driver for the first week of Bob Dylan‘s iconic Rolling Thunder Revue” tour.

In 2023 Christine released “The Seasons Project,” an 80-song seasonal compilation that features the work of 63 American, Canadian, British and Irish singer/songwriters. Christine assembled this compilation to help guide future historians and folklorists to authentic music being written in the last two decades of the 20th Century and the first two of the 21st Century.

In 2024 she is completing her 26th solo album, DRUM SCHOOL DROPOUT, hoping to have it completed in 2025.

In October 2024 there were 11 performances of “InunDATEd,” a 90 minute theatrical production that showcased nine of Christine’s songs by the York Theatre in NYC. There will be one more workshop production before the show is released world-wide. The most recent production starred two thrilling Broadway veterans, Kate Rockwell and Taylor Crousore

HONORS AND AWARDS: In May 2021 Christine received an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from her alma mater, the State University of New York at Brockport. In an odd twist, she has a younger brother also named Chris (born on Columbus Day) who also in May 2021 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from his alma mater, Hobart/William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY.

For more Last Dance Productions events, Click Here.