Every few months, the queue of Vermont albums awaiting review gets so long that music editor Chris Farnsworth has to do a mega-review week. Below are six new releases from artists around the Green Mountains, spanning genres from prog folk to free jazz to country.
Jack O’ the Clock, Portraits
(Self-released, digital)
Listen, I know it’s a music writer cliché to claim a band defies easy categorization, but Brattleboro’s avant-folk, Americana-prog-fusion band Jack O’ the Clock are tailor-made to give shelf-stacking record store clerks panic attacks. The band, which relocated from Oakland, Calif., to Vermont in 2019, has the ability to shift musical gears at a second’s notice, whether that means laying down atmospheric, pastoral folk or hook-laden, sunny pop.
Jack O’ the Clock’s latest LP, Portraits, is a remix of sorts. Founding members and partners Damon Waitkus and Emily Packard originally recorded the songs in 2003. After unearthing the tracks and recording new vocals and a slew of overdubs by current band members, they’ve slapped a new coat of paint on the record. It’s Jack O’ the Clock’s most pop-leaning album, with a tongue-in-cheek breeziness that is rarely found in their other work.
Key Track: “Nature Abhors a Vacuum” Why: An odd, lurching slice of dark Americana, the song features a playful, just-on-the-edge-of-sinister vocal from Waitkus. Where: jackotheclock.bandcamp.com and major streaming services
The Professors of Mystery, Unified
(Self-released, digital, vinyl)
The Professors of Mystery are a Burlington project featuring musicians with disabilities alongside some of the scene’s more prolific players, such as Cam Gilmour and Jabe Ledoux. Fronted by trombonist, lyricist and vocalist Cosmo Duncan, the band has put out a number of records over the past six years since debuting in 2019 with Penguin Plunge.
Unified is a new chapter for the group, which has expanded into a massive lineup of 18 members on everything from guitar to washboard to vibraphone to spoons. The 12-track album touches on elements of free-form jazz and experimental punk, with a side of ambient chaos for good measure. Produced by Jost Eckhardt at Community of Sound in Burlington, Unified is a true team effort, a record that pays tribute to the power of collaboration and the bonds forged in creating music.
Key Track: “Ice Road” Why: With dueling guitars, a tribal drumbeat and chaotic, warbling horns, the song transcends its wild nature and melds into a kind of avant-garde jazz freak-out. Where: theprofessorsofmystery.bandcamp.com
Joel Veena, Cardinal
(Self-released, CD, digital)
Guilford musician Joel Veena, real name Joel Eisenkramer, is one of the leading North American proponents of the Indian slide guitar, a 20-stringed instrument also called the Mohan veena. Eisenkramer began traveling between Vermont and India in 2007 to perform and study Hindustani classical music under masters such as Ranjan Kumar and sarod player Alok Lahiri.
His latest album, Cardinal, continues his fusion-imbued exploration of North Indian ragas, pairing electronic percussion with traditional Indian instruments such as the tabla and jori. Through it all, Eisenkramer’s evocative, searching style on the veena bridges the gap between traditional and contemporary sounds. It makes for a fascinating listen, as traditional Indian folk music blends with the Western sounds that Eisenkramer grew up listening to.
Key Track: “Resistance” Why: Eisenkramer lays out a sinuous melody on his Mohan veena that lands somewhere between a moody club tune and a traditional raga. Where: joelveena.bandcamp.com
Champlain Cowboys, Champlain Cowboys
(Self-released, digital)
Casey Dennis has been laying down the low end in Vermont bands for the better part of five decades. With Green Mountain acts such as Road Apple and the Stone Cold Roosters, the bassist has provided solid, melodic playing while demonstrating an ability to take up residence in the pocket and make it his own. With his latest project, Champlain Cowboys, Dennis steps into the spotlight for the first time on a six-track, self-titled country-rock debut.
The collection of originals is fresh and engaging enough to make listeners wonder why Dennis took so long to strike out on his own. He enlisted frequent collaborator and producer extraordinaire Colin McCaffrey to sing and produce the record, noting in the album’s liner notes that “Bringing a song to Colin is like taking an old T-shirt to the cleaners and getting back a three-piece linen suit.”
Key Track: “Pretending to Sleep” Why: McCaffrey’s voice perfectly captures the regret of meditating on lost love, over a gentle country ballad. Where: Major streaming services
Jenna Rice, Salt and Strawberries
(Self-released, digital)
Southern Vermont singer-songwriter Jenna Rice didn’t start writing music until she built her own guitar and taught herself to play. That DIY approach informs her no-frills, emotionally confessional style of folk music, which contains elements of Americana and country.
On her latest offering, the five-song EP Salt and Strawberries, Rice continues her strong run of simple and sparse songwriting. Produced by Woodstock singer-songwriter Jim Yeager, the EP gets a more expansive treatment than Rice’s previous work, such as 2019’s Bottle Collection. Electric guitar, fiddle, pedal steel and guest musicians such as Jakob Breitbach and Randy Roos all add color. While Rice doesn’t have the chops of a lifelong musician or the trained singing voice of some troubadours, her ability to weave an intriguing story with her songwriting is Salt and Strawberries‘ secret weapon.
Key Track: “Jericho” Why: With a hint of Celtic swagger to the fiddle, the song expertly balances on the edge between a traditional ballad and a sultry country yarn. Where: Major streaming services
Alighted, Willow’s Apothecary
(Wandering Astray, digital)
Composer McLean Macionis crafted the three pieces on Willow’s Apothecary with inspiration from poet Arisa White’s Post Pardon: The Opera. They began as part of an interdisciplinary performance — also titled Willow’s Apothecary — that was staged in early 2025 at Middlebury College, codirected by White and featuring the Dance Company of Middlebury.
Macionis previously worked as a TV composer, writing scores for “Top Chef,” “The Real Housewives” and “Paris in Love” during his years in Hollywood. Now a Vermont resident, he is half of the electronic duo NMND and operates his own record label, Garden Broom Recordings. Under his Alighted moniker, he delves into ambient and more experimental textures, crafting moody atmospheres and slow, gorgeous passages that pulse with intensity and melodic purpose.
Key Track:“Botanical Initiation” Why: The song’s drone-like wave of synths advances and recedes, over and over, in a sort of ouroboros of sonic circles. Where: wanderingastray.bandcamp.com and major streaming services
This article appears in The Food Issue 2025.
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