Meredith Monk is one of the most vital American artists of the past 60 years. The 82-year-old New Yorker is a singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, filmmaker, dancer and educator whose vast and multidisciplinary works have shown up everywhere from Jean-Luc Godard films to DJ Shadow samples. She even earned the 2014 National Medal of Arts, presented by president Barack Obama.
Monk is perhaps best known for a series of vocal innovations she developed in the 1960s, alternative singing methods that are part of a tradition dubbed “extended vocal technique.” Often bypassing human language — with yelps, growls, trills, glottal stops, screams into whispers — Monk has taken her voice into uncharted territory throughout her long career.
Along with percussionist and composer John Hollenbeck, Monk will present the latest in their “Duet Behavior” series just across the lake in Westport, N.Y., at jazz trumpeter Taylor Haskins‘ club/gallery the Mill. Described as an “intimate evening of Meredith Monk’s music as it has never been experienced,” the performance combines Monk’s vocal magic with Hollenbeck’s drums for improvisational takes on her compositions during a two-night stand on Friday, August 15, and Saturday, August 16.
The latter date is already sold out, but tickets are still available for the former, and the chance to see an artist of Monk’s caliber in a 70-seat sonic temple such as the Mill should not be missed. If you can pop over the Lake Champlain Bridge or fancy a ferry ride, this should be a special show. Visit themilladk.com for tickets and more details.
In late June, Montpelier’s Bent Nails Bistro kicked off a new monthly series called Third Chamber Sessions. Spearheaded by Boomslang‘s Dustin Byerly, aka Sed One, the event is dedicated to “exploring creative crossovers and hybridizations between underground genres,” according to Byerly.
The second installment of the series happens this Saturday, August 2, and is all about reggae, hip-hop and jungle music, featuring Sed One with I Rhymes, as well as DJ Kanga on the turntables. Byerly launched the series in partnership with Bent Nails and local cannabis dispensary Gram Central. He sees it as a way to help support the Montpelier music and culture scene in the wake of flooding over the past few years that has damaged and forced temporary closures of venues including Bent Nails and Charlie-O’s World Famous.
Check out bentnailsbistro.com for more information.
Musician and producer Jeremy Mendicino has been rather busy of late. When not engineering or producing records for artists such as Gregory Douglass and Matthew Mercury, Mendicino has spent the past few months launching two different personal projects.
First up is a new release from the band HUES, made up of Mendicino and childhood friend Steve Holt. The two started recording an album titled Sedated under the name Pdiddle circa 1999 but didn’t get around to finishing it until more than 20 years later. They rechristened themselves HUES and made it a self-titled album while they were at it. The record dropped in May and is now streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.
Mendicino has another long-delayed project finally coming to fruition. His indie-rock outfit HOLDING NAPOLEON released two singles in July, “Faith” and “Fool,” both available on major streaming services. The two tracks are early singles off a forthcoming record, so it’s not the last we’ll hear from Mendicino this year.
Listening In
Playlist of Vermont jams
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2025.
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