The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 50

WEEKEND THURSDAY, December 7, 2300 m.uh;;:::::;; SUTHERLAND: Songwriter captures jf 1 1 1 1 1 Vermont in modern ballad: or early in the morning, in whic Sutherland might pull out a gui tar, "pretend that it's in tune," a write music to words he has crafted and sculpted, shaped ar reshaped for many weeks. Here, he writes about Vermont's "verdant valleys," a lam scape his song "The Indian Ro; calls a "painter's delight." The song, which has a chon in French, Abenaki and Englisl might appear on a solo CD tha Sutherland has started recordi an album of Sutherland the guitar-slirigersinger-songwrit with a traditional edge. "I'm trying (as a songwriter rejoin the river, to get connect with the traditional style, the rytelling mode," Sutherland "There are lot of people out tl who have gotten the craft dov but it doesn't mean they have anything to say." Managing Editor Geoffrey Gevalt ct tributed to this report. "The guiding light is I want to be of musical service to the community." Pete Sutherland by the Sutherlands, parlor recitals by friends from near and far. The $10 (or so) price is defrayed by a dollar if you bring your own chair.

These informal gatherings will likely start again in the spring after a break for remodeling. They typify the musical life shared by the Sutherlands one they make every effort to share with others. "The guiding light is I want to be of musical service to the community," Sutherland said. It is in this room, late at night 3 KAREN PIKE, Free Press Husband and wife Pete and Karen Sutherland jam at their Monkton home. The couple host informal, musical gatherings at their home.

group of kids who wrote a ballad about one of the children's fathers. This fall he's teaching beginning classical students how to play contra dance music. Musical community Sutherland lives in Monkton in a century-old general store-turned-house with Karen and their 10-year-old son, Calum. The main room is used on occasion for house concerts hosted He's a self-taught musician who teaches. Sutherland leads songwriting workshops at local schools, teaching children to think and imagine in such a way that they produce colorful details about a certain experience or place.

"The lunch room can be a little loud," wrote a Williston sixth-grader under Sutherland's guidance, "but the colors are dull." Last spring, he worked with a in 1 I W. -f I Continued from Page 3 key but attentive and seeking a certain standard. He asks for almost a dozen takes from a foot-tapper who is recording a rhythm track at a session in Charlotte. "Try it this way," he suggests. "It's slightly more organic." This kind of precision is vital, Sutherland explains, as foot-tapping "is the meat and potatoes of Quebec music." Sutherland also plays fiddle gigs and keyboard concerts; he is a regular at local contra dance and folk festivals.

He plays with his group, the Clayfoot Strutters, in far-flung locales, such as Alaska and St. Croix. The five-member band, each player with one foot in traditional music, plays at underground dance camps adapting traditional fiddle tunes with African and Klezmer sounds and rhythms. "It's a playground for a musician," Sutherland said. One week will find him at a local youth center, playing fiddle his main instrument with Karen on piano, serenading enthusiastic (if not exactly expert) contra dancers at a lesbian gathering ofRU12.

Another week he might be in the canyons of Utah, playing piano in a big band on the Colorado River at the Moab Music Festival, a classical festival that hired Sutherland to help expand its repertoire. Billy Crystal says he won't host the Oscars The Associated Press NEW YORK It would be "mahvelous," but Billy Crystal says he can't host the Academy Awards show in March because he's too busy. "I can't do it, you have to understand," he told Fox News this week. "If everything goes according to plan, I'll just be finishing a new movie on March 22. 1 can't host the show five days later." The report Tuesday said Crystal, who has hosted the highly rated awards show seven times and is known for his funny send-ups of the Best Picture nominees, is working on the comedy "America's Sweethearts" with Julia Rob erts and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Another frequent host, Whoopi Goldberg, has said she won't do the Oscars again. "They need someone associated with the movies," Crystal said. "It should be Jim Carrey." Crystal said if Carrey isn't available to host the 73rd annual Academy Awards ceremony on Dafrd-7 et-terman would'fe8 flMsffl! Eric Bogosian Wake Up and Smell the Coffee theWaVFRIV Consort R. Thr Christmas story "One of the joys of the season" jhe Chicago tribune "Music of surpassing sung and played by the group whose love and talent seern without limit" York Magazine In the timeless spirit and pageantry of the medieval church dramas, the 8 singers and 5 instrumentalists of the Waverly Consort recount the events of Christmas in an iinlifrinn and mnvinn rpiphrarinn nf Directed by Jo Bonney Friday, December 8 at 8 rrrrrrx t'ftffl rt pm Sponsored by S.rfS mm With Media Support from 106JWITJ 1 1 Si; mxl i iiihi mi- SMwsWwai 7M i Actorwriter Eric Bogosian returns fo the stage with Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, a meditation on making it to the top of the. ladder, on falling off the ladder, and the exhilarating thrill of the ultimate crash and burn.

Writer of Talk Radio, subUrbia, and Sex, Drugs, Rock Roll, Bogosian blends characters, angry rants, and stream-of-consciousness meditations in his latest solo performance, Contains aduh language and themes. I I i 1 FLYNN 1 Post-performance Book Signing in the Flynn Lobby 153 Main Burlington, VT 802.863.5966 iMfiMT irmmiif tin.