FEATURED MUSIC
Nu Muse Festival Brings Cutting Edge to Nashua
Written By Michael Witthaus (music@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy Photo
The main stage at the first of three outdoor music events scheduled for downtown Nashua this year has an eclectic array of talent ranging from kinetic to frenetic. The Nu Muse Festival has an alternative focus; jazz fusion trio Consider the Source will close out the day, following regional favorites Slambovian Circus of Dreams. The lineup includes Bella’s Bartok, Arc Iris, Billy Wylder, I/O and Mammal Dap.
A second stage offers contemporary rock from Them Clones, Buster, Towns, Kooked Out, The Trichomes, Voyagers and Frank Alcaraz, while the gazebo in Railroad Square has an afternoon slate featuring Fain Music Studio, Brandon O’Grady, DoubleNecks Guitar Duo and New Englanders. Riverwalk Cafe owner Ben Ruddock is curating the NuMuse stage; many of the acts are veterans of the Depot Street restaurant and bar that’s become a hub for original music since it opened three years ago. Ruddock got involved when Paul Shea of Great American Downtown reached out expanding on the Holiday Stroll, which Shea runs every year. Ruddock readily agreed.
“Riverwalk is intimate with 85 seats, and we bumped up against the capacity of that space a lot,” he said. “So I had a desire to do larger events for a long time.”
“It was slapdash … we had like two weeks to plan it,” he said. “This will be the same event, but with a proper amount of planning and thought going into it.”
Riverwalk Cafe has grown from a small coffee shop with weekly original open mike nights and infrequent shows into a magnet for regional talent. Festival promotion seems a logical step for Ruddock.
“Primarily, I’m most excited about having outdoor art happening in Nashua again,” he said. “I think that there has been a little bit of a die-off in this type of event. ... Lately, it’s just been the Holiday Stroll, which is a fantastic event, but I’m hoping this will be the impetus for a lot more stuff like this. I certainly don’t want to be the only team doing it.”
As to the success of Riverwalk, Ruddock said, “It feels fantastic. ... It kind of started as a passion project to hear bands I wanted to hear, and it’s cool to see other folks that want to hear those bands. It’s an immensely gratifying project, and we couldn’t do it without our amazing audience. We have twenty-plus regulars that I see at shows twice a week. They follow the calendar and come out to see as much music as they can.”
In a challenging market for original talent, Riverwalk books everything from esoteric jazz to readings from storyteller Odds Bodkins. Against the odds, it’s worked. “I tried to poke holes in the whole thing ... trying to figure out the actual formula for all this,” Ruddock said. “The conclusion I have come to is that it’s a lot of luck and circumstance.”
If there’s a specific element, it’s constant refinement, always striving. “I never say good enough, and unfortunately that is where a lot of live production has gone,” Ruddock said.
“The acts have really responded to that, and it’s allowed me to build up relationships with these bands. Frankly, I’ve been able to pull down some bands that don’t really make a lot of sense for an 85 seat room, mostly that is where a lot of live production has gone,” Ruddock said. “The acts have really responded to that, and it’s allowed me to build up relationships with these bands. Frankly, I’ve been able to pull down some bands that don’t really make a lot of sense for an 85 seat room, mostly because of what we are doing in there.”
Nu Muse Festival
Where: Downtown Nashua
When: Saturday, May 6, noon
More: bit.ly/2pb3bZA
Nu Muse Stage
1 p.m. Mammal Dap
2 p.m. I/O
3:15 p.m. Billy Wylder
4:30 p.m. Arc Iris
5:50 p.m. Bella’s Bartok
7:10 p.m. Slambovian Circus of Dreams
8:45 p.m. Consider the Source
All day: Nashua Community Music School
River Rock Stage
2 p.m. Frank Alcaraz
3 p.m. Voyagers
4 p.m. The Trichomes
5 p.m. Kooked Out
6 p.m. Towns
7 p.m. Buster
8 p.m. Them Clones
Railroad Square Gazebo
Noon Fain Music Studio (Kid-friendly fun)
1 p.m. Brandon O’Grady
3 p.m. Mike Loce Music Doubleneck Guitar Duo
5 p.m. New Englanders