Songwriters Tour at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

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Lyle Lovett
Troy, NY - Once in a great while, a show comes along that qualifies as a “once in a lifetime opportunity”. On Wednesday, February 15 at 8 p.m., four of the world’s best loved singer/songwriters appear together onstage at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall for one incredible performance. Ceaselessly creative Lyle Lovett, the songwriter’s songwriter John Hiatt, classic Texas troubadour Guy Clark and fixture of the Austin music scene Joe Ely share the stage, trading songs and stories in a performance the Houston Chronicle called “a terrific show with sublime poetry that traveled hard roads.” Lyle Lovett arrived in Nashville twenty years ago with a demo tape that hinted at the brilliant eccentric career that was to follow, including twelve albums, a fiercely loyal fan base, four million records sold and a successful film career. His latest release, My Baby Don’t Tolerate features his own unmistakable style which draws on country, folk, jazz, blues and western swing and has been described as “thoroughly Texan.” Throughout his career, Lovett has maintained an enduring, significant career while managing to stay fresh and original. In 1989, he won a Grammy for Lyle Lovett and His Large Band and won again in 1996 for The Road to Ensenada. In 2000, Lovett released the film soundtrack to Robert Altman’s Dr. T & The Women. But, Lovett’s first love is still songwriting. As he told the New York Times: “A great song is a song that makes you think, and makes listening an honest emotional experience. There has to be an element of truth and there’s got to be some sort of sincere connection between the singer and the song.” John Hiatt arrived in Nashville at age 18 with a lot to say and the passion and sophistication to say it well enough to attract the attention of the Neville Brothers, Ronnie Milsap, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Rodney Crowell and Willie Nelson. In the early 70s, Hiatt began to perform his own compositions, establishing himself as a formidable artist in live shows. This led to the release of Bring the Family in 1987, Slow Turning in 1988, Stolen Moments in 1990, and Walk On in 1995, which established Hiatt as a distinctive and dynamic star. The turn of the century brought three more major releases: Crossing Muddy Waters in 2000, The Tiki Bar is Open and Beneath this Gruff Exterior. Of his latest release: Master of Disaster, Hiatt said “I was trying to cover the great American musical experience with the songs on this album. We were influenced by the blues, by country music, by ragtime, jazz, everything. But we were also reflecting the sense of the frontier, the whole Southern experience of different cultures and sounds bumping up against the Mississippi River.” Texas legend and Flatlander veteran Joe Ely has 18 albums, thousands of live performances and hundreds of thousands of road miles over four decades under his belt. Ely, along with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock released the Flatlander’s debut album in 1972, which was completely rejected by the country music establishment. Soon after, the trio separated to cultivate their individual music careers. It only took three decades for them to reunite and release the sequel to their legendary debut, and the Flatlanders has been going strong ever since. Of late, Ely’s joined his pals Lovett, Hiatt and Clark for “guitar pulls” around the country, including this one at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Most recently, Ely joined artists Delbert McClinton, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt, Rodney Crowll, Calexico and the late Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown for Los Super Sevens: Heard It On the X, a salute to AM radio on the Texas/Mexico border and a time when rock & roll, blues, country, jazz, Western swing and mariachi mixed freely. His most recent release, Come on Back, with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, features country songs of the 40s and 50s. He’s currently working on a new solo project to be released this year. Not bad for a guy who learned to play the guitar in his garage with the help of his friend’s brother in law. Guy Clark, affectionately nicknamed the “Songbuilder”, has been crafting songs since the 1960s when he, Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker were part of the burgeoning Texas music scene. Through the years, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Rodney Crowell have recorded his songs, but no one does justice to a Guy Clark song better than Guy Clark. “I suppose it’s because I wrote them and they’re my stories,” said Clark. “Most of the songs I write I couldn’t make up by any stretch of the imagination. They either happened to me or they happened to someone I know.” They’ll never be a better place or a better time to see these four music legends together onstage, than in the intimate setting of the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Reserved seats for the Songwriters Tour are $65 and $57 and may be purchased by calling the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Box Office at (518) 273-0038 or online at www.troymusichall.org. The Music Hall Box Office opens 90 minutes prior to the performance. Otherwise, Box Office operations are handled at its business office at 30 Second Street, Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall’s full season schedule can be viewed at www.troymusichall.org. The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, named a National Historic Landmark in 1989, is in use over one hundred and fifty days a year. Since it opened its doors in 1875, the Hall has hosted performances by numerous world-renowned artists including Marion Anderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Peter Seeger, Ella Fitzgerald, Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma, Henri Vieuxtemps, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jose Iturbi, Vladimir Horowitz, Yehudi Menuhin, and Artur Rubenstein, among many others.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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