New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
TRACE ADKINS BRINGING THE HITS.
Country star Trace Adkins was in Branson, Mo., when we caught up with him to talk about the show he’s got planned for Ridgefield Playhouse.
“The only thing really special about today is my mother’s coming to see me. She’s coming to the show, so that will be cool,” he said in his striking baritone voice, when asked if he was doing anything special in Missouri.
“I hope you got her a good seat,” we said.
Adkins laughed. “I don’t know. I probably should check on that.”
A Nashville icon for more than two decades, Adkins, 56, is beloved for such tunes as “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” and “You’re Gonna Miss This.” The Grammynominated performer also has done some acting, on television and in movies.
These days finds the singer reflective. “Watered Down,” from his 2017 album, “Something’s Going On,” is about growing older. “We still fly like gypsies, just a little closer to the ground,” he sings. “And we still love our whiskey, but now it’s just a little watered down.”
“It’s a coming-of-age song that just really speaks to me;
it’s where I find myself these days. You know, hopefully, finally starting to grow up a little bit,” he said with a laid-back laugh.
While there’ll be new material on the setlist, Adkins plans to do a greatesthits show when he appears at Ridgefield Playhouse on Thursday, June 21, with Bobby McGrath as his opener.
“I’ll make sure people get to hear the stuff they’ve heard on the radio for years, even though we have a new album. We’ll do a few tunes from that, but not a lot of stuff they are unfamiliar with. We’ll hit the high points.
“I love doing theaters where you can talk to the audience and have that interaction, you know, that connection. Anytime I play a venue like that I always take advantage of it. It’s more of an ‘evening with,’ as opposed to a straight-up concert.”
Over the years Adkins has performed in 12 USO tours. “Every one of the USO shows is special and we have been all over, several trips to the Middle East, of course, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, but we have also done the Mediterranean, Sicily, Italy, Spain. We’ve been to Japan . ... ”
One moving experience that sticks out in his mind involves a young man who came and showed Adkins he had the lyrics to one of his songs tattooed on his forearms. He had “Came here to live” on one arm, and “Didn’t come to die” on the other,” from the tune “Came Here to Live.”
Adkins said still finds it unbelievable when he hears one of his songs on the radio or in a mall or restaurant.
“It’s still, you know, I pinch myself. That’s the reason we named the tour this year ‘How Did We Get Here,’ because the guys in my band, we still say that whenever we are about to go out on stage. Some nights we still can’t believe we have the opportunity to do this for a living. We don’t take it for granted, you know. We still look at each other sometimes and go, ‘How did we get here? This is so cool.’ ”
The following listings are subject to change without notice. Call the venue to confirm. To have your club listed, fax the information to 203964-3773 or 203-333-3897 or email it to sspillane@ctpost.com.
BETHEL
MOLTEN JAVA, 213 Greenwood Ave., 203-739-0313: Bill Wisnowski, Saturday, 7 p.m.
NOTE KITCHEN & BAR, 227 Greenwood Ave. 203-917-3127: Standby Band, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Shoo Fly Trio, Friday, 8 p.m.; Blackthorn Grove, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Phil and Dave, Sunday, 11:30 a.m.; Open Mic, Monday, 7:30 p.m.; Shawn Taylor, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.; Tracy Jo and the Toads, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
BRIDGEPORT
ACOUSTIC CAFE, 2926 Fairfield Ave., 203-335-FOLK: LoEndFreque, Chris Cavaliere, Thursday, 9:30 p.m.; McZwang, Friday, 10 p.m.; Stella Blue’s Band, Saturday, 9 p.m.; Open Mic, Tuesday, 8 p.m. BIJOU THEATRE, 275 Fairfield Ave., 203-332-3228: Make Music Day, Thursday, 7 p.m.; The Bouchard Brothers of Blue Oyster Cult, Black and Mild, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Jimmy Vivino, Duke Levine, Wednesday, 8 p.m.
BRENNAN’S SHEBEEN IRISH BAR AND GRILL, 2652 Fairfield Ave., 203-870-9981: Corey Hales, Friday, 8 p.m.; Hot Club of Black Rock, Sunday, 1 p.m.
BRYAC RESTAURANT, 3074 Fairfield Ave., 203-522-4777: No Mind, Thursday, 9 p.m.; The Brotherhood, Friday, 10 p.m.; Legion of Jerry, Saturday, 10 p.m.; Acoustically Speaking, Sunday, 5 p.m.; BRYAC Funk All-Stars, Wednesday, 9 p.m. CAPTAIN’S COVE, 1 Bostwick Ave., 203-335-7104: Bobby Wheeler, Thursday, 6 p.m.; John Maziarz, Friday, 5 p.m.; The Ritzy Chickens, Friday, 9 p.m.; Moto, Saturday, 4 p.m.; Nashville Drive, Saturday, 9 p.m.; Alpaca Gnomes, Sunday, 3 p.m.; DJ Flip, Sunday, 7 p.m. WALRUS + CARPENTER, 2895 Fairfield Ave., 203-333-2733: Hitch and the Giddyup, Thursday, 8 p.m.; The Red Planet, Sunday, 1 p.m.; Walrus + Carpenter Jazz Band, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m.
CANTON
BRIDGE STREET LIVE, 41 Bridge St., 860-693-9762: Front Country, The Meadows Brothers, Thursday, 8 p.m.; Lucy Kaplansky, Friday, 8 p.m.; Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald with The HBH Band, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Benefit Concert for Focus Center for Autism with The Michael Cleary Band, Mixed Signals, Kerri Powers & George Mastrogiannis, Sunday, 5 p.m.
CLINTON
SHANKS WATERFRONT DINING, 131 Grove St., 860-669-4224: Paul Shlein, Thursday, 6 p.m.; Eric Fresia, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
CROMWELL
CHICAGO SAM’S SPORTS BAR AND GRILLE, 51-14 Shunpike Road, 860-635-1860: Jeff Pitchell & Texas Flood, Friday; Battle of the Bands winner, Saturday.
DANBURY
BILLY BEANS CAFE AND PUB,
80 White St., 203-744-2326: Open Mic, Tuesday, 8 p.m.
MOLLY DARCY’S PUB, 39 Mill Plain Road, 203-794-0449: The Red Hots, Friday, 9:30 p.m.; Justin Chandler Band, Saturday, 9:30 p.m. WIDOW BROWN’S CAFE, 128 Federal Road, 203-743-7021: Anthony Gach, Emma Kiara, Friday; Pete and Pru, Saturday.
DERBY
RIVER ROCK TAVERN, 5 Main St., 203-732-0808: Rashaan Langley Project, Saturday, 9 p.m.
THE HOPS COMPANY, 77 Sodom Lane, 203-734-1616: Eran Troy Danner, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.; DizzyFish, Sunday, 3 p.m.
FAIRFIELD
HORSESHOE CAFE, 355 Pequot Ave., 203-255-8624: Acoustic Open Mic, Monday, 8 p.m.
OLD POST TAVERN, 1418 Post Road, 203-292-8631: The Extras, Friday, 10 p.m.; Sketchy at Best, Saturday, 10 p.m.
SEA GRAPE, 1144 Reef Road, 203-254-2669: Lamb Jam with John Lamb, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.
GUILFORD
PA’S PLACE, 515 Whitfield St., 203-689-5526: Ramblin’ Dan Stevens, Sunday, 2 p.m.
HAMDEN
BEST VIDEO WINE AND COFFEE BAR, 1842 Whitney Ave., 203-2879286: Vance Provey, Thursday, 8 p.m.; The Paul Shanley Quintet, Friday, 8 p.m.; A Delicate Motor, Nate May, Anne Rhodes, Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; The Buttondowns, Dr. Martino, Wednesday, 8 p.m. SPACE BALLROOM, 295 Treadwell St., 203-288-6400: Make Music Day with Zach Andersen, James Howard, Scott Danger Bravo, Julia Davis, Daniela Cardillo, Steph Serenita, Thursday, 5:30 p.m.; Erick Northrop, Sal Nunz, Matthew Bennett, Monday, 7:30 p.m.
HARTFORD
ARCH STREET TAVERN, 85 Arch St., 860-246-7610: Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Monday, 8 p.m.; BooYah, Wednesday, 9 p.m. BLACK-EYED SALLY’S, 350 Asylum St., 860-278-7427: Liviu’s Invitational, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Gravitonik, Friday, 8 p.m.; Sanah Kadoura Group, Monday, 8 p.m.; Michael Palin’s Other Orchestra, Tuesday, 8 p.m.; Community Jam, Wednesday, 8 p.m.
HALF DOOR PUB, 270 Sisson Ave., 860-232-7827: The Penniless Wild, Wednesday.
SULLY’S PUB, 2071 Park St., 860-231-8881: Electric Open Mic, Sunday, 8 p.m.; Acoustic Open Mic, Monday, 9 p.m.
WEBSTER UNDERGROUND, 31 Webster Ave., 860-525-5553: Emo Night Brooklyn, Friday, 9:30 p.m.
LITCHFIELD
SALTWATER GRILLE, 26 Commons Drive, 860-567-4900: Jeff Conlon, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.; Lucinda & Michael, Friday, 7 p.m.;
MANCHESTER
HUNGRY TIGER CAFE, 120 Charter Oak St., 860-649-1195: Jimi Photon’s Rock Jam, Thursday, 9 p.m.; The Get Up, Friday, 9:30 p.m.; High Wire, Saturday, 6 p.m.; Violent Reign, Saturday, 9:30 p.m.; Blues Jam with Gene Donaldson, Mon-
day, 9 p.m.; Comedy Open Mic, Tuesday, 7 p.m.; Ashlee Paradis, Tuesday, 9:30 p.m.; Gracie Day Trio, Wednesday, 9 p.m.
MAIN PUB, 306 Main St., 860647-1551: The Alpaca Gnomes, Friday, 9:30 p.m.; Pure Americana, Sunday, 6 p.m.
MASHANTUCKET
SHRINE NIGHTCLUB, 24 Fox Tower Drive, 860-312-8888: RC & Manni, Friday; Vice, Saturday; Jay Spring, Sunday; Breathe Carolina, Tuesday. BUTTONWOOD TREE, 605 Main St., 860-347-4957: Make Music
Day with Bob Gotta, Cece Borjeson, Ted Paulsen, Stan Sullivan, Kent Aldrich, Thursday, noon.; BadSlax Jazz Quartet, Friday, 8 p.m.; Sharp 5 Jazz Ensemble, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Anything Goes Open Mic, Monday, 7 p.m.
KLEKOLO WORLD COFFEE, 181 Court St., 860-343-9444: Someone You Can Xray, Thursday, 7 p.m.; Ray Mason and His Silvertone, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
MAC650 GALLERY, 650 Main St., 860-347-0834: Pleasure Beach, Dagwood Pale, Space Tier, Thursday, 6 p.m.; Wreath, Ourselves Alone, Des Millions, Snowpiler, Sunday, 7 p.m.
MILFORD
STONEBRIDGE RESTAURANT, 50 Daniel St., 203-874-7947: Tim Palmieri, Friday; DizzyFish, Saturday; Pocket Full of Soul, Sunday.
MONROE
VERACIOUS BREWING COMPANY, 246 Main St., 203-880-5670: The Final Destinations, Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
NEW HARTFORD
PARROTT DELANEY TAVERN, 37 Greenwoods Road, 860-379-0188: Comedy Night with Mike Burton, Andy Pitz, Thursday.
NEW HAVEN
CAFE NINE, 250 State St., 203789-8281: The Sea The Sea, Josiah Johnson of The Head & The Heart, Planes on Paper, Thursday, 8:30 p.m.; Javier & Los DishDogs, Soldiers of Solace, The Lost Weekend, Slim Francis, Friday, 9 p.m.; Afternoon Jazz Jam, Saturday, 4:30 p.m.; Miriam and Nobody’s Babies, Gotham Rockets, The Sparkomatics, Saturday, 9:30 p.m.; Among the Acres, Belle of the Fall, Sunday, 4 p.m.; Duncan Reid and the Big Heads, Dust Hat, Sunday, 8:30 p.m.; Manic Monday with Hannah Wicklund and the Steppin Stones, Chaser Eight, Monday, 8 p.m.; Old Self, Juswan, Eli Hazel, Jules Baxter, Tuesday, 8 p.m.; Words & Music, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.
PACIFIC STANDARD TAVERN,
212 Crown St.: The Grass is Dead, Saturday and Sunday, 8:30 p.m.; Open Mic, Wednesday, 9 p.m. STELLA BLUES, 204 Crown St., 203-752-9764: Shantyman, Friday; OK and the Night Crew, Heavy Necker, Saturday; Passing Strange, Sunday; Open Mic, Tuesday, 8 p.m. THREE SHEETS, 372 Elm St., 475-202-6909: Hogan’s Goat, Friday, 7 p.m.
TOAD’S PLACE, 300 York St., 203-562-5589: In Lilly’s Pad: Rohn Lawrence and Friends, Monday, 9:30 p.m.
NEW LONDON
SOCIAL BAR AND KITCHEN, 208 Bank St., 860-442-6900: Daphne Lee Martin, The Huntress and the Holder of Hands, Amy Kucharik, Saturday, 7 p.m.
NEW MILFORD
THE ABBEY, 132 Danbury Road., 860-799-6464: Irish Happy Hour with Bill Wisnowski and Julie Sorcek, Sunday, 5 p.m.
FAST EDDIE’S BILLIARDS CAFE, 46 Old State Road, 860-3508569: Open Mic, Wednesday, 8 p.m.
NORWALK
BEACH HOUSE CAFE, 19 N. Water St., 203-956-7171: Salt Water Band, Sunday, noon.
MKT BISTRO & BAR, 64 Wall St., 203-354-0765: Berdine Joseph, Velez, Finn, Uria, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
OSTERIA ROMANA, 250 Westport Ave., 203-229-0844: Jack Lynn (Dean Martin tribute), Thursday, 7 p.m.
OLD LYME
NIGHTINGALE’S ACOUSTIC CAFE, 68 Lyme St., 860-434-1961: Pickin’ Party with Ramblin’ Dan Stevens, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
OLD LYME INN, 85 Lyme St., 860-434-2600: Ramblin’ Dan Stevens, The Mellow Men, Wednesday, 6 p.m.
SIDE DOOR JAZZ CLUB, 85 Lyme St., 860-434-0886: Jane Bunnett & Maqueque, Friday, 8:30 p.m.; Yosvany Terry & Baptiste Trotignon, Saturday, 8:30 p.m.
PUTNAM
THE STOMPING GROUND, 132 Main St., 860-928-7900: Straight Up Jazz, Thursday, 5:30 p.m.; Muddy Ruckus, Thursday, 8 p.m.; The Ryan Leddick Trio, Friday, 8 p.m.; The Sidewinders, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Nicole Sutka and Gary Backstrom of Jiggle the Handle, Sunday, 1 p.m.; Open Mic, Sunday, 7 p.m.; Hal York and Jon Traversie, Tuesday, 8 p.m.; Paul and Ieva Cataldo, Wednesday, 8 p.m.
RIDGEFIELD
LUC’S CAFE, 3 Big Shop Lane, 203-894-8522: Larry Urbon and Cafe Musette, Monday and Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
ROCKY HILL
STILL HILL BREWERY, 1275 Cromwell Ave., 860-436-6368: Ramblin’ Dan Stevens, Friday, 4:30 p.m.
SEYMOUR
AMERICAN PIE & PUB, 15 Klarides Village Drive, 203-828-6973: Sammy Blanchette, Friday, 6 p.m.; Ozzy America, Desiree Bassett, Saturday, 9 p.m.
TRILOGY LOUNGE, 37 New Haven Road, 203-828-6718: The Blue Collar Band, Friday, 9 p.m.; The Mix, Saturday, 9:30 p.m.
SOUTHINGTON
SMOKIN’ WITH CHRIS, 59 W. Center St., 860-620-9133: Restless Mountain, Friday, 8 p.m.; Wandering Roots, Saturday, 8 p.m.
STAMFORD
CRAB SHELL, 46 Southfield Ave., 203-967-7229: Superhero Trio, Thursday, 7 p.m.; Big Chief and the Midnight Groove, Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Dirty Water Dogs, Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; 27 West, Sunday, 6 p.m.; Acoustic Mafia, Wednesday, 6 p.m. JUDY’S BAR AND KITCHEN, 927 High Ridge Road, 203-890-9996: Green Eyed Lady, Saturday, 8:45 p.m.
LONG RIDGE TAVERN, 2635 Long Ridge Road, 203-329-7818: The Blue Sky Band, Friday, 8:30 p.m.; Sister Sun, Saturday, 8:30 p.m. TIERNAN’S, 187 Main St., 203353-8566: Sam and the Subs, Thursday; Alpha Males, Friday, 10 p.m.; Twisted, Saturday, 10 p.m.
STRATFORD
FAIRFIELD CRAFT ALES, 724 Honeyspot Road, 203-296-2530: The Al-n-Sal Duo, Friday, 6 p.m.; Acoustic Jam, Saturday, 2 p.m. JOEY C’S BOATHOUSE, 955 Ferry Blvd., 203-870-4838: Moonshine, Friday, 8:30 p.m.; Shameless, Saturday, 8:30 p.m.; Todd Grosberg, Sunday, noon;, Primetime, Sunday, 3 p.m.
MAIN STREET TAVERN, 1884 Main St., 203-375-1477: Seventh Sign, Friday, 9:30 p.m.; Badboy, Saturday, 9:30 p.m.
OUTRIGGERS, 555 Broad St., 203-377-8815: Dawn & Greg, Thursday, 5 p.m. and Friday, 6 p.m.; Mike Loguidice, Saturday, 6 p.m.; Fat Cat Skinny Rat, Sunday, 4 p.m. STANZIALE’S RESTAURANT,
595 Main St., 203-377-1411: Jack Lynn (Dean Martin tribute), Steve Kazlauskas (Frank Sinatra tribute), Saturday, 7 p.m.
TWO ROADS BREWING COMPANY, 1700 Stratford Ave., 203-3352010: Road Jam Music Fest with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Deep Banana Blackout, Friday, 5:30 p.m.; Road Jam Music Fest with Lotus, The Motet, Tauk, Monophonics, Madaila, The Alpaca Gnomes, Lucid Empire, Saturday, 2 p.m.
WATERTOWN
THE RED DOOR, 675 Main St., 860-945-6688: Open Mic, Thursday.
OUZO BLUE, 675 Main St., 959209-4439: Dana Lauren, Thursday, 8 p.m.; Major Motion, Friday, 9 p.m.; Breathe, Saturday, 9 p.m.
WESTPORT
BISTRO B AT THE WESTPORT INN, 1595 Post Road East, 203557-8145: Treehouse Comedy with Nick Di Paolo, E.J. Murphy, Saturday, 8 p.m.
RIVE BISTRO, 299 Riverside Ave., 203-557-8049: Butch Taylor & Scott Lebish, Thursday, 6 p.m.
WILTON
LITTLE PUB, 26 Danbury Road, 203-762-1122: Sinergy, Friday, 10:30 p.m.; The Outcrops, Saturday, 10:30 p.m.; Elle Sera, Monday, 7:30 p.m.; Mark Zelenz, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. WINDSOR LOCKS
BOBBY V’S RESTAURANT & SPORTS BAR, 11 Schoephoester Road, 860-627-5808: Treehouse Comedy with John Valby, Saturday,
8 p.m.
WOODBRIDGE
AMITY TEEN CENTER, 10 Selden St., 203-389-1154: The Galaxy Within, Curly, Eleanor and the Pretty Things, Lucy, Familiar Spaces, Trag, Friday, 7 p.m.; Hard March, Saturday, 7 p.m.
WOODBURY
WOODBURY BREWING COMPANY, 738 Main St. South, 203-4053811: Auguste and Alden, Friday, 8 p.m.; Riverjack Acoustic, Sunday, 4 p.m.
BEACON, N.Y.
TOWNE CRIER CAFE, 379 Main St., 845-855-1300: Beacon Dance Beat, Thursday, 7 p.m.; Hugh Pool, Thursday, 7 p.m.; The Edukated Fleas, Friday, 7 p.m.; Goodnight Moonshine, Joe Krzyzewski, Friday, 8:30 p.m.; Eric Sommer, Saturday, 6 p.m.; Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez, Saturday, 8:30 p.m.; Open Mic Invitationals, Sunday, 7 p.m.; Open Mic, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
MARLBORO, N.Y.
THE FALCON, 1348 Route 9W, 845-236-7970: Chris Raabe Band, Thursday, 8 p.m.; Tom Freund & Friends, Friday, 8 p.m.; Harlem Blues Project, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saints of Swing, Sunday, 11 a.m.; Aaron Parks & Little Big, Maiko Hata Duo, Sunday, 7 p.m. Falcon Underground: Bigbang, Thursday, 7 p.m.; Finn and the Sharks, Friday, 8 p.m.; Bendy Effect, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Michael Alan, Sunday, 3 p.m.; Poet Gold’s Poelodies, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
PAWLING, N.Y.
DARYL’S HOUSE, 130 Route 22, 845-289-0185: Junior Brown, Thursday, 8 p.m.; Chris O’Leary Band, Friday, 8 p.m.; Nick Lowe’s Quality Rock and Roll Revue with Los Straitjackets, PI Power Trio, Saturday, 8 p.m.; Bluegrass Brunch with Too Blue, Sunday, noon; Southern Culture on the Skids, Sunday, 7 p.m.; XEB, Stocklyn, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
PIERMONT, N.Y.
THE TURNING POINT CAFE, 468 Piermont Ave., 845-359-1089: Happy Traum, Jim Kweskin, Thursday, 8 p.m.; Erin Elkins, The Wonderful Winos with Vini Lopez, Joe D’Urso and Stone Caravan, Friday, 8 p.m.; The Slippery Chickens, Joe Grushecky, Joe D’Urso’s Acoustic Excursion, Saturday, 8:30 p.m.; Open Jazz Jam, Monday, 8 p.m.
PORT CHESTER, N.Y.
MARIANACCI’S RESTAURANT, 24 Sherman St., 914-939-3450: Al DiMarco Quintet, Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Robert Marullo & Friends, Saturday, 7:30 p.m.