There are a few changes to local series for 2006. Dave Talmage is moving his Old-Time Bluegrass Jam from the Barley Pub in Dover to The Stone Church in Newmarket. Doors open at 7 p.m., dinner music begins at 8 p.m. The old-time jams are still free and musicians are welcome. Dave’s slot at the Barley Pub will be filled by acoustic songwriters, though room booker Chris O’Neill is waiting to announce specific performers. Also in Dover, Liz Parmalee is booking singer/songwriters, many of whom we usually don’t get to see solo, Mondays through Thursdays at Dover Soul. And finally, there’s a new hoot night at the Top of the Chop, the upstairs bar at The Orchard Street Chop Shop in Dover. Every Monday from 8 p.m. “until the wheels fall off,” musicians are bringing guitars and also using the beautiful baby grand piano to share original songs and cover tunes, according to  singer/songwriter David Ogden, who is hosting the event.  A sound system is provided and every week one performer receives a $25 gift certificate from a random drawing.

Joyce Andersen and Harvey Reid played some music and chatted with host Shay Zeller on New Hampshire Public Radio’s “Front Porch” Dec. 21, with four-month-old Otto Reid chiming in on the interview also. The two have been celebrating the release of their third collaboration and new holiday CD, “Christmas Morning,” with 12 concerts around the region.

The Boston Herald recently picked Jon Nolan’s CD “When the Summers Lasted Long” as one of the top five “alt-country” CDs of 2005. “The former Say Zuzu frontman turns on the charm with effortless melodies and a rootsy pop sensibility,” writes music critic Christopher Blagg.

EJ Ouelette and Crazy Maggy had the pleasure of hearing “The Opera Reel,” track three on their new CD “Rock the Bow 5.0,” played on Boston station WXRV recently. They report: “It rocked!!”

Better late than never: congratulations to Bob Beal III, who was one of the finalists in a guitar shredding contest held at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom earlier this fall. The five finalists got up and “practically destroyed their guitars” in front of those in attendance for the Black Label Society show. Zakk Wylde himself was the judge, deciding that all five finalists deserved the grand prize: a signature Zakk Wylde guitar. Beal also reports that The Screen is working hard on demos and pre-production for their new album, “though we’re not going to guess at a release date just yet.”

Anthony Vito Fiandaca, longtime supporter and promoter of the Seacoast music scene, as well as a participant himself in the Po Town Underground, released a six-song EP, “Equal & Opposite,” with a show at Dover Soul on Wednesday, Dec. 21. This is his sixth release, but his first to be recorded in a studio, at Thundering Sky in Eliot, Maine.

In September, Roundhouse won the Maine Blues Society’s “Road To Memphis” competition, giving them a slot in the International Blues Competition, Jan. 26-28, taking place on Beale Street, which is closed down for the event. “The band is pretty excited to go. Lots of jams and about 80 bands,” Joe Rogers says. “Should be lots of fun.”  We can’t wait to hear how it goes.

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