music comes to York library and Portsmouth bookstore

Is there anything better than curling up with a good book and listening to a live rock band? Now you can do both at once. York Public Library, in York, Maine, and RiverRun Bookstore, in Portsmouth, are each hosting separate live music series. Both venues will hold their next shows on Sunday, March 16, with performances from multiple acts. (You might be best off picking up a book before the show and waiting to read it when the music’s over.)

‘Live at the Library’ at
York Public Library

York Library hosts the third and final installment of its winter concert series from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 16. A Concert for a Winter’s Afternoon will feature performances from Clayton Willoughby, Kathleen Soldati with Curt Bessette and The Nerve. The show is part of the Live at the Library series, which brings drama, poetry, music and other art forms to York.

Clayton Willoughby, a multi-instrumentalist from Ohio, performs old Tin Pan Alley songs that harken back to the vaudeville days of American musical heritage.

Perhaps best known as marketing director of The Music Hall in Portsmouth, Kathleen Soldati is also a skilled singer with a repertoire that includes blues, jazz and rock. Curt Bassette, longtime host of weekly open mike sessions at Biddy Mulligan’s in Dover, will accompany Soldati on guitar.

The Nerve is a rock ’n’ roll quartet that echoes the classic rock age of the 1960s and ’70s. Composed of Byon Yeatts on guitar and vocals; Scott Stevens on bass, guitar and vocals; Dana Pearson on guitar, bass, harmonica and vocals; and Doug Dickey on drums and vocals, the band plays original songs inspired by everyone from Elvis to Dylan to The Beatles.

The free concert is open to all ages, and coffee and refreshments will be served. York Library is located at 15 Long Sands Road. For more information, call 207-363-2818.

‘Books and Music’ at
RiverRun Bookstore

March 16 also marks the first installment of RiverRun Bookstore’s new live music series, Books and Music. Series producer Chris Greiner and RiverRun owner Tom Holbrook united to bring the idea to life after several individual shows at the downtown store proved successful. The first five shows in the series, all of which will be held on Sunday evenings this spring, will feature participants in the 2008 RPM Challenge.

The March 16 show will feature Kristen Miller and Winterstar. Miller is a cellist and singer-songwriter from Georgetown, Mass., who incorporates folk, rock and world music traditions into her style. Winterstar is an experimental ambient band based in Hampton, consisting of Randy Tompkins, Tory Miller and I.R. Jones, each manipulating a variety of instruments too lengthy to list.

Other upcoming performances include Jonathan Blakeslee and Black Window Music on March 30; Bob Halperin and Michelle Moon on April 13; Thom Keith and an artist TBA on April 27; and Tower of Silence and Sean Reardon on May 4.

All shows are free and open to the public, although a $5 donation is suggested. RiverRun Bookstore is located at 20 Congress St. For more information, call 603-686-0307.