Yoga in the Canopy
Sundays in June, 4:30-5:45 p.m., at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee. $20-24; preregister. The Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee is a literal and figurative playground for lovers of the great outdoors. In addition to an actual nature-inspired playscape, the nonprofit offers walking trails, raptor encounters, exhibits and educational programming for kids and adults on its 47-acre campus. All of this is geared toward promoting a desire to care for wildlife and their habitats. June s schedule includes weekly Yoga in the Canopy. Each Sunday, yogis ascend the Forest Canopy Walk for a late-afternoon stretching session in the trees.
When I connected with Secor over the phone a couple weeks later, I held my fanboy impulses in check at least, for a time. Only toward the end of the call did the gushing commence. I didn t quite say, Dude, man, I really
love your music. But it was close. Speaking of unprofessional, a good reporter never accepts anything of value from a source. But, come September, I heard from Charyk again and this time he was offering me a cameo in a film adaptation of the Secor collaboration, called
The Ballad of Ethan Alien. Once again, I said yes.
(Self released, digital) I love when a record has a big mood. And if the two overriding themes driving that mood are outer space and the lonesome West? Yippee ki-yay, parental fornicator! Vermont s oddball alt-country outfit Western Terrestrials deliver the peanut butter and jelly of genre tropes on their newest album,
Back in the Saddle of a Fever Dream. Recording partly in Nashville, Tenn., the Terrestrials shook off natural disasters and a pandemic to deliver a record that feels as consistent as it is stylized. Opener Space Cowboy s Got the Blues ushers the listener right into the album s vibe: loneliness, paranoia and tongue-in-cheek humor. When that cosmic wind starts whipping around the astral plains / E.T. can t phone home from the range / Like an old coyote howling at the moon, croons bandleader Nick Charyk. Then, Yeah, this space cowboy s got the blues.