Greetings, salutations, whatever. Winter is upon us, depression sets in and we’ve got gray skies to look forward to for the next six months. What’s the suicide rate in Vermont compared to the rest of the country, anyway? It must be up there. I hate to sound overly depressed, but the Vermont music scene is not exactly at an all time high right now.

Here, let me share my depression with you. Club Toast, the stalwart of alternative and interesting music for over five years now, is closing. Dennis and Justin Wygmans are a little burned out and they damn well deserve to be. Those boys have worked harder at this music scene up here than any other people I can think of. And for what? They sure as hell weren’t getting rich. The hassles of dealing with the city of Burlington, the Flynn Theatre, the bands, the patrons, the liquor control board and all the other shit that a club/bar has to deal with would have put me out many years ago. Somehow, night after night, they got some of the best bands in the country, the world even, to come up to Vermont and play. Somehow, they helped hundreds of local musicians build audiences and make livings. Somehow, they did it night after night for over five years. A damned fine accomplishment. Thanks, guys.

More depression: Take a look at the local scene three years ago and then look for the same bands today. Most of them no longer exist. The bands that have grown and succeeded have done so by getting the hell out of Dodge. Bands like Strangefolk, viperHouse have managed to stay alive by forming management teams, hitting the road and making friends outside of Burlington. Strangefolk sells out shows in San Francisco because they got their shit together and took it on the road. viperHouse hit the road about a year ago and have already built an audience down south that is growing rapidly. So, the lesson? It can be done! I hope we’re not all still sitting around waiting to be discovered, because it doesn’t appear to be happening very fast. Get your act together and get out on the road!

Okay, enough with the bitching and moaning. There are plenty of reasons to be happy and joyous about the music scene in the Burlington area. Really. How about Katherine Quinn, for starters? She’s been writing and practicing right here in our midst, without most of us even knowing about her, and then out of nowhere she releases the amazing album she called Leaving Decatur. It’s an amazing record and we expect you’re gonna want to get to know it. Katherine Quinn is on our cover this month both as the winner of our Best Folk/Acoustic performer category in our First Annual Good Citizen Awards and as a representative of the future of our scene. This month we also feature a band from Essex High School called The Implants. They won the 99.9 The Buzz High School Band Search with a blistering performance at Club Toast and since then they’ve recorded some songs and done some radio shows, all the while practicing and getting better. If they represent the future of the Burlington music scene, I think we’re in pretty good hands.

Let’s face it, the Burlington music scene has cycled up and down ever since I’ve been arounde and Mike Luoma’s column this month will back me up. We’re in a rebuilding process now, and the closing of Toast is gonna suck, no way around it. Hopefully, 242 will re-open stronger than ever with renewed energy and commitment, and hopefully someone will fill the void left by the closing of Toast. Start holding your breath now.

Be a Good Citizen.

Andrew Smith