I’ve been lucky to meet many wonderful human beings in my life, and even in a lot of cases, to be able to call them friends. As we age, it becomes harder and harder to prioritize time to spend with the myriad folks met playing and booking shows, making art, and being engaged in a diverse community of intelligent individuals. People have families, more responsibility at work, some have moved, are on the road more, or just needing more time alone.
I subscribe to the philosophy that everyone has a lot of stuff going on, and to not take things personally. So I catch up with people when I can, and just pick up where we left off. Wooden Dinosaur is, in a way, a perfect representation of that, in both attitude, and methodology.
Mike Roberts has been playing and releasing music under the Wooden Dinosaur moniker for the past ten years. He’s employed a variety of lineups throughout, from solo to full band with horn section. His newest album, Working Weather, displays the full spectrum, utilizing most of the folks that have lent their talents to buoy his songs. The album is rich and beautiful, and should put the band into the upper echelon of contemporary New England performers.
Returning to Peterborough this Friday in the familiar trio format, Roberts and company will be laying their heavy tunes on us with smiles and a hint of twang. When he spoke with me about booking this show, I hadn’t talked to him in a bit, and was surprised to realize he and his wife had just welcomed a new child; time can often move in bizarre fashion.
Writing songs is often not a nine to five, sitting at a desk kind of affair. When you’ve got a job and a family, you find time when and where you can to work out new material; with the support of said job and family, you then have to figure out how to get out on the road with it. This is how Wooden Dinosaur resurfaces intermittently; all the members of the current trio have children, careers, homes to maintain.
They will be joined by MacDowell Colony fellow Sam Moss, as well as Easthampton luthier Trevor Healy opening up, so this upcoming string of dates is precious, and you really ought to check it out.
The show is a collaboration between The Glass Museum and The Monadnock Center for History and Culture, as part of their Music in Bass Hall series. Music begins at 7 p.m., this Friday Oct. 14. Tickets in advance are $10, and $15 at the door, and the show is all ages. You can get advance tickets at MonadnockCenter.org
Eric Gagne is CEO of the Glass Museum and co-founder of The Thing in the Spring.