Tickets are available on April 9 by phoning the restaurant at 802-460-7676 with a major credit card.
You can also feel reasonably confident in buying tickets at the door.
See you at Popolo.

SESSION AMERICANA PLAYS AT THE WINDHAM BALLROOM
Boston All-Stars Light Up The Room Thursday April 9

Produced by Anais Mitchell and the band, “Pack Up The Circus” is the latest release from Session Americana, something more of a movement than a band. Their bio claims seventeen members including an all-star cast of players from Boston and elsewhere.

An effort as sprawling as this often bursts at the seams when the players myriad influences and styles compete for place within the confines of proper pop songs. It must have required some shepherding by Ms. Mitchell to keep this all contained between such simple lines. The harmonies are tight, the arrangements economical, and the performances disciplined. They bring both a strong sense of tradition and also a fair amount of risk to what they do on this, their sixth album.

Mixed by studio legend Paul Q. Kolderie, he of more hit records one can count and one of the best balance engineers in the biz, “Pack Up The Circus” gives voice to a world of sound with no competition except when competition is what’s called for. If your looking for great collective art, you’ve found it.

“When we set out to make this new album, our goals were to make a coherent album out of the chaos of our collective spirit and to have a great time doing it,” says Jim Fitting who shares musical duties with his expansive team.

This region knows well the work of Anais Mitchell whose ensemble work with “Hades Town,” a folk-opera based on the Orpheus Myth. We think of her as a storyteller adept at bringing a nuanced tale to her audience with a leger de main that’s hard to detect and even more difficult to resist. Her work with Session Americana follows a similar strategy as she tweaks this diverse, sometimes extemporaneous music into a rich and textured personality.

Live, the band assembles around a few microphones and plays to each other, an idea that resonates strongly with the vibe and intimate confines at the Windham Ballroom.

The Boston Globe’s made vivid note of the band’s “fun, fresh take on old fashioned, and timeless music” and from that we might infer we’ve heard it before but the fact of the matter is this: the thread of tradition woven into Session Americana’s work is just a familiar place to start, an exit sign to parts unknown.

The band performs at the Windham Ballroom on Thursday, April 9th, at 8:15pm. Doors at 7:45. Tickets are $14 in advance and $16 on the day of show. For more information or to schedule a dinner reservation before the show call Popolo at 802-460-7676. popolomeanspeople.com