On Stage: Birdtalker kicks off busy area music weekend at MilkBoy Philly

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times

This weekend, live music gets off to an early start with a twin-bill at MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 215- 925-6455, www.milkboyphilly.com). The show on October 7 will feature Birdtalker as the headlined with Bre Kennedy as the opening act.

Fronted by husband-and-wife Zack and Dani Green, Birdtalker have cultivated a special connection with their listeners through their blend of pulsing Americana/folk/pop, honest lyrics, and breathtaking harmonies.

Birdtalker’s path to formation was something that wasn’t planned.

“Dani and I got married in 2012,” said Zack Green, during a recent interview. “We’ve been together as Birdtalker since 2014 – the summer of 2014.

“It accidentally started as a duo. We didn’t have an ambition to be a band. I was a songwriter, but I didn’t play shows. I didn’t know Dani could sing.”

Dani said, “I was a casual musician. I did study classical piano as a kid through middle school.

“At the start. Our duo was really tentative. Songwriting was something Zack did in college. We did a demo. My dad – Billy Montana – is  a songwriter so we sent it to him.”

Billy liked it.

“He gave us positive encouragement,” said Zack. “I had a college buddy named Andy Hubright who helped. We realized how much fun it could be doing music. He said he wanted to play with us.

“We were asked to play a set to open for a play at a park in Nashville. That’s where we met our guitarist.”

While these three were playing the songs at Shakespeare in the Park on an August afternoon, Brian Seligman became interested in adding his immense talent to the mix as well and began playing along with mandolin and guitar. It sounded even better.

The foursome wrote and practiced for about a year when another talented friend – Jesse Baker — expressed interest in lending his bass sounds to the band.

Voice memos of song demos were produced, and suddenly they were a band, in everything but name or confessed intent.

According to Dani, “We were very unintentionally doing what we were doing, Looking back, Brian and Andy had more of a vision for what we should be doing, and were probably very frustrated that they were dragging us along into becoming a band.”

Along with newcomer Chris Wilson on drums/percussion, Birdtalker broadened their horizons with expansive indie/rock textures while also staying true to their evocative and organic acoustic roots.

With the unexpected success of their 2017 breakout single, “Heavy,” the band had to write, record, and release their first album with a sense of urgency. The whirlwind debut (which garnered acclaim from Rolling Stone, NPR Music, Billboard, World Cafe, American Songwriter, and Relix among others) led to non-stop touring, festival appearances, and even their debut performance on the world-famous Grand Ole Opry.

In August, Birdtalker announced that their anticipated sophomore album will be released on October 8 through AntiFragile Music. The self-titled effort is the follow-up to their 2018 critically acclaimed debut, “One.” With their new album, Birdtalker find solid ground and step into their own with their most confident and unrestrained set of songs to date.

This time around, the group found themselves much more comfortable in their own skin with no deadlines, zero restrictions, and a crystal-clear vision. It allowed them the time and space to be more explorative and curious, which can be heard in the expanded sonic palette across the album and the creative confident songwriting.

Surprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic was not a setback for Birdtalker.

“Prior to knowing anything about COVID-19, we planned on 2020 being a year to get into ourselves,” said Zack. “We all got vaccinated and we masked up when we were rehearsing together.

“We separated from our previous management in December 2019 and didn’t get new management until the record was done. The label didn’t come through until spring this year.

“We were already planning to tour at that point. In our live shows now, we’re playing a lot of the new album. For us, it’s more inspiring.”

Video link for Birdtalker – https://youtu.be/117o59qKWrw.

On the flip side, the pandemic did cause Bre Kennedy to alter her plans.

“I did have a lot of songs written and I planned to tour in 2020,” said Kennedy, during a phone interview this week from Richmond, Virginia.

Instead, 2020 was a shutdown and Kennedy worked on a new album with new songs – “Note to Self.”

“All the songs on the album were written during the pandemic,” said Kennedy. “The only one that wasn’t is ‘Wilburn Street,’ which I wrote the day before the lockdown. I thought that adding it would be a beacon of hope.

“I was writing about five or six songs a week. I probably wrote over 100 songs during the pandemic. When I chose the songs from the album, I didn’t want to be just writing about being depressed.

“There are threads on the album. A lot of songs were me processing things about my life and how I wanted to live post-pandemic – songs to celebrate the brighter side after all the darkness brought on by the pandemic.”

Raised by her single dad in a highly musical household, Kennedy grew up jamming out to greats like Tom Petty, Heart and Aretha Franklin. At 17 she moved to Los Angeles, feeling in her gut that LA wasn’t where she was meant to be. In 2015, she hopped in her Nissan and drove to Nashville where she really discovered her true musical identity.

Waitressing by day and gigging at night, Kennedy was devoted to making her dream of a career in music a reality. Playing shows at prominent Nashville venues like The 5 Spot and The Basement, as her presence grew in the city’s music scene, she began releasing more of her own music and building residency.
After her buzzworthy hits like “Jealous of Birds” and “Twenty Something” landed her Spotify’s New Music Friday, many doors opened up. Opening for Sheryl Crow at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and selling out her first headlining show at historical landmark Exit/In, she cemented her spot as one of the new voices out of the New Nashville music scene.

“Prior to the pandemic, my whole life was go, go, go,” said Kennedy. “When the pandemic hit, I was thew first time I was actually stopped. That’s what ended up making songs. Because I was stuck at home, I had to face myself. A lot of dirt came out of the faucet. Eventually, it cleared up.

“Also, the world was sick, and I drew inspiration from that. We all brute-forced through it. There’s going to be a grievance. Writing these songs helped me get through it.

“Obviously, they’re all very introspective. A lot of dark stuff came up when writing the album. I’m usually a very optimistic person. Seeing the world as a shitty place really helped.”

Now, Kennedy is performing live with bright spirits and a sense of optimism.

“If I can make people laugh and get away from fear, then I’m pleased with what I’m doing,” said Kennedy.

Video link for Bre Kennedy — https://youtu.be/1k3-IGZppmU.

The show at MilkBoyPhilly on October 7 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.

Other upcoming acts at MilkBoy are Son Little on October 8, Horrendous on October 9, Funk You on October 10, The Unlikely Candidate on October 11 and Moontype on October 12.

On October 8, another female artist making a name for herself will visit Philly when The Foundry at Fillmore Philadelphia (1100 Canal Street, Philadelphia, 215-309-0150,www.thefillmorephilly.com) hosts Malia as the opener for JMSN.

Malia is a singer-songwriter and neo-soul artists whose roots are on the West Coast.

“I was born in Texas and raised in the suburbs of Seattle – in Bellevue, Washington,” said Malia, during a phone interview last week from Gastonia, North Carolina.

“I moved to L.A. for college – Chapman College in Orange County. Now, I’m living in East L.A.”

Malia began studying music as a child, taking piano lessons at age eight and joining choir in middle school.

“I have been singing since pre-kindergarten. It was a thing I always liked to do. I sang in choirs in middle school and high school. I also joined advanced drama class and was in shows like ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Guys and Dolls.’

“When I went to Chapman College, I got degrees in political science and sociology. I also learned to long board when I was in Orange County.”
She also learned that most jobs were dead-end streets – so she started singing.

“I didn’t start singing until I was 27,” said Malia. “I was just really unhappy working dead-end jobs. I worked retail, restaurants, modeling. I even worked as a greeter at L.A. Airport.

“I was so unhappy. I was going down this bland path of education. I asked – what am I doing working paycheck-to-paycheck. I wanted to find out what would make me happy.”

That’s where music came on the scene.

“I got my first guitar and started to noodle around,” said Malia. “I got on You Tube. I made 15-second covers of songs on Instagram. Based on a couple YouTube videos, I got emails from people inviting me to studios. So, I went to studios in L.A. and cut songs.”

Her journey had begun.

“I released the ‘Malia’ EP in 2015,” said Malia. “It was my first time putting out music. Then, I released my ‘Letting Go’ EP in 2016.

Matt Martians of The Internet invited Malia to their studio where she met the band. She went on to collaborate with Syd on her track, “Dirty Laundry,” and opening for Syd on her 2017 West Coast tour. Malia collaborated with Soulection on the release of her single “Play Sides” and played their Los Angeles tour stop. Malia released her first album, “Unpolished,” in April 2021.

‘I recorded some of the album at my home studio and some at a friend’s studio,” said Malia. “I started to produce on my own because we couldn’t get together because of the pandemic.

“The album has a raw vibe. A lot of it was written about personal experience.

“I have a new EP that is a very intimate project. It’s already mixed and mastered. Thankfully, I was able to work with people again. It’s the most authentic piece of work I’ve done. I think it will drop in February.”

Video link for Malia – https://youtu.be/n9lul-OnI2s.

The show at The Foundry on October 8 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22.

Other upcoming shows at The Foundry are Lewis DelMar on October 9 and Christian French on October 10.

On October 8, Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, 215-232-2100, www.utphilly.com) will host a show by Bahamas, the stage name for Canadian musician Afie Jurvanen’s longtime music project.

He is currently touring in support of his most recent albums — “Sad Hunk,” which was released on October 9, 2020, and won the 2021 Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, and his brand-new LP, “Live to Tape.”

“The live album is out this week,” said Jurvanen, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon from a tour stop in western Pennsylvania.

“We made the LP during the lockdown. I made the video project with musicians from all over the world. The band was in studios in Nashville, L.A. and Australia. There were cameras in both ends and we recorded digitally.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to turn out as well as it did. We took the best performances from different sessions. There were 10 sessions altogether.

“I was at a professional studio in Halifax. I still like going to the studio and having someone else turn the knobs.”

Jurvanen grew up in Ontario before relocating to the Nova Scotia.

“I moved to Halifax from Toronto three years ago,” said Jurvanen, who is of Finnish descent. “I love being on the water. And, Halifax has a lot of great people.”

Jurvanen taught himself guitar and recorded his debut album, “Pink Strat,” in a cabin in rural Ontario in 2008. He released the album under the name Bahamas in 2009 and was subsequently nominated for a 2010 Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo.

Bahamas’ second album, “Barchords,’ was released on February 7, 2012. The album received nomination at the 2013 Juno Awards for the Adult Alternative Album of the Year. Jurvanen received a nomination for Songwriter of the Year for the tracks “Be My Witness,” “Caught Me Thinking” and “Lost in the Light.”

Jurvanen released his third album, “Bahamas Is Afie,” on August 19, 2014. The album received first place on Q’s Top 20 Albums of 2014. “Bahamas Is Afie” received a nomination for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2015, and Jurvanen received nomination for Songwriter of the Year for “All the Time,” “Bitter Memories” and “Stronger Than That.” He won the awards in both categories.

Bahamas’ fourth album, “Earthtones”, came out on January 19, 2018. Jurvanen released his fifth studio album, “Sad Hunk,” on October 9, 2020. The album won the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021.

“‘Sad Hunk’ came out a year ago,” said Jurvanen. “The whole thing was made in December 2019 and January 2020 – just before lockdown. I pushed the release back to the fall of 2020.

“I didn’t know when things would get back to normal so putting it out was the only choice. If we sat on it to long, I’d write more songs. I like to put things out as quickly as I can. I looked at it as an opportunity.”

Jurvanen did see some good things about the lockdown.

“It forced me to stay home and that meant I was able to make breakfast for my daughters who are four and six,” said Jurvanen. “But I did miss touring. I enjoy touring. You become more proficient.”

While Jurvanen usually tours with a band, this phase of live shows will have him performing as a solo artist.

“When I play solo, the pace is much different,” said Jurvanen. “I can do what I want. I don’t have to stick to a set list. But, when I’m solo I’m playing guitar the whole time and that can be a challenge.”

Video link for Bahamas –

The show at Union Transfer on October 8 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

Another upcoming show at Union Transfer is Jukebox the Ghost on October 9.

On October 9, Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is back with indoor shows with a concert featuring David Wilcox.

More than three decades into his career, singer/songwriter David Wilcox continues to push himself, just as he always has. Wilcox, by so many measures, is a quintessential folk singer, telling stories full of heart, humor, and hope, substance, searching, and style. His innate sense of adventure and authenticity is why critics and colleagues, alike, have always praised not just his artistry, but his humanity, as well.

It’s the result of a man giving himself over in gratitude and service to something bigger than himself. After an early 80s move to Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, Wilcox started playing guitar and writing songs, processing his own inner workings and accessing his own inner wisdom.

In 1987, within a couple of years of graduating, Wilcox had released his first independent album, “The Nightshift Watchman.” A year later, he won the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Award and, in 1989, he signed with A&M Records, selling more than 100,000 copies of his A&M debut, “How Did You Find Me Here.”

On his most recent album, “The View From the Edge,” Wilcox delved into topics such as mental health, family legacies, spiritual contemplations, and topical concerns. The song “We Make the Way By Walking” also won him the Grand Prize in the 2018 USA  Songwriting Contest.

“The View From the Edge” was released in 2018 and no new LP is on the schedule yet.

“Making an album is the last thing on my mind – until it’s the only thing on my mind,” said Wilcox, during a phone interview last week from his home in Asheville, North Carolina.

“Yesterday, I looked at my songs that I’d written since the last album, discarded some and I have 52 left. The pandemic has been a great time to write songs.

“It’s been good for me. I talk with friends. I watch the garden come in. It has given me a lot of time to do things that normal people do.”

Wilcox was able to stay somewhat active musically.

“I did a few outdoor gigs – using a singer’s mask,” said Wilcox, who normally would be on the road a lot each year.

“I also did a lot of Livestream shows – two or three a month for a while. It had its own advantages – a sweet spot, a way to interact. I was speaking to one person at a time. I had to get really honest and speak as one-on-one with a friend.

“I did miss the live interaction. I realized how much I missed it when I did my first live show in front of an audience again. I remembered what fun that was. With Livestream, I had to turn up my input to feel the connection.”
Fortunately for his fans, Wilcox has been doing more than writing new songs.’

“I have been recording,” said Wilcox. “I usually record them as I write them. There is something about catching a song when it’s just written. Then, I fix what needs to be fixed later.

“I think I’ll release a new album soon. It’s gotten to be that time.”

Video link for David Wilcox — https://youtu.be/-Y7ng-Uz1qg.

The show at Kennett Flash will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.

There will also be a Kennett Flash Rooftop Series *Special Return Performance* on October 8 at 7 p.m. featuring jazz/blues sax ace Vanessa Collier.

Video link for Vanessa Collier — https://youtu.be/qz57R8qDA2w.

Tickets for the October 8 rooftop show are $30.

Dar Williams, who will be performing October 9 at the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com), is out on tour in support of a new album.

Williams, who has recorded more than 20 albums, released the new LP, “I’ll Meet You Here,” on October 1 on BMG’s recently launched Renew label. Her most recent album prior to this was “Emerald,” which came out in 2015.

In a recent phone interview from her home in New York’s Hudson Valley, she explained why there was such a long time between album releases.

“There was a gap between albums because I did a book,” said Williams, a well-respected speaker/author/singer-songwriter.

“After I released ‘Emerald’ in 20215, I stopped writing songs for a while. I didn’t start writing songs again until 2017. Then, I recorded ‘I’ll Meet You Here’ in 2019.

“I was going to release it in 2020. But because of the pandemic, I moved the entire release up a year. It was just a year off and now it’s really full out.

“I recorded the album in North Jersey at a studio near Weehawken with producer Stewart Lerman. The core of the recording was done in a couple weeks in November 2019. Then, I did an intensive week in January 2020 with Stuart Smith, who plays with the Eagles. I sent a scratch track of the title song to Larry Campbell in Woodstock. I wanted to do it as a duet with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey and Larry Campbell.”

Campbell produced the track and played guitars, pedal steel and twangy baritone guitar. Later, they had to postpone a mid-March mixing date because Campbell said he wasn’t feeling well anyway which turned into a serious case of COVID-19.

“I had a schedule conflict, so we had to postpone the mixing date with Larry for day,” said Williams. “He was getting really sick and then found out he had COVID. He got very sick with COVID. We were very lucky because if we had done the mixing session, a lot of people could have contracted the disease.”

Despite encountering some speed bumps along the way, Williams finally able to put the album out.

“The album officially came out on October 1,” said Williams. “We had a few singles that came out prior to the album release and that helped.”

The album has 10 songs including nine originals.

One song isn’t her own, but she loves the melody and message of “Sullivan Lane,” a retro-poppy tune about finding kindred vulnerable spirits. It was written by one if her neighbors – Philadelphia native Joziah Longo, leader of one of America’s most underappreciated folk-rock bands Slambovian Circus of Dreams.

Even when Williams isn’t focusing on music, she still stays very busy.

“I just taught a college course at Wesleyan University,” said Williams, who also handles the duty of being as mother to a young child. “Teaching at a university was great. I’ve also done some songwriting retreats and that’s been great too. I like to have different avenues rather than just recording and touring.”

One of those avenues has been writing books. Williams published two young-adult novels with Scholastic in the mid-2000s, along with a green blog for Huffpost, before she tackled her urban-planning study, published in 2017 – “What I Found in a Thousand Towns: A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America’s Communities — One Coffee Shop, Dog Run & Open-Mike Night at a Time.”

In her new book, Williams muses on why some towns flourish while others fail, examining elements from the significance of history and nature to the uniting power of public spaces and food. Drawing on her own travels and the work of urban theorists, Williams offers real solutions to rebuild declining communities.

“What I Found in a Thousand Towns” is more than a love letter to America’s small towns, it’s a deeply personal and hopeful message about the potential of America’s lively and resilient communities.

“It’s not a memoir,” said Williams. “It’s what I had seen from tours in my travels at towns that had found a way to be resilient – hometown pride and a world welcome. I followed that thread and tried to figure out what it was.

“I call it ‘positive proximity’ – a state of being in a town where people know that living side-by-side is beneficial…that the more they follow that proximity, the better life can be.

“I wrote about how to build positive proximity, how to maintain the benefits of positive proximity and how to sustain positive proximity.”

In her book, Williams looks at two area towns – Phoenixville and Wilmington.

“The Phoenixville chapter is about what happens when a town digs into its history and builds on that,” said Williams. “It is a town that has become a vibrant place because of that. The Wilmington chapter is about waterfronts – about how towns can come back to life by developing their waterfront areas with parks, restaurants and public spaces.”

On this tour, Williams won’t be playing Steel City Coffee House or the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville nor The Grand or The Queen in Wilmington. But the Sellersville Theater is close enough.

Video link for Dar Williams – https://youtu.be/4-0tPKPbypk.

The show at Sellersville on October 9 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $45.

Other upcoming shows at the venue are Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams on October 7, Jackie Venson on October 8, Sam Amidon on October 11 and Hotel California on October 12 and 13.

On October 12, Philadelphia-based rock band will play at the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389, www.ardmoremusic.com) as the opening act in a show featuring A Flock of Seagulls.

Athensville is an alternative rock band featuring Matthew Taglang (vocals), David Perry (guitar), Ed Moman (bass), and James Farrell (drums).

Ironically, despite not being a young band fresh out of college, the members of Athensville were still in elementary school when A Flock of Seagulls had their big hit, “I Ran (So Far Away).”

“We’re all in our late 40s and early 50s,” said Taglang, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. “The band is a passion project on the side of our careers.”

Taglang should be familiar to many Chester County residents. He teaches German at Rustin High School and spent more than a decade as the school’s cross country coach. Moman lives in Chestnut Hill and is a sound man at many of the area’s music venues. Farrell, a Parks Service employee, hails from North Wales and Perry is a Philadelphia lawyer who lives in Glenside,

“We started in 2015. We met through mutual acquaintances at a fundraiser. We started playing our first shows in 2017.

“Our guitarist Dave Perry and I were original members. We started out playing covers and by 2018 we had written five originals. We released our first EP, “Proper,” in 2018.

“When that EP was released, we had a release party at the Grape Room in Manayunk and also played a show at Forest & Main in Ambler.”

Athensville spent all of 2019 and 2020 recording the follow-up to “Proper.” Released in March 2021, their full-length LP, “Undressing Minds for Show,” features 11 songs, each with its own distinct character. The album was recorded at BarnSound Studios in Newtown Square with producer Derek Chafin.

“In 2019, we went back in the studio with 11 new songs,” said Taglang. “We started in early 2019 and played shows all year while we were also in the studio recording.

“It took us a full two years to make the album. Our plan was to do weekend touring around the area – D.C., New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Then, COVID hit, and we weren’t able to do any shows from March 2020 to March 2021.”

Athensville, which plays a mix of rock and alternative rock, took its name from the history of Ardmore, the Philadelphia suburb where rehearsals first took place and where the band will be playing this weekend. Originally named “Athensville” in 1853, the community and its railroad station were renamed “Ardmore” in 1873 by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Athensville also has a show alter this month at The War3house 3 in Swarthmore on October 23.

Video link for Athensville — https://youtu.be/b-RPKx-Ea3c.

The show at Ardmore Music Hall on October 12 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35.

Other upcoming shows at the venue are Jackie Greene on October 7, KRS-One on October 8 and Giant Panda Gorilla Dub Squad on October 13.

Chestnut Grove, which will play a residency at 118 North (118 North Wayne Avenue, Wayne, www.118northwayne.com) on Saturday nights, has some similarities to Athensville.

The band has its roots in the Delaware Valley, has played gigs at the Ardmore Music Hall and recorded its most recent album – “The Album” –at BarnSound Studios in Newtown Square with producer Derek Chafin.

Chestnut Grove was formed by James Daniels, John Tyler, Sean Murray and Dee Gerhart in 2011 during their senior year of high school. The band’s name was chosen in memory of would-be member and guitar player Matt Barber, who passed away tragically in a car accident on Chestnut Grove Road.

“We’ve been together for a decade,” said Gerhart, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve been touring heavily since 2015.

“We all graduated from high school together in 2011 – Boyertown High School. Our drummer James played with our guitar player John. I was doing acoustic singer/songwriter doing open mics. We weren’t drawn together musically.

“In my senior year, I was in a talent show at Boyertown High. I did some numbers like ‘You Really Got a Hold On Me’with Zach Winkler. They approached me and it rolled on from there.

“We covered a lot of Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix. I was the only one singing. We immediately started working on some originals. We were trying to be a jam group but drifted more to singer/songwriter.

“It’s collective songwriting. It’s mainly driven by me and James, but everyone has an input. Each has their on part of the puzzle.”

In 2015, Gerhart, Winkler, Daniels, Tyler and Gary Geers, with the help of friend/engineer Owen McGreehan, released their self-produced album, “Perkiomenville,” to a sold-out hometown crowd at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

“We recorded that album at our barn studio in Perkiomenville,” said Gerhart. “It had 10 tracks with a vert rootsy, Americana feel.”

In 2016, the band released its “Let it Down” EP which was produced by Bill Moriarty (Modest Mouse, Dr. Dog) and in 2018, the band released the “Black Champagne” EP on Mad Dragon Records, with the single “Scratch an Itch” getting airplay on Radio 104.5 in Philadelphia.

“We started working on our new album two years ago,” said Gerhart. “We started recording around the end of 2019. We were going to release it in 2020 and then COVID changed everybody’s plans. The 2020 tour evaporated.

“Finally, we released the album in May 2021 and hopefully will tour a lot into 2022. Right now, we’re trying to plan out next year. The residency at 118 North is a glimmer of hope.”

Video link for Chestnut Grove — https://youtu.be/tNbl1ViCMlk.

Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, uptownwestchester.org) presents Back in Black on October 8 and the Bill Withers Project on October 9.

The Living Room (35 East Ardmore Avenue, Ardmore, https://thelivingroomat35east.com) will present Phil Roy on October 9 and Iain Matthews with Jim Fogarty on October 10.

The Grand Opera House (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-652-5577, www.thegrandwilmington.org) will present Theo Von on October 8 and Lewis Black on October 9.

The Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, 302- 475-2313, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) is presenting its  brand-new mainstage production – “The Best of the Candlelight Theatre” – now through October 31.