Join us for an evening of stories and song as Phil Henry and The News Feed celebrate the release of Phil's new album, "Seven North!"

The full band will be on hand to share these new songs as well as Phil Henry favorites.

The album has been already making waves on the air, including plays on folk radio programs in 14 states.

CDs, vinyl records, and stickers will be on sale, as well as refreshments that benefit the Rutland UU Church, and there will be giveaways and special guests!

RUTLAND, VT - “When the call comes, will you run or will you stay?” This is the central question posed in the twelve songs of Phil Henry’s new album, Seven North. Faced with the tumultuous world we live in, do we adapt and change? Or do we resist? When our circumstances become untenable, do we pull roots and flee, or dig deeper?

U.S. Route Seven winds its way north from Connecticut to Canada, touching every kind of community in Phil’s beloved home state of Vermont: farmlands, college towns, and post-industrial rail hubs. It passes hiker hostels, former communes, and sugar shacks. This historic road forms the backdrop of many of these songs, with characters who are facing the forces of change in their own ways. In the song “Ten of Nine,” a young man heads to the city, only to be pulled back by the siren call of his hometown. In contrast, the narrator of "Prison Town" vows he’s “never gonna go back” to his constrictive upbringing and mindset. A real-life historical figure in “Extraordinary Woman” tries to rise above her circumstances and is accused in Vermont’s only recorded witch trial. A family strives to live within their means and “make something out of nothing” in “The Farmer’s Way.” In “Ticonderoga #2,” the narrator rejects the cookie-cutter life prescribed in public school, to seek something more authentic. Meanwhile, one character asks, (Is it Phil, himself?) “If it’s all the same to you, can we keep it all the same?” These acoustic short stories meet at uncertain backwoods intersections of change, and turn down different roads. Some end up in despair while some choose hope. Some arrive at resolve, revolution, or renewal.

One standout is "Make Good Trouble Again," which was written and released as a single by Phil and his longtime collaborator, George Nostrand. The concept was inspired by No Kings protests across the country, and the activism of US Representative John Lewis. It appeared on the Folk Alliance International Folk DJ Chart in July, and Vermont's Seven Days called the song "...a proper protest anthem, urging Americans of all ages to fight the rise of fascism."

Phil Henry leads a double life, devoting his time and passion to two balanced pursuits. He is a choral and general music educator at a Vermont PreK-12 school, and was selected as Vermont Music Educator of the Year in 2023. Alongside his 25 years of teaching, he has also been a successful performing songwriter, recording seven studio albums of original, contemporary folk songs and playing festivals and listening rooms across the Northeast. US Senator Bernie Sanders called a recent performance “truly excellent music.”

Phil Henry and the News Feed elevates Phil’s songs through deep groove and lush instrumentation. Multi-instrumentalist Jeff Kimball is a Swiss Army knife of sound, adding rich piano, synthesizer, electric and acoustic mandolins, and frankly, whatever instruments are on had. Mitch Barron is more than the low end of the band, with the distinct sounds of fretless bass melody and upright and electric groove. The inventive pocket of Brendan Coyle on drums cements the News Feed’s sound. On rare occasions, they are joined by the fiddle of Kentucky fiddler Jimmy Kalb, adding a layer of traditional echoes.

After seven albums and twenty-five years songwriting, Phil Henry is still finding his way up the troubadour's path, asking those questions for himself and anyone who may be listening. Ever forward, Seven North.

The venue is wheelchair accessible from the rear of the building.

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$10 Students / Seniors (Advance Sale)

$15 General Admission (Advance Sale)

$25 VIP (Early entry to the show, a signed CD copy of Seven North, stickers, and a signed poster)

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$15 student/seniors (Day of Show)

$20 General Admission (Day of show)