Westport Library VersoFest Attracts Hundreds on Each of it's 4 Day Run
Panelists discuss changes in and the state of the music industry and answer questions from the audience.
VersoFest, The Westport Library’s annual music and media conference and festival where knowledge is shared and inspiration is discovered took place last Thursday through Sunday. VersoFest, named after the Library's state of the art recording studio Verso Studios is a forum for media creators, artists, and fans to converge. VersoFest includes panels where experts share their perspective and vision. Intimate workshops provide creators the opportunity to deconstruct, improve, and hone their craft. Performances entertain and inspire. Verso produced, recorded and release the first vinyl album ever created by a public library.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery
VersoFest 2023 was held over four days – a Thursday night kickoff concert featuring Sunflower Bean and DJ Hysterica that drew more than 300 people; the Friday night headlining show with the Smithereens featuring Marshall Crenshaw, Amilia K Spicer, and Miriam Linna that brought out a crowd of nearly 500; and a series of panels, workshops, and more on Saturday and Sunday, drawing hundreds more. Among the highlights was the Saturday keynote conversation between legendary producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, Talking Heads, Dave Matthews Band, and many more) and Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club drummer Chris Frantz, and the Saturday evening Malloy Lecture in the Arts with acclaimed painter and Psychedelic Furs frontman Richard Butler. On Saturday and Sunday record dealers brought their inventories of vinyl LP’s including some rare and hard to find titles.
Weekend workshops included ones on songwriting, screenwriting, photography, TV and media production, and a TeachRock workshop utilizing Anthony Coscia's Wall of Sound which is a 1:4, 10' x 14' scale model replica of the Grateful Dead’s legendary “Wall of Sound” which the band employed throughout much of 1974 and which was on display and cranking tunes intermittently throughout the entire course of VersoFest 2023.
Weekend workshops included ones on songwriting, screenwriting, photography, TV and media production, and a TeachRock workshop utilizing Anthony Coscia's Wall of Sound which is a 1:4, 10' x 14' scale model replica of the Grateful Dead’s legendary “Wall of Sound” (first row, above right) which the band employed throughout much of 1974 and which was on display and cranking tunes intermittently throughout the entire course of VersoFest 2023.
Beginning in 2020, Coscia began his “Le Petit Mur De Son” project to rebuild the Grateful Dead's legendary Wall of Sound. The intent of the project is to preserve The Wall's place in history and allow people to hear, see, and feel what so few were able to experience. Scaled walls have been constructed in lead-up and in fundraising for a full-scale replication, to which Coscia is currently seeking funds.
Coscia's half-scale Wall of Sound is currently housed in a space donated by SpreadMusicNow at Granite Church in Redding, CT, which Coscia says is far too small a room for the system. “For perspective, the half scale wall in its current location is like putting a full scale wall in a small theatre,” he wrote in a Facebook post following one of the first tests of the system, “so needless to say it was loud but surprisingly clear and clean.”
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery
On Saturday and Sunday record dealers brought their inventories of vinyl LP’s including some rare and hard to find titles. The current exhibit from the Artists Collective of Westport provided the perfect backdrop.
Hundreds of guests enjoyed panel discussions over the weekend about topics including rock fashion, rock photography, vinyl record collecting, and the business of music, as well as a panel discussion on podcasting, streaming, and more. In addition, there was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip hop in Connecticut, an all-day Sunday record fair, a working replica of the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound” PA system, a museum of Alice Cooper Group artifacts, and a screening of the Alice Cooper reunion documentary “Live From The Astroturf” featuring a Q&A with Alice Cooper Group bassist and founding member Dennis Dunaway.
Alice Cooper founding member and bassist Dennis Dunaway and wife Cindy in front of some of the costumes designed by Cindy who was the original costume designer for the Alice Cooper band.
Dunaway and his wife Cindy Smith Dunaway set up one of the library's meeting rooms with a massive memorabilia collection from his more than forty years with Alice Cooper, whose real name is Vincent Furnier. Among the Dunaway's collection were several of the many costumes Cindy created as the original costume designer for the ban and is credited with ushering in the "Shock Rock" fashion style popular in the 70's with edgy bands like Alice Cooper. Cindy is the sister of Alice Cooper's drummer Neal Smith. The couple married in August of 1974 at the Greenwich CT town hall. Dunaway, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2011 along with two other surviving band members, signed a variety of memorabilia brought by the band's devoted fans. Alice Cooper is perhaps best known for his smash hit "School's Out", which was released 51 years ago this month on the band's fifth studio album which climbed to number two on the Billboard Top 200, and the single reached number seven on Billboard's Top 100.
VersoFest Celebrates the 50th Anniversary Of Hip Hop with DJ’s from the dawn of the era provided a wealth of knowledge about the genesis of the genre and how these pioneering artists spawned and spread Hip Hop culture around the world.
Legends, Beats, and Grooves curated a hip-hop 50th anniversary panel featuring DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore who has been credited with inventing the ubiquitous "scratch" found in many Hip Hop tracks since the inception of the genre in the Bronx in August of 1973. Along with DJ Theodore on the panel discussing all things Hip Hop were Tony Tone (Cold Crush Brothers), DJ Grand Master Supreme (Lauryn Hill), DJ Ragoza, DJ Billy Busch (HOT 93.7), The panel discussion and Q & Q session was hosted by Terrible Tee and there was a demonstration of the dual turn table DJ mixing which is the core of much of genre.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Morning Weather Report
Today
Partly sunny, with a high near 64. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Tonight
A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48. East wind around 6 mph.
Tomorrow
A chance of showers or drizzle before 8am, then drizzle or light rain likely, mainly after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 53. East wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tomorrow Night
Drizzle likely before 8pm, then a chance of showers between 8pm and 2am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2am. Cloudy, with a temperature rising to around 52 by 2am. East wind around 9 mph becoming south after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
CT, California Governors Bet on NCAA Championship
Governor Lamont’s Office:Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Governor Gavin Newsom of California have placed a friendly wager on the outcome of tonight’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game, in which the UConn Huskies will face the San Diego State Aztecs.
Governor Lamont wrote on Twitter that he is betting a basket of Connecticut Grown beer and wine and a collection of Munson’s Chocolates that the Huskies will claim victory. Governor Newsom replied that he will wager a crate of California avocados that the Aztecs take the title.
“The Huskies remain the most powerful and most energetic basketball team in the nation, and I am confident they have what it takes to bring a fifth NCAA championship trophy back home to Connecticut – the basketball capital of the world,” Governor Lamont said. “The Aztecs are a formidable team and Governor Newsom is a terrific governor and friend, however I have a feeling that pretty soon a shipment of goods will be traveling from Sacramento to Hartford.”
Tip-off for tonight’s game is at 9:20 p.m. ET.
Westport Police: Body Found Floating in Greens Farms Business Park
Google Maps view of 55 Greens Farms Road, which is off of Greens Farms Road between Compo Road South and Hillspoint Road. Westport Police DepartmentOn April 3rd, 2023, the Westport Police Department responded to the area of 55/57 Greens Farms Rd on a report of a body floating in a retention pond on the property. Responding units located the party and confirmed that they were deceased. The investigation is currently in its infancy and the identification is being withheld pending notification to the next of kin.
Update:
Errol Whyte, age 62, of Stamford, CT was positively identified as the deceased person found this morning. Mr. Whyte had been missing since December 29th, 2022 and was the subject of a missing person investigation by Stamford Police Department. Westport Police Detective Bureau will now conduct a death investigation to try and determine the circumstances leading to Mr. Whyte’s death.
The Westport Police Department extends our sincerest condolences to the Mr. Whyte’s family as they navigate these difficult times