Joe Adler at Summervale!
There is no denying that summer is a special time in Vermont: the view of rolling, lush mountains at golden hour, fields of wildflowers, and refreshing watering holes. Summer is made all the more rewarding by Vermonters’ resilience during the long and harsh winter. For months we sit inside, three layers thick, waiting for those sparse three months of sunlight, shorts, and celebration.
And there is no more perfect event to capture all these treasures than at Summervale this Thursday! If you have yet to make it out to the Intervale farmstead, we are honored to formally invite you to the grand finale of Summervale 2022. There is no one else we would rather dance away the season with than with the man by a thousand names, purveyor of fine tunes, and a friend to all at the Intervale: Joe Adler.
Joe has been a pillar of the creation and continuation of Summervale year in and out. This year is his 10th anniversary at Summervale. He curates the event and provides sound tech and support for the local bands that take the stage. Joe started at Summervale in 2012 when the event was still finding its footing. Back then it was closer to a “farmer’s market,” he recounts. The open-mindedness and innovative minds that have and continue to make Summervale happen can be credited for making it such a great event. “Every year it grows up a little bit more.” Joe holds such a fondness and love for Summervale that the event itself feels like family.
“I wasn’t there in the beginning, I don't feel like I'm like, a parent, or grandparent of Summervale. I feel like I'm like, a cousin that got brought in a couple of years later. And someone who works with the family to just help dial in the love meter, every year a little bit more. I try to think of how we get this to the point where it's a place where people are able to enjoy it, and to connect with each other, and connect with our community.”
Joe Adler is the Burlington music scene. He knows everybody, has worked for everyone, and even shared a beer with the luckiest of them. Our town can thank the great music stylings of the Grateful Dead for luring a young Adler to Vermont in 1996. In 2003, Joe made the leap from his previous home in Washington D.C to Burlington after having an epiphany at the 2003 Discover Jazz Festival. In 2011, Adler began a job booking and managing at Burlington’s grooviest club, Radio Bean.
The Joe Adler Band will be a performing mostly original songs, with a few 80’s nostalgia pieces thrown in. Adler is known for his funky blues, folk, and experimental rock sounds. He began writing at the age of 16 and has yet to slow down.
Celebration is a big theme in Joe’s songwriting. “It's nice to kind of have these little celebrations of the moments. Every gig every rehearsal, every songwriting session is just like the celebration of life. At least it is for me."
Joe has had a number of band names, so many that it would take hours to list in full. Here is a curated and in no way complete list of some of his best over the past 20 years:
The Show-Off’s
Tacoma Hillbillies
Red Pants and the Sugar Man
Joe Adler and the Sonic Rhetoricians
Joe Adler and the Rangers of Dangers
Joe Adler and the Veils of Summer
Urban Funk
Joe Adler and the Big Benson Bever Band
And finally, he is stripping down to the basics this week with his most vulnerable band title, Joe Adler.
This Thursday, Joe will be playing alongside guitarist, mandolinist, and trusted friend Eric Segalstad, plus Tyler Bolles of Rough Francis on Bass, and Andy Kareckas setting the tone on drums.
Don’t miss the season finale of this special weekly event series Thursday from 5:30 – 8 pm…only at the Intervale Center!