Rising blues and soul singer Dwayne Haggins will be playing for the first time in Henniker at the Angela Robinson Bandstand on Tuesday, August 19.
He’s been described as “the love child of Hank Williams and Otis Redding,” “The John Legend of rockabilly,” and even “the ‘what-took-you-so-long?’ fusion of Elvis Presley and Marvin Gaye.” At every performance, whether in a venerable metropolitan concert hall or a grimy dive in an anonymous strip mall, Dwayne Haggins is always at work. He’s always adding new subtleties to an obvious melody line, reinterpreting a time-worn lyrical cliché to imbue it anew with genuine feeling, unleashing a gentle cascade of vocal acrobatics when least expected (and hence most effective) — never for show alone, but always to express a likewise unanticipated nuance of feeling: a whisper of love, a curse of anger, a groan of pain, a whoop of joy that feels, paradoxically, both surprising and inevitable at the same moment.
Since early 2017, Dwayne has been on a quest to make a living playing music, leaving his mark on dozens of bars, restaurants and clubs scattered across eastern and central Massachusetts. His distinctive sound, which delivers a brand-new take on the traditional country-blues and soul that he loves, has generated a rare sense of excitement and possibility throughout the area’s musical community. Notably, Haggins has shared the stage with acts such as Keb Mo, Joe Bonamassa, Ronnie Earl, George Thorogood, Eric Gales and Samantha Fish.
The Henniker Summer Music Series is sponsored by the town of Henniker, along with tonight’s sponsor, New England College, an accredited, private, nonprofit college, serving more than 5,000 undergraduate, graduate, and online students each year with an emphasis on experiential learning.
For the last three shows of the summer — August 19, August 26 and September 2 — we will be providing shuttle service to/from the concerts for Henniker residents. The shuttles will stop at the Knolls and Rush Square to accommodate non-driving residents and in front of the Grange for people who park their cars in the Henniker Community School parking lot. This is to help alleviate some of the parking problems these higher-attended shows create and to make it possible for more non-driving residents to attend the concerts. We have flyers at our table showing the shuttle routes and approximate times of pickup. We are indebted to White Birch for letting us use their buses to provide this service and to the Angela Robinson Music Fund and NH Charitable Foundation for the grant making this project possible.
All concerts are free (although donations are welcome), begin at 6 p.m. and take place at the Angela Robinson Bandstand at Community Park, Main Street. If there is inclement weather, concerts will move indoors to the adjacent Community Center. Bring a chair, spread a blanket, visit a local restaurant, have a picnic supper on the lawn or sample some of the fare provided by this week’s Food Truck vendor, Empanadas Delluxe 603. Join your neighbors and friends in this community-building event at our bandstand. The complete summer schedule and weekly weather updates are available on the Town of Henniker website: www.henniker.org and on our Facebook page: https://facebook.com/HennikerConcert.
