WARWICK — If cabin fever is setting in, the Wooden Fender concert series has the cure, with music, dancing and dinner starting this weekend.
For the 15th year in a row, Wooden Fender has invited four local bands to perform at Town Hall, once each month from January through April.
“People definitely get excited about it,” said Matt Hickler, one of the concert series’ organizers. “People come for the music. It’s an audience that wants to dance and really listen to the music.”
The first concert of the 2020 series will be Saturday, Jan. 11, with dinner of homemade soups, chili, breads and desserts at 6 p.m. followed by The Gaslight Tinkers’ performance at 7 p.m. The band performs a mix of African, Caribbean, funk, reggae and Latin grooves melded with traditional fiddle music.
Wooden Fender is a project of the Warwick Arts Council. It is organized by Hickler, Michael Humphries, Mike Italia, Jim McRae and Alan Morgan. While the tradition has been held under its current title since 2006, it began as “Blues Night” and was held on a weekend around Valentine’s Day.
Hickler said Wooden Fender concerts attract music lovers from neighboring communities, with the small-town events offering “a feeling you can’t beat.”
“Each year, we’re more and more finding that people enjoy different kinds of music,” Hickler said, noting the variety of this year’s line-up. “We mostly pull bands from around the valley.”
The second concert, on Feb. 15, will be “Blues Night” with The Barrett Anderson Band, preceded by a “Pizzapalooza” dinner from the Trinitarian Congregational Church. On March 21, the church will host a belated St. Patrick’s Day dinner with music by The Green Sisters. The 2020 series will close out on April 18 with a performance from No Lens and a “Rasta Pasta Lasagna Dinner” offered by the Moore’s Pond Beach Committee. All dinners start at 6 p.m. and concerts start at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.
“The Green Sisters are an amazing family group,” Hickler said of the future performers. “And Barrett is a really good blues artist gaining national attention.”
Donations — $5 recommended — will be accepted at the door to pay the band and support Wooden Fender’s ongoing endeavor to keep live music happening in Warwick.
“We’re not out to make money,” Hickler said. “We’re primarily trying to support the bands.”
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.