Incandescent Brewing Company in Bernardston is marking its first anniversary on Saturday, March 28 with a big celebration. There will be music all day, starting with Folkestone from 2 to 5 p.m., then AfterGlo at 6 p.m. The Caravan Kitchen food truck will be there and, of course, the brewery’s fine craft beers will be available.
Mesi Charles-Perry and her husband, brewer Nate Perry, opened Incandescent Brewing Company last March 28 at the State Street location that was once home to Hitchcock Brewing.
Since the brewery opened, live music has played an important role at the brewery, with various shows featuring local musicians happening every weekend. But according to Mesi Charles-Perry, that wasn’t first and foremost on the couple’s minds when they opened the brewery, their first venture into business ownership.
“When we started out, we hadn’t really thought about live music,” she said. “But when Hitchcock had the space, they had music — so we were like, ‘okay, I guess this is going to be part of our profile.’”
The couple initially brought in a manager to book bands and organize live music programming. When he left in October, it made more financial sense for Charles-Perry to take over this job.
“I never dreamed that I would be doing this part,” she said. “I did all that decor and interior design and things like that, but this was new to me. This was definitely a little shake for me, but it’s been interesting and fun, and I am the first to say that I am not a music person. So it’s been a lot of learning.”
Charles-Perry is learning by doing — researching different bands and listening to lots of music.
One thing she initially worried about was how to find bands, and she quickly learned that they come knocking, often leading to the difficult task of saying no.
“I am Black and Trinidadian American, so when I took over the music, I’m trying to be as diverse as I can and I’m still working on it,” she explained. “I have these goals and aspirations that are probably outlandish, but I want to try and get different types of people, people who look different and are playing music that isn’t always heard here in the Valley. It has been a challenge, honestly, but that’s okay. I’m up for it.”
There’s also the additional challenge of figuring out what people want to see, which acts will draw, and how much music it makes sense to book.
Over the past year Incandescent Brewery’s stage has hosted a wide range of acts, from the jazzy rock band Vimana to the cover band Jimmy Just Quit, to singer-songwriter Joy Conz, and the roots sounds of the Deep River Ramblers among many others. They also hold an open mic on the fourth Thursday of every month, hosted by Danny Hescock.
Besides helping at the brewery, Charles-Perry also works full-time as a nurse, so getting out to see live music, which includes the shows at Incandescent, can be tough. But when asked about her favorite acts from the past year, two came to mind right away: the acoustic string band, Moon Hollow (they’ll be back May 1) and country singer Rosie Porter.
The brewery also presents a “Sunday Sweet Sunday” afternoon music series, which has been quite popular. This past winter, Incandescent also launched a blues series with blues bands playing every second Saturday night.
“I like the blues, and I didn’t see that there was a lot of that happening up this way,” said Charles-Perry. “I thought it would be interesting to do in the winter.”
The blues series has featured bands like the Hendersons Blues Band, Little House Blues, and the Wildcat O’Halloran Band. It went well and got Charles-Perry thinking that they could continue the blues series and bring in bigger bands from outside the area. This has led to the upcoming summer ticketed concert series. Prior to this, all shows have been free, except for a few holiday parties.
The series kicks off on May 30 with “the bad boy of blues,” Emanuel Casablanca, a blues artist from New York whose sound is steeped in southern blues. Other shows in the series include Drew Kiddoo and the Blackouts on June 13. This group is a country rockabilly act, and is the only non-blues act in the series. The Willie J. Laws Jr. Band will perform on June 27, and then Misty Blues, led by the great Gina Coleman, is scheduled for Sept. 24.
But before all that kicks in, there is the party on Saturday. Folkestone features members of the band Deep State, and they describe their music as acoustic, foot-stomping music that is good for drinking beer to. AfterGlo is a popular local band that covers rock, funk, punk and more. This will be their first show of the 2026 series.
“AfterGlo, you know, they played like one of our first shows last year, and so I thought it was appropriate to have them for our anniversary party,” Charles-Perry said. “And Folkestone sounded quirky and fun.”
So come out and raise a glass to celebrate the anniversary and wish Incandescent Brewing Company many more years — and do check out their calendar at Incandescentbrewing.com.
“I’m excited about all the shows coming up and the diversity of them, the music and the people representing them,” said Charles-Perry. “We’re just looking forward to having a great summer. We have a lot of music, and I think there’s a lot out there for everyone.”
You can view the entire schedule and purchase tickets for the ticketed shows at incandescentbrewing.com.
Reprise at the Shea Theater
If you are a fan of the Vermont-based jam band Phish, you will want to head to the Shea Theater Arts Center in Turners Falls on Thursday, April 2 at 8 p.m. to hear the Phish tribute band, Reprise. They played at the Shea for the first time last October, and they absolutely packed the place.
The band consists of four incredible musicians who have played with Pink Talking Fish, Twiddle, and The Machine. They brilliantly “reprise” the often complicated, quirky music of Phish, often duplicating an entire old Phish show. You may recall that the Dark Star Orchestra does this with the music of the Grateful Dead.
One difference is Reprise lets the fans know in advance the show they will be performing, and the show they will play on April 2 will be one Phish played on Nov. 29, 1997, at the Worcester Centrum.
Tickets available at sheatheater.org
Dark Star Orchestra tickets on sale Friday. Speaking of the Dark Star Orchestra, the most well-known of the many Grateful Dead tribute bands working today, the group will perform at the Tree House Brewing Company in South Deerfield on June 15 and June 16 as part of the summer stage concert series. Tickets for both shows go on sale Friday, March 27 at 10 a.m. at DSPShows.com.
Sheryl Hunter is a freelance writer who resides in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national publications. She can be reached at Soundslocal@yahoo.com.