Miss Tess & The Bon Ton Parade March 24, 2012

“Modern vintage” is how Brooklyn-based chanteuse Miss Tess describes her music. What you’ll hear out of Miss Tess and her tight-knit band, The Bon Ton Parade, is hard to pin down but easy to like—a blend of jazz, roots, country, blues and Americana. She has won or been nominated for awards in folk, jazz and roots categories. “She’s jazzy, retro, cabaret-esque, sweet, sassy, old-timey, enchanting, sometimes a little folky, and sometimes she’s got the blues. Her music is also fresh and exciting.”—The Portland Press Herald

Just nominated for a 2012 New England Music Award in the "Jazz Act of the Year" category, Miss Tess is a songwriter and performing musician, who tours regularly with her band. They are appearing Saturday, March 24 at The Bottling Works, 426 E. Main St., Romney, WV, for a Hampshire County Arts Council Spring concert. The group will perform at 7:30PM, following the Hampshire County Arts Council's Annual Meeting and a social gathering. Admission for the concert is $14 ($12 for HCAC members and under 17 free.)

Advance tickets may be purchased online at http://www.HampshireArts.org/ or at the Hampshire County Visitor Center in The Bottling Works, Tuesday through Saturday 9AM to 4PM. Seating for advance ticket purchasers is assigned up front on a first-purchased basis. All other seats are first-come first-served.

In addition to Tess's tasty licks and prowess on her 1940s archtop guitar, the current band lineup includes Will Graefe on guitar, Danny Weller on upright bass, and Matt Meyer on drums. Inspired by styles of vintage swing, blues, country, and folk, Miss Tess draws comparisons to artists such as Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Peggy Lee, and Chuck Berry, but maintains a style all of her own. "She’s a musical chameleon, recalling at various moments Tom Waits’ barfly humor, the cabaret-rock of Beirut, or even the wink-wink wit of early Bette Midler." – Holly Hughes, Blog Critics.

Miss Tess has just released “Live Across the Mason Dixon Line”, a documentation of the group's extensive tour history. The album features two live shows – one from the Regatta Bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts and one from Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Georgia. This release proves a valiant effort by the band to blur the lines that once clearly dictated style, genre, and location. Stemming from the truest meaning of the now overused word “Americana,” the band pushes their influences into the current music scene with something totally fresh and soulfully timeless. The skilled musicianship of the quartet combined with Tess’s heartfelt songwriting and powerful stage presence creates a live experience that is more interesting and engaging then most by popular musicians today. It’s quality music you can’t define in one sentence.

The Hampshire County Arts Council welcomes persons with disabilities at all its activities.To request accessibility services to participate, please contact 304-703-1350 or performances@hampshirearts.org in advance and we will do our best to accommodate. WV Relay Operator for information on performances: 711-496-8002

This concert is sponsored by The Loy Foundation and FNB Romney and presented with financial assistance from the WV Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the WV Commission on the Arts.