Tad Hitchcock
(guitar), Dave Hurst (drums), Rick Maida (bass), and Phyllis Fallon (vocals)
"Music is for everyone." Gwenn Vivian / The Acton Jazz Café / Acton
who play at the Inn on Friday and Saturday nights. The Colonial Inn offers music ranging from jazz to folk to rock and roll at the tavern on Wednesday through Sunday. Adding to the feeling of history at the nearly 300-year-old Inn is the Village Forge Tavern itself, which looks like the "inside of a barn. It's paneled with wood salvaged from a farm in New Hampshire. It reverberates nicely with the instruments," says Maida.
Something for Everyone Maida, who likes to use local talent, says he schedules music for a variety of tastes. His reg- ular Wednesday act, Jimmy Mazzy & the Last Minute Men, has been performing at the Tavern for 30 years. Mazzy draws a regular crowd of 60-plus patrons, just like the weekend shows tend to draw a notably younger crowd. "Music is for everyone," says Gwenn Vivian, owner of The Acton Jazz Café, and that is one of the most delightful things about the local music scene: there is something for every age. Still, it's important to remember that the average age of residents in Concord – accord- ing to Wikipedia – is 42. As a result, area music venues definitely differ from the younger music scene in Boston.
Around here most local spots cater to a wide range of ages. One example where patrons of
many ages congregate is the Java Room in Chelmsford. A coffee house and wine and cock- tail bar that offers live music on weekend nights and for Saturday and Sunday brunches, it pulls in many of the acts who play the venues in Concord and Acton. On a Friday night, jazz vocalist Helene J. Gove and guitarist Michael Chasse played to a low-key audience of 20- somethings on dates and 60-somethings quietly jamming to the music.
28 ★ north bridge magazine ★ SPRING/SUMMER 2012