Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship for Times Argus
MONTPELIER — Among a clattering of glasses and hearty laughs in Mulligan’s Irish Pub in Barre, the strum of live guitars rings clear. The band is an acoustic version of the over three-decade-old central Vermont group, Native Tongue.
Native Tongue is one of several groups bringing live music to the area, with over 300 cover songs and several originals. Their large catalogue keeps people coming back, with unique sets created for each performance.
“We’re gonna respect the music. We’re gonna play it the way that these folks wrote it, cause they wrote it and presented it that way for a reason,” said Native Tongue singer Bob Nelson, who has been with the band since its inception in 1993.
Nelson was born in Montpelier to a family that has worked in central Vermont’s retail industry for generations. He started Nelson Ace Hardware with his parents 42 years ago and now runs the store in Barre with his wife.
Prior to joining Native Tongue, Nelson sang in multiple ensembles, beginning with high school choir. After graduating, he sang baroque music and did musical theater at the Barre Opera House, producing and starring in the shows.
Nelson’s music career changed when the hardware store’s manager, Annette Boisvert, invited him to a Halloween party. There, he met Annette’s husband and drummer, Rob Boisvert.
Shortly after they started playing together, Nelson and Boisvert needed a second guitarist. Boisvert introduced TJ Powers at practice.
“So he set up, and we chit-chatted a little bit, and we started playing. And after basically one song we realized that TJ Powers was gonna be the right fit for us,” Nelson said.
Native Tongue has cycled through a few members since its start. About a year after Powers joined, the group welcomed bass player Todd Wells. The four played together for almost a decade before adding Mike Stridsberg in 2006.
“Mike really changed the way that the band kind of held together,” Nelson said.
The inclusion of Stridsberg allowed the group to sing four-part harmonies, a rarity that Nelson said set them apart.
“I may play a little keyboards, I may play a little harmonica, I may play a little acoustic or electric, just whatever the song needs,” Stridsberg said.
Rob Boisvert left shortly after the release of the band’s first and only album, “Frozen,” in 2009 to pursue solo music. Eventually, he was replaced by drummer Kevin Bell.
Then in 2018, guitarist and singer Ed Burgess joined, forming the six-person group that remained intact until about six months ago, when TJ Powers moved out of state.
Around 2015, a smaller group of members formed acoustic Native Tongue, a stripped down version of the band fit for quieter venues.
For many of the members, Native Tongue isn’t their only band. Stridsberg travels around New England with the Heart tribute band, Heartless.
“It’s certainly a labor of love,” Stridsberg said. “There’s a lot of people doing it, and there’s a lot of excellent musicians doing it, but nobody’s really making money out of it.”
The reward, he said, is seeing the audience enjoy the music.
“It creates this sort of feedback loop — they enjoy hearing it, so you enjoy playing it. And the more you enjoy it, the more they enjoy it back,” Stridsberg said.
For former Montpelier City Manager Bill Fraser, playing music is a stress relief and escape.
“Some people it’s golf, some people it’s skiing, or whatever it might be. And there’s a strain of people for whom the arts is their outlet,” Fraser said.
Fraser spent 30 years as city manager, playing in the band Rusty Romance for 10 years on the side. Since his retirement this summer, he’s been able to spend more time playing with City Clerk John Odum. The two have begun practicing with a drummer but aren’t quite ready to play for crowds yet.
His new group is different from the rock and roll leanings of Rusty Romance, Fraser said, instead playing loud, bluesy rock.
“I’ve just been kind of obsessed with music since I was a kid,” Fraser said. “It has always been one of my favorite things, whether it was buying music, going to shows, playing — it’s just my form of release.”
Although making money can be difficult in the industry, central Vermont is full of talent, Fraser said.
“It’s always been a hotbed of creativity, a hotbed of artists,” Fraser said