Worcester Magazine March 18 - 24, 2022

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | CULTURE § ARTS § DINING § VOICES

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Worcester gets a little bit

country CHRIS JANSON COMING TO THE PALLADIUM PAGE 14

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IN THIS ISSUE

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Featured ..............................................................................4 City Voices ........................................................................10 Listen Up ...........................................................................13 Cover Story.......................................................................14 Next Draft .........................................................................17 Screen Time .....................................................................20 Adoption Option.............................................................25 Games................................................................................26 Last Call.............................................................................27

On the cover Country music star Chris Janson will perform at the Palladium March 26.

PHOTO COURTESY EVAN DE STEFANO. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANI CHERCHIO/USA TODAY NETWORK, GETTY IMAGES

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4 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

FEATURED

Clark University student brings yoga to new level with ganja Monica Sager Special to Worcester Telegram & Gazette USA TODAY NETWORK

WORCESTER — At the onset of the pandemic, Clark University student and certifi ed yoga instructor, Melanie Adams couldn’t make herself practice on her mat.

With so much going on in her life — from being forced to go back home to leaving her friends behind and even trying to circumnavigate a virtual world — yoga wasn’t taking priority for Adams.

Her solution? Ganja yoga.

In October of 2020, Adams earned her certifi cation in ganja yoga, making her one of only of two yoga teachers in Massachusetts trained to teach cannabisenhanced yoga.

“This is a great activity because cannabis and yoga pair so well with some improved fl exibility, and for some people their balance can improve,” Adams said.

“People really get into the fl ow of it more. It takes away the obstacle or the boundary of the mind.”

Adams, who works at Worcester’s Mayfl ower Medicinals at 645 Park Ave., ensures that the cannabis she shares with her classes is safe and high quality.

“I just want to make sure everyone’s having a good time,” Adams said. “It’s very important to know how to safely guide people through this practice. I was able to apply everything I already knew from being a yoga teacher and from teaching for almost three years at this point.”

People, who must be over 21, join her for the inviteonly, two-hour class on her porch where they pass around a pre-roll or bong at the start. Adams also of-

“This is a great activity because cannabis and yoga pair so well with some improved flexibility, and for some people their balance can improve,” says Melanie Adams. COURTESY MELANIE ADAMS

fers edibles that are generally 70 to 80 mg, such as Lucky Charm marshmallow treats or blondies, that she makes herself in the shape of a heart. Students pay for the yoga portion of the event and not for the cannabis, ensuring that Adams and everyone present are heeding the law.

The group sits around and smokes for around a half hour, listening to a collaborative playlist, before they move to Adams’ fenced-in backyard and lay their mats out in rows to begin their hour-long practice with a 15minute meditation to end it all.

Adams, who is a senior at Clark studying psycholo-

gy, mentioned a Sanskrit phrase, “this is what occurs when the mind ceases turning,” that becomes center in a ganja yoga practice.

“I want to help people to unlock that state of almost enlightenment, where they’re not as focused on all their obligations and worries that they usually carry,” Adams said. “This is a space where they can escape all of that, even if it’s just for a little while.”

For Adams, she said the hardest part of ganja yoga is remembering what she did on one side of the body in See YOGA, Page 5

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Yoga Continued from Page 4

Adams is one of only two yoga teachers in Massachusetts trained to teach cannabis-enhanced yoga. COURTESY MELANIE ADAMS

that knows your body,” Adams said. “I think that sometimes yoga turns into ‘Simon Says’ and people think they have to do what the instructor says or the people next to them are doing.”

Instead, Adams uses words like “if you’re able,” “if it feels comfortable,” “you can,” and “if you want.” She gives a variety of choices for her students in each pose. Adams, who said that her “eccentric personality” leads to unique yoga experiences, also encourages her students throughout the practice, cheering them on when they try something new and telling them that they got it in tough poses.

“It’s disempowering to have someone tell you what to do,” Adams said. “Your yoga practice belongs to you.”

Looking to the future, Adams wants to start outdoor teaching again. She wants to one day use her yoga and psychology backgrounds together to become a yoga therapist. She would use yoga in a more individual and personalized style.

“I really think that every single person in the world should be practicing yoga in some way,” Adams said. “I don’t think there’s any kind of exercise that can substitute this kind of stretching.”

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order to repeat it again on the other.

“I fi nd that I’m much more creative, though,” Adams said. “I don’t have to put in all the eff ort because it channels through me. After teaching yoga for four years, the poses are stored within my body.”

Though, Adams admits ganja yoga isn’t for everyone.

“I don’t think it’s a general oversweeping thing. Cannabis yoga is not for everyone,” Adams said. “I will say that I often get a few people each visit that do not consume cannabis at all.”

Beyond her ganja yoga, Adams teaches four to fi ve vinyasa yoga classes a week at Clark, Holy Cross, and sometimes Anna Maria College.

Adams started practicing yoga at 15 years old. She called it part of her personality and a weekly tradition. She did it for a gym credit, but yoga quickly became an integral part of her life.

She went on to receive her 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2018, right after high school. Adams specialized in vinyasa yoga. In 2020, she earned her training in trauma conscious yoga, a practice that has defi nitely made an impact on how Adams teaches her own classes to this day. This sense of yoga has allowed her to learn how to be more adaptable and look into other areas, such as how the practice can help people through transitions and other hard times in their lives.

Now, each Wednesday and Thursday, Adams prepares to lead a yoga class at the College of the Holy, as she drives to the College Street location in her car that sports a yoga-moniker on the license plate and sets up with her yoga mat with a tie-dye design.

“In these times when the external world makes it hard for us to slow down and breathe, remember that, when surrendering, the outcome is not a sign of weakness,” Adams said to her students at the start of a class. “It is a sign of trust, that there is more than one way to get to our destination. We can be calm and enjoy. We don’t need to endlessly toil.”

Adams teaches in an empowermentfocused style, ensuring that she is mindful to her audience and that anyone is able to practice alongside her.

“My teaching style is that everything is optional because you’re the only one

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6 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Untangling the politics of hair WSU professor to give presentation for historical museum Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Worcester State University Professor Tanya Mears has taught a course on “The Politics Of Hair” for about four years and it is a blockbuster, in terms of drawing students.

On March 16 at 7 p.m., she will be bringing this topic to a wider audience in the 10th virtual presentation accompanying Worcester Historical Museum’s “Pretty Powerful” exhibit. One of the fundamental premises of the exhibit is that fashion matters, and that examining fashion can provide insight into women’s experiences in economics, politics and culture. To that end, hair fashions can be a conscious political choice as well, especially the ways that Black women choose to fashion their hair and how it shapes interactions in a society that still views standards of beauty through a white lens.

Mears says that the hairstyles of Black women, even in the modern world, are still considered “unprofessional” and women can even be sent home from work because of their haircut. That makes them, overwhelmingly, the only people who are policed on their hair. “I teach at a college so I get more leeway, but if I were working in a front facing position as a bank teller or in a corporate environment, the expectation would be that I conform to a white aesthetic.”

She recounted how Malcom X was very judgmental of Black women straightening their hair, because he said they wanted to look like the oppressor, but in her opinion, it is much more complicated than that. “It’s a matter of survival.”

Deb Hall of the Worcester Black History Project, which is a co-sponsor of the presentation, agrees that the white aesthetic is often internalized by young Black girls and she remembers trying to

Dr. Tanya Mears, Ph.D. associate professor of United States & African American History Department of History and Political Science, Worcester State University WORCESTER STATE UNIVERSITY

straighten her hair — “it was just something you did.”

She hopes that, “one day, we can get to the point where it doesn’t matter — (it’s) not less authentic if you straighten your hair and (you’re) not seen as diff erent if you don’t — that we can all be free to be as creative as we want with our hair and not have a billion dollar industry telling us what to do.”

The main point of Mears’ presentation is to educate people about the concepts of normativity and non-normativity.

“Because of their socialization, white people assume the things that they fi nd important are normative, or the default, and don’t consider how it is diff erent for Black and brown people and other worldviews.” It stems from the reality

that white people can go from the cradle to the grave and not interact with people of color, but Black and brown people don’t have that option.

“We can’t even escape it in our houses,” she says, “you turn on the TV or open a book, there are white folks there.” Which can lead to the disorienting sensation of being a stranger in your own country.

“I can remember, as a young child, going to camp and there used to be a fascination with my hair — how do you comb it, what products do you use, how often do you wash it — even at that age, I could see the diff erence,” said Hall. And in college, when she was looking at dorms, white women wanted to touch her hair.

That’s not an uncommon occurrence, according to Mears.

“A number of the Black students who come to the class have had the experience of random white people coming up to them and running their fi ngers through their hair.”

It has happened to Mears, who used to have long dreads that people would pull like a rope. “It serves to dehumanize a person,” Mears said. For a white person to think that’s acceptable, is an example of white privilege.

Mears feels people get very uncomfortable with the term “white privilege” but says that all it means is that white people can expect to maneuver in a world of whiteness. So they don’t have insight into the fact that their world view, behavior, and expectations are not the same as everyone else.

“Historically speaking, one of the more complicated things that has happened in the U.S. is that white people don’t think of themselves as a racialized group,” she said.

Mears emphasizes that white privilege has nothing to do with class or whether or not someone is racist.

“It’s a simple reality but if you don’t see yourself as racialized, ending racism is not your problem and you have a privilege as you move through the world and it is easier for you.”

Mears said people have raised their voices to her because they were so angry at the suggestion that they were privileged in some way or received any See HAIR, Page 9

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 7

Bears repeating: Local bears are waking, but it doesn’t have to be a confrontation Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

When a friend called to say they had seen a bear crossing Main Street and to keep the dogs inside, Holden resident Dan Prosser didn’t pay it much mind.

After all, the dogs were inside and both he and his wife were in for the evening.

However, when Prosser’s wife opened the back door to check on the chickens, she came face to face with said bear on their back porch, eying the chicken coop with interest. She ran back inside for her camera, returning in time for a shot of its rear disappearing over the fence.

Worcester County residents can expect to hear and experience situations similar to the Prossers more frequently for the next month, as bears emerge from hibernation through April.

“They’re coming out of the dens and hungry as can be,” said Prosser. Having not eaten anything since November or December, their stomachs will be growling even more than they are, causing normally cautious animals to explore areas they would otherwise avoid — such as backyards.

Bears are mainly vegetarians and will be foraging for wetlands vegetation, acorns, and tubers like skunk cabbage or Jack in the pulpit. However, upon coming out of the den, their natural food may be initially hard to come by, and human-related sources may prove an easy, fi lling and most of all, consistent, meal.

“A bird feeder represents thousands of calories that gets refi lled almost every day,” said MassWildlife biologist David Wattles. He said bird seed is the number one thing that attracts bears to backyards, at which point they notice all sorts of other interesting things, leading to other issues as they try to get into sheds, the garbage, beehives and chicken coops.

The last one has grown increasingly common and is potentially the most problematic — wildlife and livestock confl ict rarely ends well. Backyard chicken farming has become more popular over the last couple of years, especially during the pandemic. Chickens, eggs, and feed are all great food sources,

and there is simply no way to build a backyard chicken coop that can keep out a determined bear. Wattles encourages chicken owners to use electric fencing, with the necessary info available on the MassWildlife website.

Pet owners can breathe a sigh of relief, because out of all the animals a bear might encounter in a backyard, chickens seem to be the only ones they consider on the menu. “In terms of seeing pets as prey items, we don’t get many reports of that,” said Wattles. This doesn’t mean that you should let your dog out to try and chase it off , however, rather, follow the Prossers’ example and keep your four-legged family members indoors until the bear’s gone.

It’s not only suburban dwellers who will have to get used to hungry furry neighbors. “There is lots of natural habitat on the edge of Worcester with increasing numbers of bears in Worcester County,” said Wattles. One bear collared

by MassWildlife even denned this year very close to Worcester Airport. “In and around the city, we’re going to see bears,” he said. “They will adapt and establish themselves.” Which means humans will have to adapt as well — but it’s easier than it sounds, mainly requiring just a few changes in habits.

“We carelessly lure bears into our yards and neighborhoods with food when we don’t secure our trash,” said Colin Novick, executive director of the Greater Worcester Land Trust. “And we need to know that late winter into spring, when bears are waking up, is a very poor time to be out fi lling up the bird feeders.” Keeping trash in a closed bin and waiting a few weeks to put out the bird feeders will go a long way to preventing unexpected furry visitors.

As the weather continues to improve (this last bout of snow notwithstanding) more and more people are returning to outdoor recreation. If hiking suddenly seems less appealing with the thought of hungry bears wandering around, both Novick and Wattles emphasized bears are more afraid of us than we are of them. “Generally speaking, there is very little risk from our See BEARS, Page 8

A bear at Eagle Lake DAN PROSSER

8 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Bears Continued from Page 7

bears, and people fi nd bears are timid around people and see us as the dangerous party to be avoided,” said Novick.

That being said, whether it’s in the woods or your backyard, if you see a bear, said Wattles, “give it the respect it deserves and give it space.” Upon seeing one ahead on a trail ahead of you, the key is to let the bear know you’re there — a startled bear is more likely to react defensively. If you suddenly fi nd yourself too close, however, back up slowly while speaking calmly. Wattles emphasized the slow part — despite being primarily vegetarians, “you don’t want to run from any predatory animal,” he said, as that will trigger the chase instinct. While too slow to chase deer and other wild animals, bears will beat humans in a foot race hands down.

In terms of not surprising a bear, sticking to established trails, being aware, listening, looking, and paying attention to where you are should be enough to avoid any trouble, Novick added.

“So, hiking is a low, low bear risk activity,” he said, “while sunbathing next to your spring backyard bird feeder is decidedly an extreme sport!”

The party taking the larger risk, however, is almost always the bear. Novick witnessed a tragically avoidable situation in Worcester near his home. A bear that had been using the rail trail as a habitat corridor from Leicester into Webster Square found itself cornered by a dog in a fenced in backyard. In a panic, the owner called the police and an offi cer shot the bear with a pistol.

“It was a classic example of how not to defuse a wildlife interaction,” said Novick. “My reaction went from wonder and excitement, to frustration, to heartbreak.”

Fortunately, in the decade since, methods have greatly improved, and more often an out of place bear is sedated and relocated.

“A bear eating out of a bird feeder, trash or chicken coop isn’t a bad bear,” said Wattles, “it’s just being a bear.” The onus is on humans, he said, to decrease the likelihood of a dangerous situation — be it for humans or bears.

“We can choose whether there is bear-human confl ict,” he said.

After fi nding a bear in their backyard, Dan’s wife, Tara, ran back inside for the camera, returning just in time to see the bear scrambling over the fence after an aborted chicken coop raid. TARA PROSSER

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WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 9

CONNELL SANDERS

I spent the weekend in one of those tiny cabins from Instagram Sarah Connell Sanders

If your side of the algorithm is anything like mine, you’ve probably seen a Getaway Outpost pop up on your social media feed more than once. The targeted ads encourage city dwellers to escape to a 200-square-foot cabin for a low-tech holiday in the woods. In every post, attractive couples sit cuddled up on a queen bed, sipping steaming mugs of coff ee under the light of a massive picture window. The reality wasn’t far off .

Dog-Friendly Stay: A Getaway stay is as much a vacation for your dog as it is for you. In fact, a brief stroll around the premises revealed that nearly every other visitor had also brought a fourlegged friend. Inside the cabin, we found a bag of sustainably harvested dog treats, a feeding bowl, and a map detailing a number of dog-friendly hikes nearby. A tie-out cable reached just short of the cabin door, allowing our pup the independence required for convenient late-night bathroom breaks.

The Cabins: Each of the Getaway cabins is named for a staff member’s grandmother. We stayed in "Angela," which meant that we alternated between bursting into song for most of the weekend, a hybrid of the Lumineers “Angela” and Taylor Swift’s “Getaway Car.” The cabin includes an electric stovetop, a sink, and a refrigerator, along with an outdoor fi re pit for grilling. Our cabin’s bathroom was deceivingly spacious — the hot water tank not as much. Plan showers accordingly.

Somehow we felt secluded during our entire stay in spite of the cabin’s transparent fourth wall. In fact, we both agreed the fi sh tank window was the best part of our accommodations. The view looked out on swaths of 100-foot trees billowing in the wind. At night, we could see the stars. We woke up with the sun.

Activities: The Getaway operates more than 20 “outposts” across the

Some of the cabin's features included a bag of sustainably harvested dog treats and a map detailing dog-friendly hikes. COURTESY SARAH CONNELL SANDERS

Hair Continued from Page 6

preferential treatment and asserted they aren’t wealthy. But basically, white privilege means that the color of your skin didn’t prevent you from getting a loan or an apartment.

Colorblind racism is what’s in style now, said Mears, and she has to be very very careful about how the concept is presented to people. She explains that colorblind racism is off ensive in that it relies on the idea that race-based differences don’t matter, ignores the realities of systemic racism and does not distinguish between equality and equity. While it may be well-intentioned, it leaves people without the language to discuss race and examine their own bias.

In our society, according to Hall, hair is a gendered discussion about how women can be more beautiful and the objectifi cation of women that takes place in a patriarchal society.

“It’s how gender and race intersect to make Black women and girls feel not good enough or pretty enough and ex-

cluded from the defi nition of a ‘true woman,’ which is available only to white women.”

The “Politics of Hair” is a conversation, said Hall, that she can’t remember ever not happening. That being said, she said, the hair industry has been hugely profi table for Black women entrepreneurs. The fi rst Black women millionaires were in the hair care industry providing hair products for women like them.

Charlotte Haller, history and political science professor at WSU, and moderator of the “Pretty Powerful” exhibit, said that the Mears’ presentation fi ts perfectly into the themes of Pretty Powerful because it shows the ways that fashion and hair are politicized. “It can be made political by the dominant culture through laws and codes regulating appearance and through the everyday interactions of white dominance and supremacy.”

“Glad we’re having the conversation now,” added Hall, “it really is where racism and sexism intersect in this society — the closer to white skin, the longer and straighter hair is, the closer you are to being successful.”

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country. The closest to Worcester include Blake Brook in New Hampshire (1 hour and 45-minute drive) and Machimoodus in Connecticut (1 hour and 30minute drive). We went south to Connecticut but still managed to sneak in a snowfall. On the fi rst evening, we visited the nearby town of Chester. I suspect we crossed through some sort of time and space continuum in the course of our 15-minute drive along the Connecticut River. Chester’s town center strongly resembled Stars Hollow, the fi ctional setting of "Gilmore Girls."

We enjoyed dinner at a restaurant called Grano Arso, located in the old See CABIN, Page 12

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10 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CITY VOICES LANDGREN WORCESTER FILLING CHIEF

WORCESTERIA

DIVERSITY OFFICER POST AGAIN

Worcester Telegram & Gazette Executive Editor David Nordman brings all fi ve storytellers to the stage during the Storytellers Project at The DCU Club at Polar Park on Tuesday. RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

BAD ADVICE

Celebrate ‘parade activities’ all year long Shaun Connolly Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

DEAR SHAUN: I realize Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, however Worcester tends to have their parade on the Sunday before. I was born and raised in Worcester. I have no intention of leaving. I want to ignore the actual holiday and only celebrate on Worcester’s Parade Day. Should I do this?

DEAR WORCESTER IRISH: The Worcester parade’s already passed, but for next year, I say go for it. March to the beat of your own Bodhran drum and pennywhistle. The parade is a weird and wild time, you should enjoy it.

Whether it is publicly drinking with strangers, lifting your child up to catch frozen candy thrown by a man in a fez, or catching up with people you haven’t seen since high school, the parade is a time to connect. And yeah, that Sunday is a lot. If you’re marching in the parade they ask you to start to line up at 9 a.m. in Webster Square. If you’re really into the parade (which it seems you may just be) you’re at Breen’s or Leitrum’s pregaming and mumbling the Irish folks songs I’m convinced no one actually knows all the words to, they just get super loud when it gets to a part that says, “Wild Rover!”

Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrating the See BAD ADVICE, Page 12

Storytellers Project puts everyday tales in perspective Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

There was a moment, perhaps a half hour before the start of the Worcester Storytellers Project event in the DCU Club at Polar Park, when it was clear the room was going to fi ll up. We knew it was going to – people had bought tickets, after all – but still, no matter how many shows you've worked on, you never quite believe things are going to happen until you can see physical bodies in front of you, especially these days, when 1 in 5 concert tickets reportedly go unused. Seeing is believing, now even more than usual. That, perhaps, was the key to the event's success

and power: People want to hear their own stories, and the Storytellers Project allowed us to present fi ve stories from diff erent corners of our community, in the words of the people who lived them.

I'm not here to review or rehash the show, although our storytellers Dave McGrath, Arnold Pulda, Lou Ramos, Ashley Wonder & Shweta Bhatt knocked it out of the Polar Park. Rather, the show has me thinking about the nature of stories themselves, how they seem to echo across time, how they seem to repeat and rhyme at unexpected intervals. All fi ve of our tellers had unique experiences – from health See TALES, Page 12

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 11

HARVEY

Remembering the original ‘Tender Bar,’ Stoney O’Brien’s Janice Harvey Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s offi cial: Nick’s Bar & Restaurant, the wonderfully eclectic, lovingly renovated beer garden at the corner of Millbury and Ellsworth streets, will soon be christened the Steel & Wire Cocktail Lounge, sold by Vincent Hemmeter to Frank Inangelo Jr. Everything Vincent touched always turned to gold — or at least into something worth visiting, if only for its décor. Frank knows this, as the assistant manager and bartender of Vincent’s on Suff olk Street, since 1998, also owned by Hemmeter. The Millbury Street establishment is in good hands, I’m sure, but a bar by any other name will always be Stoney O’Brien’s to me.

Back in the mid-’90s, the bar was owned by Billy Collins (not to be confused with the former U.S. Poet Laureate of the same name, who attended the College of the Holy Cross). Billy was not what you might expect from a barkeep; he was a savvy, well-read fount of sarcasm, much of which fl ew over the heads of patrons. He loved a debate, and sought out opinions that seemed rooted in actual subject knowledge, as opposed to typical barstool nonsense. Billy had hair like Gene Wilder, and he would let loose a stream of Irish malarkey sprinkled with an occasional Shakespearean quote — or something that sounded Shakespearean, anyway.

His sidekick in the business was Donald “Ducky” Mallett, a hard-drinking, easy-going guy with a Jack Elam eye and a perpetual tremor. Ducky was lovable, unlike the irascible Billy, who probably pissed off as many people as he served. Ducky was Billy’s unoffi cial PR man, and his warmth and popularity brought in more customers than Billy could chase out with sarcasm. Both men have long since left this world. Stoney’s had a loyal patronage, many of whom remember the watering hole fondly, though not for its ambience. In a word, it

A new bar and music venue will take over the spot of Nick’s Bar & Restaurant on Millbury Street. RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

was a hellhole, interior design-wise.

“The décor was shabby before shabby chic was a thing … grunge before grunge was a style,” said Worcester Public Schools educator Angie Moore. Along with her husband, Jim, who moonlighted from his teaching job as a Stoney’s bartender, Angie was among the crowd that gathered at the end of the bar dubbed “Asshole Corner.” Saturdays were celebration days, when birthdays, deaths and anniversaries were reasons to lift a glass. When Ducky’s wedding

anniversary rolled around, the fact that he and his wife had been separated for over a decade was no reason to ignore the date. Billy dressed in drag and Ducky was wrapped in what looked like 500 feet of aluminum foil for the renewal of vows. It brought a tear to many an eye, and a lump to the throat, but that may have been the result of being overserved.

Crusty old Billy Collins did have a soft side. It was Billy who made sure that the late down-on-his-luck Francis X. Leon-

ard, a Worcester character well known as a perennial candidate for various seats, had an income. In his youth, Francis was a tireless self-promoter, having himself paged at Foley Stadium football games, and calling into WTAG on snow days to cancel meetings of the “Francis X Leonard Booster Club,” which didn’t actually exist. At Stoney O’Brien’s, Francis X., as he was known to patrons, was a night custodian earning a wage when employment for the quirky Francis was hard to come by.

Stoney’s loyal patrons included many of “The Light Boys” from Shrewsbury’s power company, and ComGas guys dropping in for a couple cold ones before heading home. It was proudly a blue collar establishment. No doubt Nick’s drew its own following, though much of the Stoney’s crowd migrated to The Banner on Green St. after Billy died of cancer and his wife, Renee, sold the bar to Vincent. I remember visiting Nick’s when it fi rst opened, and marveling at what the entrepreneur was able to unearth. Who knew a gorgeous tin ceiling hid under those god-awful stained tiles? I never would’ve imagined the back room that housed cases of empties could be transformed into a charming cabaret, complete with a curtained stage. The ladies’ room fi nally had a commode I wasn’t afraid to use.

Stoney’s will always be the original “Tender Bar” for many, a place where friends came together, even vacationed together. They knew each other’s stories, attended each other’s christenings, funerals and weddings — including my own, to a tall guy I met there. He was holding a book, of all things. Talk about a lure — it was a better chick magnet than a puppy.

With the rebirth of the canal district, the corner of Millbury and Ellsworth is prime turf. May the Steel & Wire Cocktail Lounge create its own memories with Frank Inangelo at the taps. I think Billy and Ducky would approve.

12 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Bad advice

Cabin

Continued from Page 10

Continued from Page 9

arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Irish Immigrants made it something else entirely here, to have a reason to show their homeland pride when they were feeling ostracized and left out in America. Today it is less a Christian celebration and more a hedonistic cacophony of Dropkick Murphys songs, women named Shannon yelling at men named Sully, and eating boiled beef and cabbage.

I think about Worcester, especially when walking around the Canal District, and you can see all of those “parade activities” on any weekend night.

Saint Patrick’s Day is an idea that keeps getting folded in on itself and you have every right to celebrate it when and how you want. Worcester Go Bragh!

DEAR SHAUN: My job is telling me that I will need to return to the offi ce soon. However, I like wearing pajamas all day while I work and during my breaks I like to play my XBox. How can I remedy this?

DEAR PAJAMAS: OK, you’re going to have to spend a little money, but you’re employed so it will be worth it.

Go to Spencer’s Gifts and buy fi ve Tshirt Tuxes. Then, head to any Target and get fi ve pairs of black sweatpants.

This is a very black tie casual outfi t.

You’re wearing a tie without the hassle of having to wear a tie. You’re profes-

savings bank, constructed in 1902. The next day, we followed up our hike with a stop at Yankee Cider Company — a charming dog-friendly post and beam barn serving cider that goes from pollination to press right on site.

The Price Tag: Rates vary from day to day, but most of the cabins run about $300 on weekends and $150 on weekdays. You can request a cabin with bunk beds for a very small upcharge if you want to make it a family aff air. Our weekend dog fee amounted to $40. We brought groceries with us and made use of the cabin’s complimentary dining ware, salt, pepper, and olive oil. We also sprang for the packets of pour-over coff ee at $2.50 a pop.

I was surprised how relaxing I found our little cabin. We brought along a squillion postcards to address and completed the task comfortably, free from distraction. The ads on Instagram are a fair representation of what a standard Getaway has to off er. Fresh air, a reprieve from the chaos of the city, and a captivating performance by the critters of the forest.

Are you thinking of taking your own trip to a Getaway Outpost? Find me on Instagram at @sarah-Connell if you have any questions before you hit the road.

Tales Continued from Page 10

emergencies to a surprise encounter with a celebrity – but within each of those stories, there were things to which almost anyone could connect: We've all either been ill or watched someone wrestle with illness. We've all lost people, or had experiences that changed the trajectory of our lives. We've not all encountered comedian Tracy Morgan in a bar, as Ramos did (to hilarious eff ect), but we've met people who've changed our perspective. We sat in the DCU Club and listened to fi ve very diff erent people tell fi ve very diff erent stories, and yet we could see ourselves in each one of them.

They resonated with something inside

Members of the Worcester County Shrine Club ride in the Worcester County St. Patrick’s Parade March 13. RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

sional, yet comfortable. Then, while I know you most likely love your XBox, you will not be able to have that at the offi ce it is too recognizable and you really can’t sneak playing it. However, get yourself a Nintendo Switch, call it your tablet and if anyone asks, you are “running a predictions model for our futures.” The sentence seems important

of us.

I've been a journalist for more than 20 years, and a writer for even longer.

I've published poems and short fi ction, literary essays, concert reviews and more, and I spend a lot of time thinking about stories: How to present them, how to shape them, how to make people care about them. Still, it was pretty deep into the process of being a coach on this project when I realized that stories are what we're in the business of selling.

True stories, certainly, but stories nonetheless. Newspapers and websites are just the mediums in which we deliver those stories. And ultimately, those stories are about the people who live here in Worcester County, not just the institutions and elected offi cials. We sometimes feel as though news happens in a vacuum, and obviously it doesn't. Polar

enough to be believable and at the same time bland enough that one one really wants to follow up with you about what that means. So I say, head back to work, and bring your home with you.

Worcester comedian Shaun Connolly provides readers bad advice in his weekly column. Send your questions to woocomedyweek@gmail.com.

Park, the beautiful ballpark where we held the event, was the biggest story in Worcester of the past few years, and it's aff ected nearly everything around it, both for good and ill, often at the same time. It's big and it's complicated, and that's what makes it interesting. Normal people are just as complicated, and they're much bigger on the inside than they seem. Their movements aff ect everything around them, too, one way or another.

“Anyone on that stage could have been a column,” remarked a retired T&G reporter and columnist who attended the show, and he was right, but the magic wasn't in that they were extraordinary people, it's that they were, in a lot of ways, ordinary people, and that was magic enough. We all have stories worth sharing. All of us, whether we're an un-

housed person or a city councilor, matter. As journalists, we're forced to pick and choose the stories we tell, and to make decisions on how to shape and present those stories. There are, after all, more than 200,000 stories in Wormtown, and only so many hours in a workday. Some stories can't be ignored, of course – the mayor running for state offi ce, for example, or a local favorite bar changing hands – but all the other stories matter, too. If projects such as Storytellers help us fi nd and present a few more of those invaluable stories from everyday life, then that is very much a good thing. None of this is anything I didn't already know intellectually, of course, but it's good to have a tangible reminder of what's important, to watch the stories unfold in person, in front of my own eyes.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 13

LISTEN UP

Sam James has fi rst major label release with ‘Going Through It’ Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Listening to Sam James' brand-new song, "Going Through It," it's hard not think about his journey from playing Worcester bars, and of the fi rst time he auditioned for "The Voice."

"Local musician Sam James is having a good time of it lately, isn't he?" I wrote in 2012 in the Telegram & Gazette. "First, his song 'So Clear,' featuring local musical heavyweights Gamble & Burke, appeared on the Lifetime movie 'Sexting in Suburbia,' and now he's made an appearance on the 'The Voice,' where he auditioned Monday with the song, 'I Don't Want To Be,' by Gavin DeGraw.

WM-28954443

Alas, he didn't move forward in the competition, but judging from a post on his Facebook page, he doesn't seem too terribly broken up by it."

Of course, James would later secure a place on "The Voice," and then go on to write songs for the likes of Dolly Parton and Bebe Rexha. But even then, it wasn't easy. In 2015, he described how hard it was to get an EP recorded, even after "The Voice" exposure: "I only had $350 in my bank account," said James. "I think the studio was $400, so I had to borrow $50 bucks."

So it's easy to believe him when he sings, on "Going Through It," "I was going through it/I was working three jobs/I See LISTEN UP, Page 25

Sam James’ newest single is “Going Through It.” PROMOTIONAL PHOTO

14 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

COVER STORY

Going ‘All In’ Country star Chris Janson set for show at the Palladium Richard Duckett Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Chris Janson SUBMITTED PHOTO

When country star, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Chris Janson performed at Indian Ranch in Webster last October, the show was defi nitely “engaging.” h As Janson performed his upbeat hit love song, “Done,” a couple who had been allowed up on stage sealed their own deal. It was reported that the soon to be fi ancé identifi ed as Ryan got down on one knee, engagement ring box open in his left hand, and proposed to Melanie.

“What’d she say?” Janson asked. “Yes!” Ryan happily confi rmed. The free-spirited audience roared its approval.h “Those people are from Florida,” Janson said of the couple during a recent telephone interview. “They’ve actually been to fi ve or six shows since then, traveling all over the country.

Pretty awesome.” h Appropriately, “Done,” was inspired by Janson’s wife, Kelly. It went to the top of the Country Airplay charts in 2019. h There may not be the peal of wedding bells in the background when Janson travels again to these parts for a 7 p.m. March 26 date at the Palladium in Worcester, but he knows that he feels more than welcome in New England. See JANSON, Page 15

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 15

Janson

Chris Janson — ‘Halfway to Crazy Tour’

Continued from Page 14

When: 7 p.m. March 26

“New England’s always been a great market for me. I’m very grateful for that,” Janson said.

Janson, 35, will be at the Palladium as part of his “Halfway to Crazy Tour.”

Scheduled guests are Ray Fulcher and Shane Profi tt.

Janson’s latest album, “All In,” is scheduled to be released April 29 from Warner Records.

When it comes to performing live, “engaging” is an understatement and was only meant to apply when a couple proposes on Janson’s stage.

Janson’s stage shows are more typically known as all in, so to speak. One review of a show in Columbus, Ohio, said, “The entire crowd is singing along as Janson bounces around the stage.

His stage presence is incredible and he really knows how to work the crowd.

Not only does he shred on the harmonica, but continues to dance like nobody is watching.”

That was pre-pandemic. Janson took extended time off touring in 2020 dur-

Where: The Palladium, 261 Main St., Worcester How much: $35, $55, $100. (508) 797-9696. wwww.thepalladium.net

ing the height of the pandemic, and he slowly built back up throughout 2021 as conditions allowed.

“We’re getting there. I can feel the progress,” he said.

But make no mistake, performing live is what Janson likes best when it comes to music.

“All the time, man. I was born to play live. All my life probably since I was eight or nine. It’s like what I do, like raising my left arm. I don’t have to think about it.”

There will be no set list when he comes to the Palladium March 26. Every show is diff erent, he said. Will he play any new stuff from “All In”? “I would imagine so,” he said.

See JANSON, Page 16

Janson’s big breakthrough song was “Buy Me a Boat,” which he released as a single without any label support in 2015. SUBMITTED

16 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Janson Continued from Page 15

However, “I don’t like to follow any strategic plan. I just kind of wing it when I get up there.”

He likes to have someone type the titles of songs, “so I’ll have something to look at, and just play them start to fi nish like I feel they should be played,” he said.

“We have a punk rock approach — it’s free-spirited.”

The Palladium show is being presented by the country-themed restaurant and bar Off The Rails at 90 Commercial St., which says it is “Bringing a little bit of Nashville to Worcester.” The Music Venue at Off The Rails is set to open this spring. Ricky Duran, who grew up in Grafton and found fame on “The Voice,” will perform there May 7.

Janson is originally from Perryville, Missouri, but moved to Nashville to pursue music the summer after fi nishing high school.

Asked if back then he could ever have imagined the success he has gone on to achieve, Janson said, “Oh yeah, absolutely. I always believed you dream big

Chris Janson’s newest album, “All In,” is set to be released April 29.

SUBMITTED

to win big. I never had any doubts at all.”

He didn’t sound at all arrogant in saying that. It was more down to Earth — just like his music.

There were struggles. Janson has

talked in the past about borrowing gas money from his opening act. But no matter. He wasn’t talking about that this time.

“Every job has its growing pains. I always imagined it (success). I’m grateful for the opportunity. I absolutely believed it. If I didn’t believe it, who else is going to believe it?” Janson said.

Janson’s songs have been called very relatable and the mood can range from funny to emotional.

In the early years in Nashville he cowrote singles for Tim McGraw, LoCash, Randy Houser and Hank Williams Jr., and co-wrote and recorded two duets with Holly Williams. His debut single, “‘Til a Woman Comes Along,” came out in 2010.

But Janson’s big breakthrough song was “Buy Me a Boat,” which he released as a single without any label support in 2015. A catchy tune was successfully combined with such lyrics as “I know everybody says money can’t buy happiness/But it could buy me a boat/ It could buy me a truck to pull it/ It could buy me a Yeti 110 iced down with some silver bullets.”

Janson also sings, “They call me redneck, white trash and blue collar/ But I could change all that if I had a couple million dollars.”

“Buy Me a Boat” brought Janson to the Top Ten of the country charts, a deal with Warner Music and the debut of his fi rst full length album, “Buy Me a Boat,” which also charted well.

Subsequent hit singles have included the boisterous “Power of Positive Drinkin’” and the heartfelt “Holdin’ Her,” as well as “Fix a Drink,” “Good Vibes” and “Done.” He is an Academy of Country Music and iHeartRadio award winner and has also had several other major nominations.

“The thing I’m proud of, my music has always spoken for itself,” Janson said.

“All In” will be Janson’s fourth album.

The fi rst single off “All In,” a poignant song titled “Bye Mom,” has already been released and had made chart waves.

“Bye Mom” was derived from the real-life story of co-writer Brandon Kinney whose mother died in 2020. The music video features Kinney and his family with his children playing younger versions of himself and his wife starring as the titular mom.

The lyrics are very moving and Janson’s singing conveys a fi tting sense of perspective and loss.

“I know that’s just the way it is/ When you think you grown but you’re still a kid/ And you don’t know you’re somebody/ That somebody loves more than themselves/ And there’s a beauty in the innocence/ Of not knowing that the time they’ve spent/ Is more than one could ask for/ And that’s a special kind of love/ And it’s only there for a lifetime, then it’s gone/ And it’s bye mom.”

The song has been widely praised, with The Nash News saying, “Janson’s fl awless, emotion-tinged vocals complement the depth of this introspective song that showcases what might be his best song to date.”

“We wrote it as a tribute and it turned into something greater that we could have ever imagined,” said Janson.

“All In” has 16 tracks in all, and Janson has said, “There are all kinds of songs on this project, but they all fl ow together because they are genuine to me. I went all in on every part of the process, from writing to singing to playing to producing.”

The title track of the new album “All In” fi nds Janson in typically good spirits saying he’s a little bit “fast car” a little bit “pick up,” but when it comes to his love he was “”All in when I saw you.”

The fun continues with “Cold Beer Truth” with lines like “Yeah, life looks better after you’ve had a few” and a video including NASCAR driver Richard Childress, famed fi sherman Bill Dance, and singer Kid Rock.

See JANSON, Page 17

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 17

CITY LIVING THE NEXT DRAFT

Wormtown close to adding spirits Matthew Tota Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

WORCESTER – Pouring my glass with a fi nger of rye, Wormtown Brewery co-founder Ben Roesch asked me tell him everything I smelled and tasted.

“I know I’m putting you on the spot,” he said.

Caramel. Maple syrup. The whiskey didn’t burn much going down, instead coating my throat with a syrupy sweetness. Roesch went next; to him, everything about the rye screamed root beer.

The impromptu afternoon whiskey tasting came during an interview last month with Roesch and CEO David Fields on the status of Wormtown’s distillery, now close to fi ve years in the making. What I expected to be a quick update turned into a nearly two-hour

Janson Continued from Page 16

“All In” also has collaborations with fellow country singer-songwriter stars Travis Tritt and Eric Church.

Janson said Church’s “You, Me & the River” is the fi rst song he’s put on one of his major-label albums that he didn’t have a hand in writing.

This is Janson’s fi rst album since “Real Friends” in 2019. Concerning whether there was any particular inspiration to get back in the recording studio, Janson said, “nothing in particular other than it was time to make a new one. It was just in my heart that it was time to do it.”

Is he pleased with “All In”?”

lunch, highlighted by plates of smoked pork-laden poutine and beer-battered onion rings from the brewery’s new scratch kitchen. I left three to fi ve pounds heavier, a little buzzed and thirsty for my fi rst cocktail at the taproom.

After months of delays, many expected, Wormtown rolls out its initial lineup of spirits later this month or early next, pending a fi nal Worcester Fire Department inspection of its 5,000-squarefoot distillery space on Shrewsbury Street. Its own rye whiskey, vodka, gin and moonshine will be available in bottles — packed using the archaic bottling line from its days on Park Avenue — in the taproom and cocktails served over the bar. With the launch, too, comes a new series of canned cocktails, “Mass Spiked,” including a sangria and marga-

Wormtown Brewery on Shrewsbury Street. ASHLEY GREEN/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

We will rock you! Tickets start at $39.

See DRAFT, Page 19

“I’m one hundred percent proud of my stuff ,” Janson said.

“I’m a pretty bare bones kind of guy. I do the the things I want to do, don’t do things I don’t want to do. I love my job, and creating albums is still a fun part of my job.”

Janson’s bare-bones business set-up includes “My wife and I. She manages, I do the performing.”

Songwriting and recording can be an ongoing process for the singer songwriter.

For “All In” Janson said he wrote a lot of songs that didn’t make the cut.

“I look at that and ‘hmm,’ I wonder what might work down the road,” he said.

“If I fi nish one (album) I’m already starting another one. I’m always thinking about the next album.”

Sponsored by Eagle Cleaning Corp.

March 29

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18 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

CANNABIS CONFIDENTIAL

Cannabis Primary shows pot not a primary concern for gov candidates Eric Casey Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Cannabis dispensary co-founder Wes Richie has invited the candidates in the upcoming governor’s election to visit his business with a simple ask: Can the cannabis industry get a little respect?

So far, the answer has mostly been: No. “They’re not exactly banging down the door to get here fi rst,” said Richie, who started Tree House Craft Cannabis with co-founder Ture Turnbull. “It’s a bit like throwing a party and worrying that no one will show up.”

Dubbed the “Cannabis Primary,” Tree House Craft Cannabis has invited everybody who plans on running for governor this November to stop by their dispensary, regardless of their political party or past positions on cannabis.

Both of Tree House’s founders come from the political world; Richie is a former campaign consultant who also worked as the chief of staff for former Senator Barbara L’Italien, while Turnbell was executive director of MassCare.

In 2018, L’Itlaien ran for Congress, losing to Lori Trahan, while Turnbell was similarly defeated in a run for the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

During a moment of post-election

healing and refl ection, both Richie and Turnbell realized they had a similar interest in the cannabis industry, and decided that retail was the business type they were most interested in pursuing.

Both founders take pride in the large LGBQT+ presence among their staff and the fact that all employees make a livable wage. In addition to the Dracut store, Tree House Craft Cannabis is also working on opening dispensaries in Pepperell and Groton.

It had been a few weeks since Colin Young of State House News Service fi rst reported on Tree House’s attempt to connect with the candidates, so I was a bit surprised when Wes told me there hadn’t been any real updates since.

Of the six candidates for governor representing major parties, so far only Democratic candidate Sonia ChangDiaz has committed to visiting. This is no surprise, considering Chang-Diaz has long been a supporter of legalizing cannabis and has sponsored a number of bills to improve the industry in her role as a state senator.

No response has been received from Democratic candidates Josh Caldwell or Orlando Silva. Republican Chris Doughty also hasn’t bothered to respond.

Two candidates who aren’t going to be stopping by were nice enough to at

State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, shown here in March at the the Hibernian Cultural Center in Worcester, is the only gubernatorial candidate who has agreed to participate in Tree House Craft Cannabis' “Cannabis Primary.” STEVEN H. FOSKETT JR./TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

least reply.

The response from Republican candidate Geoff Diehl? No deal. Despite running on a platform of opposition to taxes and supporting job creation, Diehl refuses to acknowledge the existence of the state’s cannabis industry, whose businesses are regularly hit with massive taxes and fees, burdensome regulations, and — despite this — have still managed to create more than 27,000 jobs.

"I'm surprised at both of the Repub-

lican candidates,” said Richie, of their response to his invitation (or lack thereof). “Is this about liberty?"

To give Diehl some credit, at least his rejection was straightforward. Perhaps the most frustrating response was that of Democratic candidate Martha Healey, whose campaign cited a “scheduling confl ict” despite the hilarious fact that they had not been given a specifi c date for the meeting. Apparently, her calenSee CANNABIS, Page 21

Wormtown Brewery celebrating 12th anniversary Matthew Tota Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Making up for two COVID-19 year anniversaries, Wormtown Brewery will throw what amounts to its own beer festival Sunday, celebrating 12 years in Worcester.

Open from noon to 11 p.m. March 20, the city’s oldest and largest brewery will

have special beer releases paired with food from its new scratch kitchen, with the party sprawling both Shrewsbury Street taprooms.

Start inside Wormtown’s original taproom, where it fi rst started canning after moving from the Park Avenue ice cream shop in 2015, for a self-guided tour of the brewhouse, stopping for free tastings along the way. Then it’s a short walk to the taproom and soon-to-be dis-

tillery that opened last year for live music. In Wormtown’s scratch kitchen, Chef Justin Rexroad is preparing a menu just for the party. I’ve also been told to expect cupcakes.

Beer — vintage releases, barrel-aged gems — and hard seltzer will fl ow throughout the day.

Every Wormtown anniversary comes with a birthday brew; this year the brewery gives us its take on a brut IPA,

fermented dry, then dry hopped with Barbe Rouge and Nelson Sauvin. Wormtown co-founder Ben Roesch described Birthday Brew #12 — available in 750ml bottles and on draft starting Thursday, the day of Wormtown’s actual anniversary — as eff ervescent, with a subtle bitterness, notes of white wine, berries, citrus and passionfruit.

For details, check out Wormtown's website, wormtownbrewery.com/.

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 19

Draft Continued from Page 17

rita, available exclusively at Polar Park and the Shrewsbury Street taproom.

Wormtown has not purchased a commercial-sized still — it tried but found none available in a fast enough timeline — only tinkering so far with a small 5pounder. Instead, Wormtown has relied on a new partnership with Boston Harbor Distilling, founded by Rhonda Kallman, which has allowed it to purchase already-barreled spirits for its early releases.

Fields called Kallman, who also cofounded Boston Beer Co., an “industry legend,” noting the two were friends long before Wormtown forged the contracting agreement with Boston Harbor.

“Her team at Boston Harbor has been making some really interesting spirits, and Ben and our team are working with them on our early releases,” he said of Kallman. “We are very happy with the quality and fl avors in our early samples.

Over time our goal is to have a larger capacity still on site, but for the time being we will continue to work with Boston

Harbor on some of our spirits and get tween manufacturing and consumption our small batch spirits on line here in is close, for example — we can work toWorcester.” gether from scratch and talk about what In the world of spirits, it’s common goes in. If we're going to make a gin, we for new distilleries to contract with old- talk about not only what kind of spices, er, established distillers, especially for but where the spices come from,” he brown liquors like whiskeys said. “When it takes a turn and bourbons that need and we talk about older time to age. “Our goal from stuff , well that stuff has day one is to have a hybrid happened so far in the past version of our distilling opto get to the point where it's eration, which means have ready to serve, that we are the ability to make spirits looking for certain attrion site. That's what we butes that we want our spirwant,” Fields said. “But as its to have out of the barrel, we have spent the last fi ve and we work with Rhonda years looking into this and her team to go through space, it's pretty clear that their cellar and look for the you can open some incredattributes we're looking for, ible experiences and fl avors Wormtown’s new and then they send a samby going out and fi nding canned cocktails will ple.” unique aged spirits that be available soon at The same whiskeys that I may have been started by Polar Park and its tried were put through an Shrewsbury Street somebody else.” even more rigorous WormRoesch knows what goes taproom. PROMOTIONAL town tasting session, durinto making a good whiskey PHOTO ing which a sensory panel or bourbon almost as much scrutinized each sample to as he does an IPA, lager or stout. And the fi nd the right barrel. Roesch said Wormpartnership with Boston Harbor in no town will go through the exercise each way handcuff s him creatively. time it contracts with Boston Harbor.

“In certain instances — the time beEven as that whiskey came from an-

other distillery, Wormtown has ways to put its own spin on it. Roesch and his team can age the liquor longer, in a different wood or temperature. They can extract a bit and blend it with another.

“We're going to buy multiple barrels, package some of it and continue aging some of it, and we're going to continue aging some of it in diff erent wood,” he said. “We’ll be able to say, ‘Here's a 4- or 5-year-old rye whiskey that aged for two more years; oh, and also here's another we fi nished in a port barrel.’ This gives us the opportunity to work with someone unbelievable who started this process, and we can continue it on.”

Eventually, Roesch hopes to purchase a larger still and start fi lling barrels, including some built from his own maple and oak trees, with ryes and bourbons that started on Shrewsbury Street, made with Massachusetts ingredients. The distillery may never produce enough bottles for Wormtown to ship out to stores, but that doesn’t bother him.

“We won’t have 1,000 cases of everything on hand, but that's not the point,” he said. “The point is people come to 72 Shrewsbury St. or Patriot Place to try this stuff .”

20 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

SCREEN TIME

Despite Rhimes and Barrowman, locally shot ‘Gilded Lilys’ never appeared Craig S. Semon Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Imagine an omnisexual time traveler from the 51st century bridging the gap between the Gilded Age and the Modern Age in the Heart of the Commonwealth.

Well, 10 years ago this month that actually happened, sort of. Not only that, this “Doctor Who” alum almost became a weekly fi xture on American television.

John Barrowman — best known as Captain Jack Harkness on “Doctor Who” and its spinoff , “Torchwood” — was cast in the lead of the soap-opera period drama “Gilded Lilys,” which was shot over a three-day period in March 2012 at Union Station.

On “Gilded Lilys,” Barrowman — who would go on to play the villainous Malcolm Merlyn on “Arrow” and “Legends of Tomorrow” — was cast as Julius Ashford Lily, “the charming son of the Lily family, who has reigned over New York’s elite for decades, but a recent family scandal has undermined their fortunes both fi nancially and socially.”

But television audiences never got the opportunity to see how charming Barrowman’s “Gilded Lilys” character was or how scandalous his fi ctional TV family’s wrongdoings were.

Ten years later, the ABC television pilot still hasn’t aired. So what gives?

With a reported multi-multi-million-dollar budget, “Gilded Lilys” was supposed to be America’s answer to the British-made costume drama/social class struggles series “Downton Abbey.”

Shonda Rhimes — the showrunner behind the longrunning hit medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” its spinoff “Private Practice” and the political thriller series “Scandal”— was the creative force behind “Gilded Lilys.”

You would think Rhimes’ name and winning track record for the network would have been enough for ABC to give the show a timeslot on the fall schedule.

But it wasn’t.

In addition to Rhimes, the “Gilded Lilys” boasted a cast that brought together a cavalcade of beautiful and talented actors, led by comic con favorite Barrowman.

In a photo that was circulating at the time taken on the “Gilded Lilys” set in Boston, Barrowman looked dashing in a gray paisley vest and matching trousers, silk tie, white starched shirt with a gold watch and chain dangling from his breast pocket.

In the last decade, Barrowman has made numerous memorable appearances at the Boston Comic Con. Jim Talbot — who once owned and operated Bop City Comics in the Mid-Town Mall and was the cofounder of the original Boston Comic Con — was the fi rst to book Barrowman at a a comic book convention

John Barrowman, left, and Craig S. Semon having fun at the Boston Comic Con in August 2017. FILE PHOTO

in New England, in August 2014.

Barrowman made an impression in his con appearances, including once, in 2016, appearing at a panel as “Futurama” character Zapp Brannigan, complete with toy laser gun, white ladies’ pumps (instead of space boots) and no pants.

Say what you will about Barrowman: He knows how to make an entrance. Even if you didn’t know the fi rst thing about his work, it’s hard not to like his sparkling personality, scintillating wit and winning smile.

“Gilded Lilys” also had Gwyneth Paltrow’s mom, Blythe Danner, attached to the project as Caroline Lily, the ruthless but wickedly funny matriarch who has ruled the roost of New York society for decades.

Matt Long — who was later cast in the recurring role of Dr. James Peterson on “Private Practice” and Zeke Landon on “Manifest” — was to play John Kidd, a lower-class survivor with an adventurous spirit and a romantic soul.

And, Madeline Zima — who played Grace Sheffi eld on “The Nanny” and Mia Lewis on “Californication” — was cast as the all-knowing, all-seeing maid.

Reportedly a big “Doctor Who” fan, Rhimes asked Barrowman to be on “Grey’s Anatomy” in the past, but but couldn’t because of his scheduling commitment to “Torchwood.”

The two fi nally worked together on “Gilded Lilys,” but nobody, except a select few close to the project, has seen the end result.

Barrowman, who did see the fi nished pilot, was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying it was “very good.”

So why didn’t the show get picked up?

And why didn’t ABC ever air the pilot as a self-contained movie during the summer off -season, a time when networks traditionally burn off unsold pilots, unaired episodes of canceled shows and other near misses?

The scuttlebutt back then was Barrowman wasn’t well known enough in the states, which, if that’s true, is a lame argument because no one knew who Andrew Lincoln was when he was cast on “The Walking Dead,” David Caruso was when he cast on “NYPD Blue,” Don Johnson on “Miami Vice,” or George Clooney was when he was cast in “E.R” and all of them became overnight sensations.

Barrowman, who was born in Scotland but moved to Illinois when he was 8, relocated to England as a young adult to study theater and soon co-starred there in the revival of “Anything Goes.” He played the Beast in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” and Raoul in “The Phantom of the Opera.”

The lyric baritone appeared on Broadway with Carol Burnett and Kathie Lee Giff ord in Stephen Sondheim’s “Putting It Together” and made his Broadway debut as Joe Gillis in “Sunset Boulevard,” opposite Betty Buckley.

If his career has showed us anything it’s Barrowman knows how to command a stage and win over an audience.

Another rumor as to why “Gilded Lilys” wasn’t picked up by the network was ABC was worried that a period piece would be a hard sell to the American public, despite the success of “Downton Abbey,” which is the reason they made the pilot in the fi rst place. Later successful period pieces included Netfl ix’s “Bridgerton” and HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” the latter made by no other than Julian Fellowes, the original creator, writer and executive producer of ’ “Downton Abbey,” who’s responsible for the whole bloody costume period craze in the fi rst place.

If “Dallas,” “Dynasty” and even “Melrose Place” has taught us anything, it’s that stories of love, treachery, vicious family rivalries, scandalous secrets, compromising positions and social class struggles never go out of style, whether you’re wearing a Stetson, a halter top, chaps or a corset.

Then again, ABC is the same network that prematurely pulled the plug on iconic classics “Twin Peaks,” See SCREEN, Page 21

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 21

Screen Continued from Page 20

the original “Battlestar Galactica” “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” “Police Squad!” and even, more recently, “Pan Am,” starring Christina Ricci and a then unknown Margot Robbie.

“Gilded Lilys” was billed as a romantic period drama set in 1895 that revolves around the opening of the fi rst luxury hotel in New York City.

And the kicker was, the exterior of the NYC hotel was none other than Worcester’s own Union Station.

The production company paid the City of Worcester a $6,000 fee for using Union Station over three days, March 22-24, 2012.

Despite taking place 16 years before the photogenic train station existed, television production crews worked to make Union Station look like the façade of an 1895 hotel, while computer enhancement would make the hotel look several stories taller.

Crews spread dirt in front of Union

Cannabis Continued from Page 18

dar is booked up straight through the Sept. 6 primary.

Despite the founders of Tree House being fellow members of the LGBQT+ community and running a company based on progressive values, Healey apparently can’t fi nd the time to stop by and briefl y hear them out.

“Supporting allies is key,” said Richie. “We’re not trying to convince her to open her pot shop.”

While the response from the candidates has been less than overwhelming, the response from fellow cannabis business owners and workers has been more supportive.

“Our friends in the industry were happy to read about it,” he told me. “I think everyone in the cannabis industry has some similar interests. People want to work with us to fi x things that aren’t working [in this industry].”

The main goal of the Cannabis Primary was to simply establish a line of communication with the candidates and help them understand this emerg-

Station for a more authentic look, while horse-drawn carriages and actors in period costumes were on the scene.

The production brought in as many as 250 actors and crew members to the train station, while 20 local people worked on the Union Station shoot.

The local workers included electricians who controlled the station’s lights, landscapers who concealed the pavement outside the station with a 19th-century-looking covering of mulch, and security guards who managed foot traffi c in and around the station.

While the Washington Square rotary on the afternoon of March 23, 2012, was amassed with SUVs and subcompact cars in gridlock, six horse-drawn carriages and buggies proceeded to the front of Union Station.

The carts and coaches were equipped with drivers dressed in 19thcentury garb and they were greeted by actors and extras portraying hotel guests, also in appropriate attire.

That’s not all. Another “Gilded Lilys” See SCREEN, Page 25

ing market. That being said, Richie did outline one policy change he’d like to see enacted: The establishment of a Social Equity fund to help those who have been impacted by the War on Drugs to have the chance to participate in the legal cannabis industry.

“It’s abhorrent that we don’t have a social equity fund,” said Richie, noting how many equity applicants apply for a cannabis business license only to not be able to fi nd fi nancing. “It’s key in getting equity operators over the fi nish line.”

In a state where we have more cannabis industry workers than fi refi ghters and law enforcement offi cers combined, and where cannabis sales have exceeded $2.54 billion since adult-use cannabis went live in 2018, you would think that politicians would be at the point where they are at least willing to reject lingering taboos and acknowledge the existence of the state’s fastest growing industry.

With the notable exception of Chang-Diaz, hopefully someday the rest of the gubernatorial candidates join us in the year 2022, where cannabis is legal and it’s really not that big of a deal.

22 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

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WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 23

5 THINGS TO DO

BRIT FLOYD, INMO YANG AND MORE ...

Richard Duckett Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Rising star

The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts CHRISTINE PETERSON/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Youth Ballet production at The Hanover The Hanover Theatre Conservatory’s Youth Ballet Company presents “The Stories of Hansel & Gretel and Peter & the Wolf,” telling these well-known tales through music and dance and bringing them to life on the stage in a new way. It’s an adaptation to please the whole family.

What: The Hanover Theatre Conservatory’s Youth Ballet Company presents “The Stories of Hansel & Gretel and Peter & the Wolf” When: 6 p.m. March 23 (Student matinee 10:30 a.m.)

Where: The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester How much: $12. (877) 5717469; www.thehanovertheatre. org

Symphony Pro Musica will be re-joined by risingstar prize-winning Korean violinist Inmo Yang for a program titled “Music Alive” March 19 in Hudson High School and March 20 in Mechanics Hall, Worcester. Yang, first-prize winner of the internationally renowned Paganini Competition, will perform Jean Sibelius’s masterly and beloved Violin Concerto. The SPM program also features Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique,” his final composition prior to his death in 1893. Lili Boulanger’s “D’un matin de printemps,” a vibrant and delicate piece and Boulanger’s last composition before her death at the age of 24, will open the concert. SPM and Yang have performed together from when Yang was the only violinist in the New England Conservatory of Music’s highly selective Artist Diploma program. Symphony Pro Musica music founder and music director Mark Churchill is dean emeritus at the New England Conservatory. “It’s a privilege to work with Inmo once more,” Churchill said. “He has Inmo Yang will perform with Symphony Pro Musica. SUBMITTED already established himself as one of the leading international violin soloists of his generation. He plays with power, grace and subtlety, and his technique is second to none. He plays the violin exactly as I think it should be played!”

What: Symphony Pro Musica with guest violinist Inmo Yang When/Where: 7:30 p.m. March 19, Hudson High School, Hudson; 3:30 p.m. March 20, Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester How much: $25; $20 seniors; students, free. First-time SPM concertgoers may attend the Hudson performance free of charge. www.symphonypromusica.eventbrite.com; www.symphonypromusica.org; or call (978) 562-0939

Which one is Pink?

Since being formed in Liverpool, England, in 2011, Brit Floyd has aspired to recreate and emulate the sights and sounds of the British genius group Pink Floyd’s live shows. Now billed as “The World’s Greatest Pink Floyd Show,” complete with a multi-million dollar light show, circle screen, lasers, inflatables and theatrics, Brit Floyd returns to The Hanover Theatre with a production “recreating the scale and pomp of the final 1994 Pink Floyd tour.”

What: Brit Floyd World Tour 2022 When: 7 p.m. March 20 Where: The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester How much: $34 to $63. “VIP seats at $163. (877) 5717469; www.thehanovertheatre.org Video projections helped set the mood at Brit Floyd’s Stage AE show.

SARAH WILSON/STAGE AE

Continued on next page

24 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

‘Art of the Soul’ “Art of the Soul,” created by members of Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Support Center in collaboration with faculty from College of the Holy Cross, is an exhibition presented by the Worcester PopUp at the JMAC from March 19 to April 2 featuring a series of photography and collage. In the works, FILE PHOTO members explore a range of themes including identity, beauty, vulnerability and transcendence. In a time characterized by uncertainty, their works celebrate the joy of new beginnings and hope for the future. Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Support Center is a member-run community center for people recovering from addiction. Situated in downtown Worcester, the center is open to the public and serves on average 100 people a day. The project is made possible in part through the support of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation.

What: “Art of the Soul” — Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Support Center.

Opening Reception When: Noon to 3 p.m. March 19 Where: Worcester PopUp at the JMAC, 20 Franklin St., Worcester How much: Free. www.jmacworcester.org

$

A more than ‘Minor’ accomplishment “Monumental” … “Masterwork” …

“Magnificent” … The words that have been used to describe Johann Sebastian Bach’s B-Minor Mass indicate that there is nothing “minor” about the composition except the key. The Worcester Chorus, after a delay of one year from its originally scheduled date, will perform the choral masterwork March 19 in Mechanics Hall in a concert presented by Music Worcester. The vocal soloists are Jennifer Ferrand Kelly (soprano I), Louise Fauteux (soprano II), Agnes Vojtko (alto), Matthew Anderson Alto Agnes Vojtko will be one of the (tenor), and Jonathan Stinson (bass) soloists for the Worcester Chorus. .The live performance will take place SUBMITTED for an in-person audience, but will also be broadcast via live stream for anyone unable to attend in person. Worcester Chorus artistic director Christopher Shepard and assistant director Mark Mummert lead the performance, which will also feature the Worcester Festival Orchestra.

What: The Worcester Chorus performs J.S. Bach’s Mass in B-Minor, presented by Music Worcester When: 8 p.m. March 19 Where: Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester How much: In-person: $49; $17.50 students; $7.50 youth. Proof of vaccination and masks required. Live stream: $20. www.musicworcester.org

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ADOPTION OPTION

Screen Continued from Page 21

shoot in the city was Nick’s Bar and Restaurant, 124 Millbury St. In early March 2012, Nick’s proprietor Nicole Watson told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that she heard ABC was looking for “a European-style bistro bar for burlesque scene,” and Watson instantly exclaimed, “That’s Nick’s!” It turned out Watson was right.

To dress the set, they took out all modern items, including television sets and all the liquor bottles.

Listen up Joker is available for adoption through WARL.

Continued from Page 13

SUBMITTED

Meet Joker Meet Joker! This goofy boy lives up to his name.

Joker is tons of fun and sure to put a smile on your face! At this point “Sit” is the only trick Joker knows.

Eager to please and a sucker for attention, Joker is hoping to fi nd a home with someone creative who can teach him more tricks and reward him with lots of treats. Joker is still learning how to walk on leash without pulling, and how to greet other dogs in a calm manner. With loads of puppy like energy, this young boy would love to fi nd a home with a yard where he can run in the sun and relax in the shade! Due to Joker’s overly enthusiastic nature when greeting people and during play, a home without young children will be the most fun for him at this time. Email the shelter at dogs@worcesterarl.org to learn more about this handsome fella and to fi nd out how to set up an appointment to visit.

Adoption Option is a partnership with the Worcester Animal Rescue League highlighting their adoptable pets. Check this space often to meet all of the great pets at WARL in need of homes. WARL is open seven days a week, noon-4 p.m., 139 Holden St. Check them out online at Worcesterarl.org, or call at (508) 853-0030.

COVID-19 Protocols: The Worcester Animal Rescue League remains closed to walk-in visits with the animals and appointments must be made, in advance, to meet with any of the animals. Masks are required. Visit https://worcesterarl.org/ for more information.

was going through it/had a hole in my heart like a bullet through it/had my back against the wall/but you knew I'd do it."

But it's not just another great song from James, it's also his fi rst release on a major label, Universal/Republic Records.

"I signed the deal a little while ago," says James, in a phone conversation last week. I was kind of waiting until we had a single. I had a deal before, and it didn't work out, so I didn't want to build the hype."

With the single's release on March 18, though, the time for hype is fi nally here, and it's well-deserved: The song was produced by Internet Money — who have a string of Billboard charting hits from artists such as Lil Tecca, Juice Wrld and Trippie Redd — and features heavy-hitting rapper Moneybagg Yo and rising rap star No Cap. It's catchy as heck, riding the line between hip-hop and pop, with James' signature soulful vocals fl owing well into the rap breaks.

"I've been through the ringer through this business," says James. "It's been a roller coaster for me. I wrote the song out of a real place. I went back to the mindset of being a lot younger … The music business is a lot of heartache, just like any other business. It's a lot of no's, and lot of rejection, and occasionally, someone takes a chance on you. It's moments. I equate it to parenting. Parenting is the hardest job on Earth. It's crazy as a parent, and 90% of what you go through is a maddening, but the 10% is so good, you forget about the madness."

James says he's not in a rush to put out an album — his journey through the music world has made him patient — but it's defi nitely in the plan. Indeed, he says he's spent the past six months in the studio, and is excited about what's emerging. The song also features a lot of familiar names, including his frequent collaborator Nick Black, and music executive and Burncoat High graduate David Saint Fleur. "Saint really championed this record," says James. "He's really an integral part of this record." James has high praise for his of his

Watson said the jukebox was the biggest problem, followed by a humongous duct.

Two major additions made for the fi lm shoot at Nick’s that still stands 10 years later are the stage being extended by 18 inches and a mural behind the stage featuring a blue moon.

According to the Massachusetts Film Offi ce, “Gilded Lilys” was shot entirely in Massachusetts (including Boston University and the Wang Center in Boston), and, at the time, was the fi rst television pilot to be fi lmed in the Bay State since 2010.

A year later, “American Hustle” came to Worcester and used both places, Union Station and Nick’s. Thus beginning the city’s hot streak of major motion pictures being shot here.

longtime manager, North High graduate Lincoln Bloh.

"Lincoln is a rock star," says James. "None of this would have happened without him."

James says that he's grateful for Bloh's support for more than decade, a time when other music industry folks were more fi ckle.

For now, James is working toward a possible EP in the summer, and lining up touring dates, but in the meantime, he brims with excitement when the talks about "Going Through It." "I wasn't trying to be someone I wasn't," says James, noting that when he writes for other artists, he's either trying to match their voice, or create a blank canvas because he doesn't know who will be singing the song. "This is my story, my life, these words are my words. I literally talk about growing up … I'm really proud of this project, more proud than of anything I've ever put out."

If there's a message for listeners in the song, says James, it's that, "I never gave up on this … I've always been a dreamer, but I never gave up on the dream.

When I got a door slammed in my face, I found a way to unlock it. Now, I want my story to help other people who feel stuck … I don't even think I've accomplished the dream yet. I feel I have a lot more to give. But if anybody is looking back at their lives and didn't do everything they wanted to do … You can reinvent yourself, you can fi nd new avenues. That's what I would want people to take out of this."

This Week’s Answer

0318

26 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

J O N E S I N’

Enjoy Fun By The Numbers puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku. This mind-bending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test! Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

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Across 1. Venus’s sister 7. Have a copy of 10. Adult ed. course, often 13. 1950 Isaac Asimov novel 14. Hanoi bowlful 15. Pad kee mao cuisine 17. Melon liqueur 18. Heavily promote the top of the house?

20. Inhabitants of a necklace fastener?

22. Had food 23. Soothing plants 24. “___ Beso” 25. 1055, to ... someone who knows Roman numerals 27. Campus in Troy, NY 28. Top-left square 29. Smoke detector chirp, after getting fixed?

35. Verizon’s onetime in-flight calling system 36. Trademarked Intel chip 40. Transportation for when you have to jump to avoid burning your burger?

42. ___ Moines, Iowa 44. 1991 Naughty by Nature hit 45. 2.0 GPA 46. It’s often served with rice 47. ___ New Guinea 50. Pose questions 52. Users who post about a group of Boy Scouts, then upvote it?

56. Delicacy in the cookbook “Fried Food for Felines”?

57. Pablo Picasso’s designer daughter 59. Musical Myra 60. “Fight of the Century” contender 61. “Baba ___” (The Who classic) 62. Prefix with -phyte or -lithic 63. “___-haw!”

64. Edges (along) Down 1. Kind of card in a smartphone 2. Actor Bana 3. Tennis’s Australian “Rocket” 4. German torpedo craft of WWII 5. Ancient Scandinavians 6. “Let me give you ___”

“PR Stunts”--it sounds almost the same.

by Matt Jones

7. Daughter of Polonius in “Hamlet” 8. “___ serious?” (“The Dark Knight” quote) 9. Three Little Kittens’ punishment (I mean, that sounds pretty dire if you really wanted it!)

10. Raison d’___ 11. “___ Jump” (manga magazine since 1968) 12. “Tao Te Ching” philosopher 16. “Based on that ...”

19. Rolling Stone staffers, for short 21. Wu Tang member, e.g.

25. CEO’s degree, possibly 26. Fragrant garland 27. “General Hospital” Emmy winner Sofer 28. It forms part of the Poland-Germany border 30. Cpl.’s inferiors 31. “Ruh-___!”

32. Gel pack kin 33. Take a sickle to 34. ‘70s prog rock supergroup, for short 37. Prank that’s never gonna give you up?

38. Honorary poem 39. “Born,” in some notices 41. It stands out against a standard dress shirt

42. English illusionist/mentalist Brown 43. Plaza Hotel girl of fiction 46. Do art on glass 47. Barely audible, in music notation 48. Assortment 49. “Positive thinking” advocate Norman Vincent ___ 50. Pong maker 51. Tried-and-true 53. ___ buco (Italian dish) 54. NASDAQ debuts 55. “Hook” sidekick 58. Cries heard in Tejano music

Last week's solution

©2022 Matt Jones (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) Reference puzzle #1084

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | 27

LAST CALL

Sarah Borges, singer-songwriter Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Many of us felt the pressure to be productive during lockdown — to emerge from isolation with something to show for it. We all had a lockdown goal — whether it be learning a new skill, getting in shape or the completion of a hitherto unfi nished project. Singer-songwriter Sarah Borges was no diff erent, and despite COVID mandates and remote working, she was able to complete her latest album, "Together Alone." It went on sale Feb. 18 on Spotify, iTunes and other streaming services. Borges, who will be performing at The Bull Run in Shirley on April 29, sat down with Last Call to talk about her latest album, recording during lockdown and how her music has evolved over her 20-year career.

Have the topics that you write about changed over the course of your career?

As I’ve gone down the path of life, positive experiences like becoming a parent or negative ones like getting a divorce or alcohol abuse have all happened to me and they have certainly found their way into my songwriting. I think I used to be more biographical and create characters in a song but now that I’m older, I’m more autobiographical.

Tell me the diff erence in a songwriting perspective — it sounds like you’re using the term biographical a little diff erently than in a literary sense.

By biographical, I just create a character and write about them. An example would be, I have a song called, "Me and Your Ghost." It’s about a girl going out on the town, looking to fi nd love. When I wrote that, it wasn’t about me, it was just me thinking about a character.

But on the new record, there’s a song called, "She’s a Trucker." During the pandemic, I had to get another job driving delivery and that song is about my experience being a “lady truck driver.” The record really varies but it leans more heavily on my own experiences, now that I’m a little bit older.

Which do you prefer writing?

When you’re looking for song writing topics, it’s easy to create stories. Some of the best songs are story songs. Springsteen is a great example of that, he really paints an excellent picture. But some of the most confessional and autobiographical songs — like Hank Williams, who really wrote from the heart — are those that resonate with a lot of people and those are the ones that we treasure. I’m not sure which one is easier to write but both are important.

Sounds like the pandemic created some art for you?

Yeah, it did. Part of the reason we called the album "Together Alone" is we recorded much of the record during the lockdown remotely. Our goal was to make it sound like we were a band all together in person in a studio but because of what was happening, that

Sarah Borges – singer and songwriter. Her latest album, “Together Alone,” is now available and she will perform at The Bull Run in Shirley on April 29.

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wasn’t an option. I was able to write songs both about the pandemic and other things during lockdown and I’m grateful that I was able to be productive during that time.

How did you overcome that challenge, making it sound like you were playing music together?

I can’t say enough about the man who produced our record — Eric Ambel. He’s had a great career as a guitar player as well as a producer and he had the knowledge of how to make it work, so we could make it sound like we were all together. You’ll notice that when you stream "Together Alone," I’m not the only artist listed there, he is too because he was so instrumental in making it work.

What are some other songs directly inspired by the pandemic experience?

The fi rst song is called "Wasting My Time," and it’s just like it sounds. I felt like I was wasting my time, it was getting into summer of the fi rst year of the lockdown. I felt like maybe we weren’t going to be making music for a while, so I was concerned about fi nancial issues because we weren’t working. I tried to organize my thoughts into a song and it’s exactly how I felt during that situation. But there are other songs, I think everyone did a little self reckoning during the pandemic. There’s another song called "13th Floor," which is me examining how I used to be. Much more wild and crazy and abusive to my body and making bad choices — things that I’m still processing now after I have six years of sobriety from alcohol. That was another topic that I addressed in an in-depth way on the record.

What powered that transition from biographical to autobiographical?

As a parent, I’m trying to teach my child to be as

open and honest with the people that they care about. I felt, when I was writing the record, what the hey, I’m just going to say how I feel and it’s really connected with people in a way that I didn’t expect. It’s not about baring your soul, it’s about articulating what you and possibly many other people feel. It’s about connecting with humans and it’s something I love.

I know during lockdown, people were just desperate for connection, and artists really played a big role in bringing them together.

Yeah! Even when we would do live-stream shows during lockdown, it would almost make you cry because you could see the chat of people logging on to watch you play. There were people from all over the place — everyone was saying hello and how they missed each other — it was beautiful.

Who were you under lockdown with?

It was just me and my 10-year-old son — I share custody with his dad. We did remote schooling which was very hard and made me appreciate teachers so much more than I already did. We didn’t see anyone for at least the fi rst six months because my family is a little bit older and more at risk. One of the things that I felt keenly was more of a responsibility to try my best at writing this record. Playing music on tour means time away from my son and that’s hard. If I was going to make another record, I wanted to make it worth it. It just made me dive deeper into being a parent.

Was it fun to get back on tour after the lockdown?

It was! Certainly there were concerns about safety.

We started going out in August and had to do a fair amount of negotiating with clubs about mask mandates or vaccines only and I’m very supportive of that.

Who has inspired or infl uenced your work?

I often ask myself that too. I look at people like Bonnie Raitt who has had a wonderful career and still continues to do so, but really didn’t have the success she deserved until she was a little bit older. I like that because I have been at this for a long time and that kind of example really does speak to me. There’s sort of an Americana genre and a lot of that has to do with people like Eric Ambel, who produced this last record, but also like the Yayhoos, The Georgia Satellites and RBQ, whose drummer played on our record. These are all bands that make the music that I love and even though they’re older than me, by sometimes a generation, they’re still making music and that’s what I hope to do.

What stands out to you most about your evolution as an artist?

This is my eighth record. I can trace the path of my life from someone who’s writing music for a band to someone who has done some solo work, to someone who has just had a baby. I’m amazed at how long it’s been yet how short it feels.

For more information on Sarah Bores, visit https://sarahborges.com/

28 | MARCH 18 - 24, 2022 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM