This week’s Shiny Objects are a bit unexpected: Nan Goldin photographs in Maine, authentic Ethiopian cuisine in Vermont, and miles of outdoor sculptures in New Hampshire. It’s time to put on some pants, and go out to suss some fun before the seasonal depression sets in.

Massachusetts

Larkin Grimm
The Dreamaway Lodge
1342 County Road
Becket, Massachusetts
Sunday, November 12

Escape to the dreamiest spot in New England for food, stranger banter by the fire, and the “musical sculpture” of Larkin Grimm.

Connecticut

Famous Dex
Toad’s Place
300 York St.
New Haven, Connecticut
Sunday, November 12th
9 pm

This is your chance to see the Chicago-born, trap sensation Famous Dex in person at one of New Haven’s most legendary and intimate venues.

Vermont

Authentic Ethiopian Night
ArtsRiot
400 Pine Street
Burlington, Vermont
Sunday, November 12th
4:30pm – 10pm

Join chefs Alganesh Michael and Mulu Twelde for a pop-up night of Ethiopian cuisine featuring a full menu and a “traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony where the coffee beans are roasted and brewed to order.”

Maine

Nan Goldin
The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Portland Museum of Art
7 Congress Square
Portland, Maine
through December 31, 2017

You’ve probably seen the generation-defining photography of Nan Goldin in art history books, and libraries across the world. Come see one of the installations that started it all—The Ballad of Sexual Dependency—as it returns to New England for the first time in 30 years.

Rhode Island

Pushing Wood Book Signing
Civil Providence
86 Main Street
East Greenwich RI
Saturday, November 11th
1pm – 4pm

Take Magazine fav Ramiro Davaro-Comas will be hanging at Civil Providence ready to sign copies of his new book Pushing Wood. There’s also talk of free stickers, t-shirts and a Vans giveaway, so get there early.

New Hampshire

The Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden
236 Hopkinton Road
Concord, New Hampshire
Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 5pm, and by appointment

Pretty soon it’ll be legitimately unpleasant to outside, so get to one of our favorite sculpture gardens in New England before it’s too late. Millbrook has several permanent exhibitions on view, but don’t miss their current indoor/outdoor Fall Art Exhibit.

The post Shiny Objects: November 10th-12th appeared first on Take Magazine.

Over the past two years, Jonathan Siksay has emerged as one of the most eclectic personalities in Connecticut’s indie music scene. Working as both an acoustic performer and backed by his four-member Siksay band, the 29-year-old singer/songwriter has been a ubiquitous presence in the Nutmeg State’s most prominent venues, including Hartford’s Webster Theater, New Haven’s Café Nine and Toad’s Place, and Stratford’s Main Street Tavern. He has a monthly gig at Tautog Tavern in Bridgeport’s Black Rock district, and his debut album What I Did Last Night is being readied for a September release.

Yet trying to categorize Siksay’s music can be something of a challenge. “I have been put in the country/rock and pop genres,” he says. “I’ve also been told that I have an alternative ’90s sound, with the raspy voice. But I have the rock influence, and I have a little bit of a hip-hop style and feeling.”

One of the most startling aspects of Siksay’s music is the intelligence and sincerity of his lyrics. His songs capture the full gamut of the human experience, ranging from physical and emotional isolation in “Lonely Road” to the cathartic serenity of a beachfront rendezvous in “Tennessee Whiskey” to the perplexity of failed self-analysis in “Howling at the Moon”—the latter punctuated with startling lycanthropic wails of despair.

Siksay traces his passion for music back to his youth. “When I was in first grade, my friends and I would put together song lyrics and sing them,” he recalls. “I started getting serious around high school, playing in an emo band and a metal band, and then I played guitar in a duo.”

While Siksay put performing aside in his late teens, he continued to create a canon of songs. In November 2015, he snagged a gig as the “house band” on the Connecticut-based PPRN Radio, an online show highlighting the state’s music scene. He made a very positive impression with audiences and the show’s guests, and soon Siksay began to receive offers to open for other bands. He recorded a single with New York-based rapper Five X called “Flying Again” and later had his music playing on the University of Connecticut’s radio station and the Connecticut-based online Cygnus Radio; video postings to his Instagram account generated feedback from, in his words, “some Grammy Award-winning producers.”

To his surprise, Siksay found several British online radio stations began playing his songs, which led to positive feedback from new fans around the world. “It’s definitely rewarding,” he says of his overseas airplay. “I have a few friends in London that listen to my music all the time.”

Jonathan Siksay, What I Did Last Night

Siksay cut back on his stage shows to get What I Did Last Night completed for an end-of-summer release. “For the past two years, I’ve played out almost every weekend,” he says. “I want to get the album out and then hit the shows even harder.”

Want to hear what Siksay is listening to when he’s not playing? Check out his Take a Listen Spotify channel. While there, look for what’s on the playlists of the other musicians we’ve profiled. Enjoy!

Jonathan Siksay–musician
Seymour, Connecticut
Website
Instagram
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Top image by Phil Hall

The post What Jonathan Siksay Did on his New Album appeared first on Take Magazine.