Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury presents Taylor Ashton

Levitt AMP St. Jay, Catamount Welcome Taylor Ashton

Live music fans are in for a treat, Sunday, August 20th, as Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury welcomes Taylor Ashton to Dog Mountain. Catamount Arts presents the free, family-friendly concert, Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury’s ninth show of the summer, at 5pm. Ashton is touring behind his new album, “Stranger to the Feeling,” a romantic sonic odyssey through the heart of America that is already drawing comparisons to Paul Simon and Nick Drake.

Known for his lush, melodic covers of artists like Kate Bush and Tom Waits, Ashton’s earlier album, “Pizza Tickets,” featured seven songs he grew up with and polished as a subway tunnel busker with a clawhammer banjo and gorgeous spare vocals. “I’ve loved these songs for as long as I can remember,” Taylor Ashton reflects. “Each one has taught me something about love, being alive, and co-existing with other humans on this crazy planet.”

When Ashton first moved to New York City several years ago from Canada, it was on the heels of a breakup and the end of his band Fish & Bird. He took up busking in subway tunnels to get by, earning a banjo case of $1 bills for a day’s work. Ashton called the bills “pizza tickets,” spending them in the city’s dollar-a-slice joints, hence the name of his first EP, a cover album featuring songs by Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette, and others.

Ashton’s new album, “Stranger to the Feeling,” will be released days before his Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury appearance. Folk Radio UK calls the new record, “an understated folk-pop beauty,” which, Rolling Stone concurs, “packs a punch in today’s mainstream.”

The Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury Music Series presents a free concert at 5pm every Sunday at Dog Mountain, through August 27th. Vendors including Kingdom Table, Calex, Chef Nadav, and Maria’s Kusina are available onsite for food and drink purchases, but no outdoor alcohol is permitted. Patrons are welcome to bring food.

Thanks to Kingdom Trails, new switchback footpaths provide easier passage from the Dog Mountain parking area to the concert green. Parking is also available at Fairbanks Scales on Portland Street, where patrons can then board a free shuttle, courtesy of RCT, up to Dog Mountain. Visit www.catamounarts.org for more information.

In addition to weekly Sunday shows at Dog Mountain, the Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury Music Series will host one more Friday show, August 25th at 7pm on Railroad Street, as part of Final Fridays, in partnership with Discover St. Johnsbury. The final Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury show of the season will take place Sunday, August 27th, at Dog Mountain.

The Levitt AMP St. Johnsbury Music Series is supported in part by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, which partners with towns and cities across America to activate underused public spaces through the power of free live music, creating welcoming, inclusive destinations. Presenting a broad array of music genres and cultural programming, Levitt venues and concert sites are community anchors where families, friends and neighbors of all ages and backgrounds come together. Learn more at www.levitt.org.