Come Join us for a local beer tasting & history presentation, presented by the Hudson Area Library and the History Room Committee. And how can you have a discussion without tasting the beers in question?  Enjoy a tasting flight of 3 local beers, plus choose a full pint of the one you most enjoy for a donation of $15.00. The event features Author Craig Gravina (Who will be signing copies of his 2014 book Upper Hudson Valley Beer)  and Neil Evans, proprietor of the C.H. Evans Brewery at the Albany Pump Station in Albany, NY. About Craig Craig is a World Class Beer Drinker, beer blogger, and author. No, he will not be staging dramatic readings from his book, but he will keep you spellbound with his knowledge of brewing in our area: from the Dutch to present day. Get a signed copy if his book for the beer lover in your life. About Neil, the Evans family,  and Evan's Ale The Evans family was in the commercial brewing business for three generations, and their original brewery was built in right here in Hudson in 1786. It continued production until prohibition in 1920. Its award-winning ales were well known in the Northeast and were actually exported to England and France. Production levels peaked in 1915 when 65,000 barrels of beer were produced at the Hudson Facility. Neil Evans (He is, in fact, C.H. Evans IV) will be giving a discussion on the history of the brewing operation and his fine ales that he makes at the Albany Pump Station  (which has graced Albany for the past sixteen years).

Footings is from Peterborough, New Hampshire. Eric also plays in Death to Tyrants, Redwing Blackbird, & Dweller on the Threshold Pile is from Boston MA. Led by songwriter Helen Rush, Metal Mountains was an outgrowth of Tower Recordings, the seminal Vermont-based experimental folk collective that operated beginning in the mid-'90s in the extended New England (and national) folk scenes that shared members with bands such as Jackie-O Motherfucker and others. When the band split in the early 2000s, its members continued to release music under an increasingly wide array of banners. Leader Matt "MV" Valentine became hyper-prolific with his MV & EE project with Erika Elder, but guitarist/bassist/percussionist/keyboardist Helen Rush took some time in establishing herself as a solo artist. When she did, first assembling Metal Mountains in 2007, it was still very much a band, despite being centered around Rush's quiet, ethereal songs. The band featured a pair of Rush's Tower Recordings collaborators, including Pat "PG6" Gubler and violinist Samara Lubelski. Rush took her time bringing Metal Mountains into the studio as well, finally releasing a self-titled debut in 2010, recorded at Sonic Youth's Echo Canyon.

Glass Ghost represents the birth of a new musical force distilled from myriad influences, from J. Dilla to Deerhoof. The result is something completely refreshing, and fittingly, a little scary. The pairing of Eliot Krimsky's haunting falsetto with the group's bottom-heavy rhythm section yields a crystalline world, propelled by Mike Johnson's beats and Tyler Wood's Moog bass and shimmering keyboards. The unique world they've crafted serves as the perfect vehicle for their two albums, Idol Omen and LYFE. Like their debut, LYFE was produced by Tyler Wood, who also produced Joan As Policewoman’s 2014 album The Classic, and recently relocated to the Hudson area). As the product of Krimsky, Johnson, and Wood's mutual trust and vision, LYFE masterfully blends airy, melancholy and chilly atmospherics with Glass Ghost's irresistible bottom-­heavy grooves and hooky pop sensibilities. Glass Ghost has played a wide variety of shows with the likes of Dirty Projectors, Deerhoof, Here We Go Magic, Pattern is Movement, Sharon Van Etten and White Rabbits. In May 2015, they did an interactive music and video performance at Lincoln Center in conjunction with Performance Space 122. Currently, they've entered the studio to begin work on their third album. Night Games is a duo comprised of Otto Hauser and Mike Gamble, offering improvised explorations in ambience.

Evan Cory Levine is an entertainer, producer, and electronics whiz living in Philadelphia, PA. Since moving to the city in 2011, he has become an in-demand guitarist and vocalist for numerous ensembles specializing in jazz music of the 1920’s, including The Josh Fialkoff Quartet, The Perseverance Jazz Band, Drew Nugent & The Midnight Society, and the Red Hot Ramblers. Levine also leads his own groups, performs in The Mahogany Stompers, a duo with percussionist Julius Masri, and The Howling Kettles, an old-timey trio with members spread across the United States. Levine is also an active producer, has worked extensively as a live sound technician, and builds electronic equipment to use in his home studio and in his solo experimental project, Our Boy.

Photographer B. Proud will be presenting her First Comes Love Project and the accompanying book on Sunday, August 16th at 3:00 pm at The Spotty Dog. The "First Comes Love" project, a traveling exhibition of photographs, stories and video, began as a response to the passing of Proposition 8 and other discriminatory measures during the 2008 presidential election. Proud decided she would celebrate the long-term relationships in the LGBTQ community, the marriages that in essence - but not in rights - already existed, by shooting black-and-white portraits providing a glimpse into the everyday lives of LGBTQ couples. Unlike the stereotypical picture painted by the media, these portraits and stories seek to educate those who question, celebrate those who have loving, devoted relationships, and provide an historical record of the strength of this community. Every effort has been made to show as much diversity as possible within the community by including many racial and cultural groups as well as transgendered and questioning individuals and couples. Some of the issues raised in the stories of these couples include raising children, custody of or adopting children, immigration policies, medical issues, living with HIV/AIDS, death of a long-term partner, interracial relationships, and even divorce. This work shows a group of people as diverse as the human race itself, yet who share the common bond of what it takes to commit to a lifetime of love. Chad Griffin, President of Human Rights Campaign, says of the book, "First Comes Love is more than a book of beautiful photography, it's an essential document. It testifies to a moment in history that all of us made possible and none of us will ever forget--when our community left the closet for good, and equality finally became a mainstream American value." Evan Wolfson, President, Freedom to Marry, says of the project, "First Comes Love has it right: It's the faces and stories of real people that open hearts and minds and pave the way to legal and social change. And first comes love--the love that enriches our lives and the love that sparks the passion and commitment to bring the change needed. These beautiful images and stories are not just to look at, they are to be inspired by." B. Proud is a commercial photographer and president of B. Proud Photography, Inc. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in group and solo exhibitions. In 2006, Proud was one of two artists featured by the Equality Forum, the largest national and international LGBT civil rights summit. "First Comes Love" was selected as one of the "Best of 2011" projects by the American Society of Media Photographers.

Ian O'Neil and Dennis Ryan spend most of their free time writing, recording and performing music.Writing anywhere they can, recording primarily at Ryan's home (Studio E) and performing throughout the world,wherever they are welcome. They perform alongside each other in the bands Deer Tick and Happiness. Both live in Rhode Island with their dogs Hoagy and Reggie. Kinsey is the immaculately conceived lovechild of multi-instrumentalist Nick Kinsey, whose forthcoming debut LP, My Loneliest Debut, lives “at the intersection of Bob Dylan, Wilco and Neutral Milk Hotel” (The Wild Honey Pie). Kinsey wrote, recorded, and produced the record in a chicken shack in upstate New York. Apart from the bass (contributed by The Step Kids bassist Dan Edinberg), he made all the sounds thereon. No stranger to the stage, Kinsey cut his teeth playing drums with the likes of Elvis Perkins in Dearland, AA Bondy, and A.C. Newman.

In conjunction with Bodhi Holistic Spa & Yoga, we are pleased to announce an evening with authors Janet Surrey PhD and Samuel Shem MD, on Friday August 21st in support of their new book The Buddha’s Wife: The Path of Awakening Together. A reception for the authors at 6:00 at the Spotty Dog will be followed by a presentation & book signing at 7:00 at Bodhi. Books will be available for purchase at both locations. It is said that The Buddha, on the morning of his only child’s birth, left his wife and son to “go forth” to seek enlightenment, without saying goodbye. What do we know of his wife Yasodhara and his son Rahula? The Buddha’s Wife brings this rarely told story of Yasodhara—“She who stays”—and her community, to the forefront, offering a spiritual parable and portrait of these compelling and compassionate characters. The Reader’s Companion offers practical applications of their discoveries and teachings for our modern lives. More information on the book, visit www.thebuddhaswifebook.com Samuel Shem is the pen name of Dr. Stephen Bergman, who grew up in Hudson. He is the author of the classic novel about a medical internship, The House of God, which was recently named by the British medical journal The Lancet as one of the two most important American medical novels of the 20th century. It has sold over two million copies, in thirty languages. His novel The Spirit of the Place—set in a fictional “Hudson”—is the winner of two National “Best Novel of the Year” Awards. Shem has been honored as one of Boston Public Library’s “Literary Lights” and one of “Boston’s Best Authors.” Janet Surrey, PhD is an Insight Dialogue Teacher. She is a faculty member of Metta’s Relational Insight Meditation Program, facilitates a practice group in the Boston area, and co-teaches retreats. She is a practicing clinical psychologist and founding scholar of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Wellesley Centers for Women. She is on the faculty and board of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. Bodhi Holistic Spa and Yoga is located at 543 Warren Street, Hudson. The spa provides healing services, massage, acupuncture, skin care, sauna, a steam room and a hair salon. Among the massages offered are Swedish, deep tissue, shiatsu, prenatal, warm stone, aromatherapy and the aromatic hot towel massage. Several kinds of yoga instruction are available, including Gentle Dharma Vinyasa, Yin Yoga, Prenatal Yoga and Shakti Yoga. The retail boutique offers natural skin care products, essential oils and yoga equipment. Bodhi is open 7 days a week and class schedules can be found on their website at www.bodhiholisticspa.com.

Kevin Greenspon’s history as a mindful and concise composer of graceful ambient compositions for guitar, synthesizer and cassette tape reach for new horizons on his newest release. “To Leave A Mark” stitches the ethereal atmosphere of previous work with rhythmic elements of techno, noise and pop music. On his 2015 U.S. tour, each song’s performance is synchronized to rapid-cut video projections that melt into abstract pools, coaxing the viewer into a state of self-reflection. A veteran of the oft-fragmented DIY scene that stretches from Los Angeles into parts unknown and overlooked, Greenspon has performed an average of 100 shows annually on national tours over the past 5 years in venues ranging from art museums to abandoned naval bases. Rarely slowing the pace when at home, he also runs the Bridgetown Records label, releasing sizable batches of albums for like-minded peers from the deep reaches of the underground each season. Initially the duo of Cody Yantis and Nathan McLaughlin, whose debut Angular Music came out on Soft Abuse in 2012, Tilth’s new trio incarnation includes long-time collaborator Joe Houpert, who has worked with McLaughlin in Loud & Sad and with both on the Line Drawings release out on Desire Path Recordings last year. Their live performance is filled with clashes of tape drift, stringed dissonance, free jazz eruptions and the occasional verbal prodding amongst the group members to push towards some next level catharsis. Improvisations and meditations on fatigue...and going to the center. Seth Chrisman is a musician and multimedia artist based in the Hudson Valley, New York. His work explores texture and repetition while being rooted in concepts of place. Extended techniques, location recordings, and radio receptions are woven together to create undulating sonic environments.

Brian Dewan writes and collects songs and sings accompanied by accordion, autoharp or electric zither. His published recordings include Tells The Story, The Operating Theater, Words Of Wisdom and Ringing At The Speed Of Prayer. He also builds instruments and makes filmstrips. Wild Boy is Clare Felice and her friends making some music. Stephen Bluhm writes and performs zany songs, and sometimes inspires impromptu wild dancing as a result.