The Peru Gazette

The music group Towne Meeting will perform at the Peru Community Church Fellowship Center on Friday, February 13th at 7:30. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and students and $15 for a family. (Click here to hear Towne Meeting) According to the group’s press release Towne Meeting is a distinctive blend of vocals and acoustic sounds for vintage and contemporary music.

The Plattsburgh – based group crosses generations in its selection of songs as well as its membership, and consists of family and lifelong friends. Three of the members are retired teachers; Dennis Hulbert, vocals and twelve string guitar; Miles Moody, vocals and six string guitar; and Gary VanCour, vocals and six string guitar along with the ukulele. Rich Sutphen and Justin VanCour round out the group. Rich, who works in the cable television industry, brings vast experience with his six string guitar and mandolin as well as singing vocals. Justin, a commercial producer for broadcast television, plays bass for the band.

According to Gary VanCour, “three of the members were heavily influenced by the folk era of the 1960’s, so we like to play some of the old standards of that time along with more recent tunes. As many know, some folk music morphed into different sounds including soft rock and contemporary country.” He went on to say that the group plays a diverse selection, which may include anything from sea chanteys to covers of the Kingston Trio, the Everly Brothers, or the Eagles. One of the newest tunes they do is by Eddie Vedder, of Pearl Jam fame.

Although the current configuration of the band has been in existence for only three years, many of the members have sung and played music together off and on for several years. VanCour went on to say, “Towne Meeting gets its name from my wife’s family. Towne is an old New England name, and every year there would be a family reunion. Usually it ended up with some sort of song fest. It seemed appropriate to name the band Towne Meeting. It symbolizes folks coming together at family and community gatherings.”

Towne Meeting released their first CD last summer, entitled “Stillwater,” which is selling very well. It includes several familiar songs as well as original works. According to Dennis Hulbert, “The CD reflects the spirit of the group. Some of our music celebrates the beauty of the North Country, but some of it also speaks to the difficulties we may face in our lives at different times.” He went on to say,  “Most of all, we really enjoy singing and playing with each other and have a lot of fun at it. We especially enjoy performing for others. That camaraderie is very apparent when we’re on stage.”