SHELBURNE – This July, the Shelburne Museum is hosting a combined performance from alternative rock group Guster and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the first in its “Mediocre Band Everyone Forgot Existed, Improbably Paired with a Classical Music Ensemble” summer concert series. But in August, fans of hopelessly mismatched musical artists have another exciting show coming their way: Spin Doctors and the Vermont Gregorian Chant Schola.
“Pairing up Spin Doctors with a Gregorian chant ensemble made a lot of sense to us,” said Shelburne Museum director Thomas Denenberg. “Here you have a rock band that was kind-of-sort-of a big deal once, merging their talents with a group that bellows indistinctly in Latin. It was a match made in heaven.”
Spin Doctors’ lead singer Chris Barron also expressed excitement about the collaboration. “We’ve been playing ‘Two Princes’ and ‘Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong’ for two decades now, and to be honest, we’re totally sick of them at this point,” said Barron. “Partnering with a Gregorian chant group has really helped us think about these songs in a whole new way.”
We asked Walter Kershaw, director of the Schola, how he feels about teaming up with Spin Doctors. “Who are they again?” he asked. “They had a hit or two in the nineties, right? Are they kind of like Sublime? It’s crazy that they’re still touring.”
The Shelburne Museum’s summer concert series will also feature performances from Limp Bizkit and the Essex Children’s Choir, Flock of Seagulls and St. Andrews Bagpipe Ensemble, and Banarama and Phyllis, a nice woman from the Burlington Baptist Church Choir who offered to help out and sing a few ditties.
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