Burlington City Arts’ Annual Summer Concert Series 2019

Burlington City Arts’ annual summer concert series presented by VSECU kicks off on June 12. All are welcome to enjoy 22 free concerts, this year on lower Church Street near City Hall. The series takes place on Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:30 p.m. from June 12 to August 28. We’ve programmed a line-up that features both our local favorites and some from further afield that may be new to you. It’s an excellent opportunity to listen to new music, have lunch with a friend or co-worker or enjoy being outside with your community, supporting live music.

This weeks performer:

The Useless Cans

Friday, June 21st @ 12:30 pm

Church Street (near City Hall) | Burlington, VT

Born in New York’s Capital Region, the Useless Cans have been bringing a mix of original and standard old-time jazz, folk and traditional Russian tunes to their audiences since 2016. The trio consists of guitar, upright bass, and washboard with all three members lending their voices here and there. Guitarist, Bobby Davis, and Upright Bassist, Dylan Perrillo met several years prior to the formation of the Cans through mutual friends in the Albany, NY music scene briefly before Davis relocated to Boulder, Colorado. There he spent a number of years studying Geology and frequenting bluegrass and old-timey music sessions in and around the Rocky Mountains and continued honing his guitar and banjo playing skills.

After completing his degree, he moved to Troy, NY and made many visits to friends in Montreal and New York City before settling in Bennington, VT where he currently resides. While living in New York’s capital region, Davis and Perrillo reunited and began exploring gypsy jazz heavily and started playing in various venues around the area. One fateful night, while playing an old Russian song at a now-defunct art collective space, they caught the ear of Julia Posin who is of Ukrainian heritage.

Knowing the words of the tune from her childhood, she began singing along, and without knowing, they had performed for the very first of what would become many times together. Soon after their chance meeting, Posin graduated from University at Albany with concentrations in both art and music and briefly relocated back to Oceanside, NY only to return once again in the following autumn to Albany. While all three members were living in upstate New York, they began playing music and hanging out together, and they soon realized what great friends they had become. Since then, they have gone on to play all over the northeast making frequent trips to the Adirondacks, New York City and everywhere in between.

The Useless Cans have finished their third EP entitled ‘Breezy Point’ which features mostly tunes written by Davis that are inspired by today’s political and social climate. In the upcoming summer months, the Cans will be performing around the northeast before they gear up for their fall tour to Nashville, Tennessee and back in support of their latest disc.