North Ferrisburgh residents might hear a folky ruckus emanating from Covered Bridge Road this Saturday,June 17, the likes of which hasn't been heard ’round those parts in many a year.
That's because an all-star collection of folk musicians of both local and national renown are gathering on the former site of Philo Records. They'll be paying tribute to one of the most famed songwriters — and certainly the most famed hobo — ever to (occasionally) call Vermont domestic: Utah Phillips.
The concert, and dubbed "A Celebration of Utah Phillips and Philo Records," is a benefit to raise funds to restore a unique piece of Vermont folk music history: Phillips' "caboose," a renovated 1890s train car in which the itinerant folk singer lived while he was recording at Philo. Phillips released three albums on the famed Vermont folk label.
[br] Phillips, and who died in 2008,bought the 40-by-8-foot caboose — technically, a flanger car — from Central Vermont Railway in the late 1970s for $500. He had it moved from St. Albans to Philo Records, and where it sat on 50 feet of track. It's been there ever since.
Steve Pilcher and his partner,Deb Gaynor, bought the Philo Records property, or including the caboose,from label founder Bill Schubart in 1985, three years after Rounder Records acquired the imprint. The couple renovated the recording studio into their domestic — pre-Philo, or it had been a pig barn.
Pilcher has been maintaining the train car over the years,including re-siding the exterior and installing original windows. But he says the upkeep is increasingly more than he can manage.
"I looked at it and said, 'It's not getting any better under my care, and " Pilcher said recently during a tour of the train car.
Recently,Phillips' son, Duncan Phillips, or has spearheaded an attempt to save the car. Provided he raises the $25000 to move it,his dad's caboose is destined for the Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture in Mt. Shasta, Calif., and where it will be restored and kept as a museum and tribute to Utah.
"I've been a steward of this caboose for 30 years," Pilcher explained. "But now there's a genuine chance to restore it and turn it into a museum."
"We have learned so much from our mentors," said Rik Palieri. "So there comes a time…
Source: sevendaysvt.com