Ramblin' Dan Stevens Offers a Park Full of Blues, Sagas and Slide

If you care about the blues enough, you'll cross the country with your guitar for company in Bound for Glory fashion. Maybe even do it five times and rack up more than 100,000 miles, as Ramblin' Dan Stevens has. Stevens, dubbed “Connecticut’s hardest working bluesman” by The New York Times, will perform in the final concert of the season for the Stafford Arts Commission on Sunday, Aug. 14, in Heritage Park.

Stevens' repertoire goes from delta blues “bottleneck slide” tunes, through the carefree piedmont style and on to complex arrangements in the spirit of folk and blues icon Dave Van Ronk, his former teacher. He was taught slide by acoustic guitarist and W.C. Handy Award winner Paul Rishell.

Stevens has spent 20 years honoring his teachers and adding to his authenticity by heavy touring on the East Coast, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the U.K. and Germany. He has appeared with Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Charlie Daniels, Livingston Taylor, James Cotton and Charlie Musselwhite. His most recent CD, Broke Down and Hungry, features Sugar Ray Norcia, of Sugar Ray and the Bluetones and formerly Roomful of Blues, on harmonica.

Stevens' original songs are warm and stylish, his renditions of traditional fare, always refreshing. Heads up, guitar lovers: He doesn't just come equipped with one instrument, but plays on several from his prized collection.

Bitten at a young age by the romance of blues masters such as Mississippi John Hurt and Fred McDowell, Stevens hitchhiked and hopped freights, taught rock climbing in New Mexico and broke his collarbone riding bulls in Colorado.

But this Old Lyme resident doesn't just know the rails. He sailed schooners for a living, spent a couple years living on his wooden sloop as he performed up and down the East Coast and served as mate through Central and South American waters on David Crosby's sailboat, the Mayan.

Ramblin' Dan Stevens has delighted Stafford audiences before, including in the arts commission's coffeehouse series. He and his Fiery Band will play a mix of blues, early jazz, swing, roots and country.

The blues is about storytelling and experience, and this artist has sagas that will carry across a park in open air. Go to Stafford on Sunday.

The Aug. 14 concert will start at 6 p.m. Rain location is Stafford Community Center on Route 190. For information on Stevens, visit his Web site. For concert information, call 860-684-9500 or 860-684-5211.

'Tangled' on 2-Story Screen at Evergreen Walk

What better way to enjoy the fleeting moments of summer than hop to a big-screen free movie with the kids? Beginning at sundown, or 7:30, Friday, Aug. 12, “Tangled,” Disney's animated variation on the Rapunzel theme, will be shown on a two-story inflatable screen in the Rockville Bank Park at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor. In this story of self-actualization, our heavily tressed damsel escapes life in a tower to learn about the world and her place in it.

If you can't make it this Friday, or even if you can, “Toy Story 3” will play at sundown next Friday, Aug. 19.

Bring lawn chairs, as seating is limited. Freshly popped corn can be purchased from Yukon Kettle Corn.

The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk are at 501 Evergreen Way, South Windsor. The park is near L.L. Bean. For more information, call 860-432-3398.

Welcome to My Nightmare...In My Room

You have a choice between good and evil this weekend. Actually you can choose both, and seek them out at Foxwoods.

You can go see the iconic '60s band, The Beach Boys: Live in Concert, on Friday, Aug. 12, in the MGM Grand Theater, or theatrical hard-rocking Alice Cooper on Saturday, Aug. 13, same place.

Both have had their huge impact on the music scene – the surfer guys with tons of Top 40 hits, impressive harmonies and Rock Hall of Fame fame, and the heavily made-up Cooper with his imprint on concert theater, his platinum albums and sold-out tours.

It's really up to you.

Both concerts are at 8 p.m. in the MGM Grand Theater. Tickets for the Beach Boys are $25-45; for Alice Cooper, $30-55. For information or to buy, call 1-800-200-2882 or visit the Foxwoods entertainment Web site.

25 Years of LTM Musicals, Act II

After the rousing 2010 success of a revue featuring song and dance from the first quarter-century of Little Theatre of Manchester musicals, now you can see the newer version. This weekend and next will showcase “The Second 25 Years – A Musical Revue,” with selections from LTM's 1986-2010 seasons at Cheney Hall. Those include “Mame,” “Into the Woods,” “42nd Street,” “Follies,” “My Fair Lady,” “Camelot,” “The Sound of Music,” “Ain't Misbehavin',” “Show Boat,” “Tintypes,” “Secret Garden,” “Jekyll & Hyde,” “The Little Shop of Horrors” and more.

The production is directed by Sharon FitzHenry.

Performances are Friday-Saturday, Aug. 12-13 and Aug. 19-20, Sunday, Aug. 14 and 21, and Thursday, Aug. 18. Curtain is at 8 p.m. except for Sundays, which have 2 p.m. matinees. Tickets are $22-29. For information or to purchase, visit the theater Web Site, e-mail jhodgson@cheneyhall.org or call 860-647-9824.