$15 advanced, $20 at the door
General Admission - Doors open at 7PM
https://golddust.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-shade-of-the-living-light
Local album release show for In the Shade of the Living Light, out May 16th, 2025.
Gold Dust are more than a band. They’re a family. In a time of greater isolation and existential anxiety, they form a vital community.
It wasn’t always this way. Gold Dust started four years ago as a solitary solo endeavor – a way for Western Massachusetts musician Stephen Pierce to branch out from his roots in DIY punk and explore a longtime fascination with traditional folk and psychedelia. After releasing two records, 2021’s self-titled and 2022’s The Late Great Gold Dust, Pierce welcomed new voices into the fold. Their collective effort, In the Shade of the Living Light, is the story of four people at a crossroads in their lives. They may never find the answers, but they have found solace and unconditional support in one another.
Joining Pierce are Ally Einbinder (guitar, formerly of Potty Mouth), Adam Reid (drums, of Nanny), and Sean Greene (bass, of The Van Pelt). As a four-piece, Gold Dust springs out of the cloistered interior and transforms into a dynamic force. In the Shade of the Living Light embraces you with captivating guitar squalls and warm vocal harmonies, steady rhythms, and an innovative blend of influences, from traditional folk to West Coast psych, alternative punk, jangle-rock, and ‘90s college rock.
“I look at this as a band starting to figure out who they are by leaning into regionalism,” Pierce says. “That's something that I miss, when different parts of the country and world would have distinct sounds and musical movements coming out of the communities, usually having something to do with their surroundings, be it geographical or cultural. Our rural part of the state is so culturally different from the more metropolitan part of MA; I've been pretty intentional pulling together from all the various music from around the world that influences me and tie it to something specifically evocative of rural New England.”
Just as much as Pierce has given Einbinder, Reid, and Greene a creative platform and emotional sanctuary, the rest of the band have likewise encouraged the guitarist to push himself to release this collection. Initially, Pierce never thought he’d want to record the deeply personal tracks that make up In the Shade of the Living Light, a title with regeneration in mind and inspired by the writings of 11th century philosopher Hildegard of Bingen.
“‘In the Shade of the Living Light’ means a lot of things to me, independent of what it might have meant to Hildegard.” Pierce says. “For me, making peace with these songs and turning them into something else – there's light in the shade, and there's shade in the light.”
“It's a complicated record for me… I opened doors that I hadn't before, confronted darkness and came to terms with what's possible to come to terms with,” Pierce continues. “That's why I initially wanted to move past these songs quickly—they were tethered to the circumstances of the time. But, you know, strange things are born of chaos. Sometimes illuminating things. Things that, though difficult, are worth engaging.”
Building out his vision for In the Shade of the Living Light, Gold Dust brought in an extended family of contributors, with production by Justin Pizzoferrato, with whom the band recorded at Sonelab in Easthampton, backing vocals from Gretchen Williams (Kindling), Meghan Minior (Ampere), and Josh Robbins (Late Bloomer), Fred Thomas on vocals and synth, Anthony Saffery (Cornershop) on sitar, Drew Gardner (Elkhorn) on vibraphone, and J Mascis, who plays electric sitar on “An Early Translation of a Later Work.” Finally, Sean Yeaton of Parquet Courts provided the liner notes, which come enveloped in an accompanying album zine.
Mascis’ winding sitar solo closes out “An Early Translation of a Later Work,” a kaleidoscopic rocker Pierce reveals acts as a sonic bridge to a future Gold Dust record. “As far as my guitar playing goes, I'm prouder of that song than I think I am of anything else that we've released so far,” he adds. “For me, that's the song that heralds where we are as a band, and what the path ahead might look like.”
Meanwhile, opener “Whatever’s Left” kicks in with stunning guitar-work that brims with urgency and feeling before cascading into Pierce’s even-toned vocal.
As they anticipate the release of In the Shade of the Living Light, Pierce’s gratitude to his bandmates is palpable, both for their urging to record these songs and for encircling him with their unconditional love and support. “If left to my own devices, these songs would stay on the shelf. I wouldn't have reevaluated them,” he says. “Ally, Adam, and Sean encouraged me to revisit these songs, and I'm super grateful for that… Fundamentally, however, I think that the story of this record isn't so much about an individual. For me, it's the story of a band.”
The Croaks
The Croaks are rabid post-hot folk rock infesting Boston, MA.
Silvie’s Okay
Silvie's Okay is the gaze-y country project of Vince Thompson. Raised on a cattle ranch in the High Desert before moving to Boston and eventually Western Massachusetts, Silvie’s Okay is a return to his roots of blasting pop country through the AM radio of a tractor. Silvie’s demo EP, ‘Grit and Bare It’, was released in April 2024.
https://silviesokay.bandcamp.com/music
Mibble
Mibble is Mike Parham and Natalie Roll. Trying to make recordings that we can listen to over and over again.
https://mibble.bandcamp.com/
