HOLLAND — The underground music scene in the northern Northeast Kingdom is thriving and it lives in Holland.
Andy Bouchard, through his production company Borderline Entertainment, is queuing up music acts for the summer that will take place at The Barrage, an all ages, alternative performance space focused on bringing independent alternative musical styles to the NEK that are not usually heard live outside of the cities.
“I’m doing this because I believe more people of the Northeast Kingdom listen to independent style music than the radio station market would lead people to believe,” says Bouchard. “Plus, I was sick of driving to Burlington to have an evening of enjoying different and new independent alternative music, and I feel like there’s a solid amount of people up here who feel the same way.”
The Barrage will kick off its second summer on Thursday, May 24 with “Get the Punk Outside,” a show featuring The Inhalants, a punk group from Ontario, and The Neighbors Hate Us, a group of local loud rockers.
The venue will host four shows and a farm soiree throughout the summer with the possibility of a couple of shows cropping up along the way.
All the shows are opened to the public and are priced on a sliding scale between $5 and $15 with generosity for the traveling artists being greatly appreciated.
“Nobody is not invited,” says Bouchard while adding, “except jerks, they’re totally not invited.”
According to Bouchard, his only worry about having a music venue out in Holland is that more people will now know just how beautiful Holland is – a secret he said he’s willing to share.
“My hope for this whole venture is for good music and good times to be coming to our area,” he says.
The Barrage is located on Stearns Brook Road in Holland.
Just follow the signs saying “Rock and Roll.”
To find out more information about shows coming to The Barrage check out Borderline Entertainment on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/borderline.vt.us.
