Join us on Sunday, March 10, 2024, 3:00 p.m.
Meet Maxfield Anderson and Tader Shipley
If you haven’t signed up for house concert announcements, you can do that below. And if you want to see these folks and join us for our Very First House Concert (yes!), write to us at music [at] forestofbliss [dot] com.
Priding themselves in being collaborators in art and life, the duo consisting of Maxfield Anderson & Tader Shipley found their personal and musical homes with one another. From contrasting backgrounds in musical theater and bluegrass, the two joined forces to create a sound full of commanding harmonies, multi-instrumental finesse, and unadulterated joy. Finding influence from Rodgers & Hammerstein to Jimmie Rodgers & Hank Williams, the pair blend their love of honest storytelling into a sound uniquely their own.
Laurelyn and I have found inspiration from these two. They love the music they make. You see it and feel it. I’ve heard Max say there’s no one he likes to sing with more than Tader. It shows.
Tader Shipley prides herself in being a singer, actor, storyteller, and musical theatre artist. After graduating from Bowling Green State University (OH), she decided to uproot, discovering Boston as her new place to call home. Shaped by sounds of her childhood, such as Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, and The Judds, Tader has fused her love of classic country with a background in theatre to create her distinctive sound. Some favorite local theatre credits include: How I Learned to Drive, The Taming of The Shrew (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), The Wizard of Oz (Wheelock Family Theatre), Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol (Emerson Colonial Theatre), and The Donkey Show (American Repertory Theatre).
Maxfield Anderson is an American roots multi-instrumentalist, teacher, writer, music director and live sound engineer from Tulsa, Oklahoma, currently living in Watertown, MA. As an artist, Maxfield aims to bring new light to honored traditions and to share the joy of making music with others.
Wielding a multitude of stringed instruments, Maxfield dances between the lines of driving bluegrass, old-time dance music, and early country. He weaves stringband sensibilities with timeless songs and stories from the deep well of American music.
In 2019 Maxfield released his first full-length record, Racing Back to You (link to listen to one of his songs), with bluegrass quartet ‘Pretty Saro’ (Nine Athens Music). Rene Cobar from The Deli Magazine said, “It is the storytelling in each song that makes this group so intriguing…[the record] perfectly incapsulates the spirit of New England folk music.” Emma Finnerty from DigBoston proclaimed “You can stop believing bluegrass is the music of a bygone era right now.”
No stranger to the Club Passim community (link to the May 2024 Passim Folk Collective concert), Maxfield teaches ensembles and group classes at the Passim School of Music, works as a live sound engineer/venue manager for concerts in the club, and books musicians for brunch jam sessions. Past performances at the club include Dumb Blonde: The Songs of Dolly Parton (video of one song, and show clips; with Tader Shipley, Hazel Royer, Micah Nicol, & Ella Jordan), Hello Stranger (Rachel Sumner & Hazel Royer – sold out), Ira Klein Band, Pretty Saro, Down Home at Home Festivals (link to video), and campfire festivals. At Concord Conservatory of Music (CCM), he teaches guitar, mandolin, and fiddle for individuals as well as the popular Let’s Pick series of classes where students learn how to get started and advance in old-time and bluegrass jamming.
Maxfield graduated from Berklee College of Music with a BFA in Music Performance with a concentration in American Roots Music. He is an active musician in the Boston music scene, and has toured throughout the Northeast playing listening rooms, ball rooms, bar rooms, back rooms, front porches and festival stages.
What, When, How to RSVP
Sunday, March 10. 3:00 p.m. (Wrapping by 6:00 p.m. or possibly earlier).
Suggested donation: $20 All proceeds to the artists.
RSVP: Send me a note at music@forestofbliss.com. Your name, number of seats, and if you like, a phone number to text you with any last-minute developments. We’ll save you seats and count on you being there. Seats are limited to about 30.)
Payment: Cash in person is best. Consider bringing some folding money to tip the artists on the day as well. Venmo is also okay. Ask me about my Venmo account.