BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Four of the brightest lights in contemporary singer/songwriter music – John Gorka, Patty Larkin, Cliff Eberhardt, and Lucy Kaplansky – join together for an extraordinary evening of music, “On a Winter’s Night,” on Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Bellows Falls Opera House.
It was in 1994 that folk-music den-mother Christine Lavin first gathered a group together for a songwriting and performing retreat under that moniker. From that, a best-selling Rounder Records disc appeared, then a tour, then another. 30 years later, “On a Winter’s Night” is one of the most anticipated annual events on the folk-music calendar.
“It’s like a mini folk festival all-star lineup on stage,” says Charlie Hunter, one of the presenters of the event, “except without the mosquitoes and tick bites, and you’re in a comfortable seat, and you don’t have to use a porta-potty.”
“Seriously, though,” he continues, “this is just a really great lineup of writers and performers whose work has stood the test of time.”
The Jan. 8 date marks the first of the 2026 Ray Massucco Concert Series, named after the late beloved Bellows Falls booster, attorney, part-time concert promoter, and full-time music lover. After Massucco’s death in 2022, a group of Vermont friends who had worked with Massucco on the 22-year trajectory of the Roots on the River music festival quickly coalesced around the idea of a concert series. “Ray loved music,” says Ezra Veitch, production manager of Ray’s the Roof, presenter of the series. “And Ray loved Bellows Falls. I think he’d be thrilled to see how successful the series has been and continues to be.”
The 2026 series kicks off with “On a Winter’s Night”; continues on April 17 with the return of Garrison Keillor, this time accompanied by longtime Prairie Home Companion pianist Richard Dworsky; revs into high gear with the return of Fred Eaglesmith on Oct. 17; and concludes with Dar Williams, on Dec. 4.
The Bellows Falls Opera House is located at 7 Village Square, Bellows Falls, Vt. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets and more information can be found at www.bellowsfallsoperahouse.com/special-events.