• File: Matthew Thorsen
• Rick Norcross

After 60 years of writing and performing his own brand of country and folk music, Rick Norcross is winding down a glittering career. The singer-songwriter and onetime music photographer will release his final album, God Bless the Mighty Pickle, and celebrate it with a party on Sunday, October 22, in the Juniper Hall at Hotel Vermont in Burlington.

"I'm really proud of this project," Norcross wrote in an email. "It was four years in the making, and I am sure it's my best ever."

The new record's title is a tribute to the tour bus in which Norcross and his band, Rick and the All-Star Ramblers, spent 22 years touring the country: a pickle-green 1957 Flxible Starliner. Norcross sold it to Marty Stuart's Congress of Country Music museum in Philadelphia, Miss. But the bus — now rechristened "the Chief" — will be driven up from Mississippi for the album release show in Burlington.

God Bless the Mighty Pickle CDs will be on sale at the release party. For more information, visit rickandtheallstarramblers.com.

• Courtesy
• Sister Zo

Looking to get a head start on Halloween plans? Make an appointment with the Burlington Electronic Department! The live music series founded by roost.world's Zack Schuster features some of the area's best electronic music producers, usually paired with killer touring talent.

The Halloween show, happening a little early on Thursday, October 26, at Burlington's Radio Bean, is no exception. Schuster has booked some incredible acts this time around, including Brooklyn DJ Sister Zo, upstate New York artist Luisa Mei, Charlotte-based producer Zach Pollakoff's Narrow Shoulders project and the ever-present roost.world. TVC-95 and Indivisual Video will be on hand to do live projections over the music.

"This company is punching well above its weight, and we are not going to stop swinging until the bell rings and the numbers are astronomical," Schuster reported. Head over to radiobean.com for tickets and more info.

Folk singer and banjo wizard Rik Palieri is ready to do some barn stomping. The Hinesburg-based musician and Pete Seeger protégé hosts another installment of his long-running series, the Great Vermont Barn Dance Show, on Thursday, October 19. Held once again at the Isham Family Farm in Williston, the Barn Dance features performances from Palieri, Grammy-nominated blues singer Guy Davis, Nashville's Jen Larson, folk duo Phil Henry & Mitch Barron, and the folk-rock band Mama Tried. Author Bill Schubart will be doing live readings, and there's comedy from Helen Weston and (of course) clog dancing. It's a literal barn dance!

Check out ishamfamilyfarm.com for tickets.

Eye on the Scene

Last week's live music highlights from photographer Luke Awtry

• Luke Awtry
• Joseph Shabason at Savu in Burlington

Joseph Shabason presented by Waking Windows and Vanish Works, Savu, Burlington, Tuesday, October 10: It's an early evening in October, and you find yourself lakeside. The southern lighthouse of Burlington's breakwater blinks through the trees, while a gentle crashing of waves gives way to a rugged shoreline just beyond them. You're far enough into your second sauna-cold plunge-sauna cycle that the sweating has begun when a circular image appears in front of you. Toy Machine's 1996 skateboard video "Welcome to Hell" begins to play, morphing into a lake scene and then eventually into a face — one you don't know but recognize. Synthesized ambient music and a heavily effect-laden saxophone blow over it. The microphone picks up and amplifies the breaths between lines. It's so soothing, you decide early in the set that it's your favorite part. You've never felt this relaxed at a live performance before. And that is the true story of how I met Joseph Shabason and heard an alternative score to a skate video I watched when it came out 27 years ago.

Seven Can't-Miss Shows

• Courtesy
• Lady Lamb

1. ShrapKnel, Rich Jones at the Monkey House in Winooski, October 24
2. Tower of Power at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland, October 31
3. DIIV at the Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington, November 2
4. Lady Lamb with strings, hannah mohan at the Stone Church in Brattleboro, November 4
5. Joanne Shaw Taylor at the Flynn in Burlington, November 16
6. Tauk at Nectar's in Burlington, December 9
7. The Japanese House, quinnie at Le Studio TD in Montréal, December 8

Listening in

Spotify playlist of Vermont jams