Midday Music In The Bag

The Rad Trads were about halfway through their set on the New Haven Green Tuesday afternoon when guitarist and vocalist Alden Harris-McCoy crooned out a line.

“New York Daily News, page 13,” he said, ​“Brooklyn man hits jackpot.”

It certainly felt that way as the torrential rain from the night and the morning suddenly stopped more or less just in time for the New York-based band to start their set, and kick off the International Festival of Arts and Ideas​‘s free midday programming on the Green, which runs nearly every day for the duration of the festival until June 22.

While the Arts and Ideas Festival draws large crowds with its tentpole events both on the Green and elsewhere in the city, its midday programming can often be as sweet, bouncing from one genre to the next. Today, June 12, will feature the Luke Hendon Acoustic Combo, which dives deep into the jazz manouche that Django Reinhardt originated in Paris nearly a century ago, while the kids’ programming will feature drummer Bob Bloom. June 13 will feature the New England-based Sister Funk and Loosey LaDuca. And June 14 will round out the week with Latin rock stalwart Rick Reyes and a drum and sing jamboree with Liz MacNichol.

On Tuesday, the music of the Rad Trads — John Fatum (drums and vocals), Michael Fatum (trumpet and vocals), Michael Harlen (bass and vocals), Harris-McCoy (guitar and vocals), and Patrick Sargent (keys, saxophone, and vocals) — suited the occasion as the clouds parted and people returned to the Green. They purveyed a style of rock as amiable as it was well-executed. It was light without being trite. It was clever and fleet-footed. It was, in a word, fun, as they traded songs and vocals around, backing each other up with rich harmonies.

The handful of people who were on the Green when the Rad Trads started playing ended up sticking around. The crowd grew to a few dozen, encompassing groups of students on break, professionals on lunch hour. Kids danced. A couple adults joined them. People who were just walking across the Green stayed for a song or two. People took pictures with their phones. There were reports of dancing in the fountain in the Green’s middle.

“They got kind of an ​‘80s hippie vibe,” said a spectator, who approved of the Rad Trads’ ​“Springsteen meets Tom Petty” sound. ​“I asked my daughter to dance with me but she said no.”

As the Rad Trads settled in, the music got even better. A long trumpet solo from Michael Fatum drew an appreciative round of applause. One man unfolded a lawn chair and ate his lunch there. A woman carrying a few shopping bags ended up making a quick camp on one of the Green’s paved walkways. A man in an orange shirt followed suit.

“We know it’s a little early for a rock concert,” Harris-McCoy said, ​“But we heard those noon bells toll, and the rock juices started flowing.” At the end of the set, Harris-McCoy thanked the festival for having them. ​“We hope you are filled with art and ideas by the end of the festival, and we hope we’ve contributed a couple,” he said. Then he introduced the band’s last song. ​“This song is about summer love and global warming,” he said.

In the tent near the stage, very shortly after the Rad Trads wrapped up, Ken Waldman and The Vollmers started their set, ostensibly meant for children. But as the small but attentive audience was mostly adults, Waldman bridged the divide.

“What makes a writer?” he said, with a tone that suggested he was looking for an esoteric answer. He pulled something out of his pocket. ​“A pen,” he said. He reached into his pocket. ​“Another pen,” he said. ​“And a Sharpie.” But you can’t just write your ideas on your arms, he said. So he reached into his pockets again. ​“A book,” he said. ​“And if I lost that?” He pulled out another book, and another, and another. It was a slapstick routine with a practical point to make: To become a writer, you just write; to become a musician, you just start to play.

As the audience grew from around a dozen to about 20, Waldman talked about his own past, and especially about moving to Alaska, where he said he become a writer and a musician, securing a job as a writing instructor in the University of Alaska system. Where he lived, the towns were so isolated from one another that you needed a plane to travel between then. He explained that he taught his classes by conference call, and even had an end-of-year party for one of his classes that way. One of his students sang a Russian song. A couple students did a radio play from prison. Another student played Bach on the piano over the phone line. Finally, one of the students who had baked cookies for the class — and mailed them to the students before the call — did a countdown. ​“5, 4, 3, 2, 1,” she said. ​“Now eat.” They all bit into the cookies together, over the phone.

The Vollmers got a chance to show what they could do with old country music.

And they backed up Waldman for a mix of fiddle music and spoken word.

With a couple children in the audience, Waldman asked for a brave volunteer to help him unpack a bag. What did the volunteer think was in the bag? Books, she said. Waldman dutifully began to unpack the bag, revealing a smaller bag, and another, and another, and another. It was a Russian doll of luggage.

“There better be a punchline here,” Waldman said. There was. Increasingly smaller bags finally yielded a sock — ​“a dirty sock!” someone said from the audience — that had a harmonica in it. When it came to folk music, Waldman had it in the bag.

Waldman and the Vollmers ended their set with a high-energy fiddle tune. Without being asked, the audience clapped along.

For a full schedule of Arts and Ideas daytime events on the Green, which are free and family-friendly, see the festival’s full calendar.