LINCOLN — Last Train to Zinkov will perform at the Burnham Music Series, Burnham Hall, 52 River Rd. in Lincoln on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. David and Nathan Gusakov, father and son, perform original songs and old tunes about life and death and the beauty of the hills. Featuring clawhammer banjo, fiddle, and family harmonies, Last Train To Zinkov’s music draws from Appalachian old-time, gypsy jazz, classical, and the klezmer of their Eastern European roots.
Zinkov: a small town in rural Ukraine, and the ancestral hometown of the Gusakovs. The duo plays with a lively, toe-tapping touch, sing with mournful sensitivity, and exhibit a creative chemistry that can only be born of a lifetime of relationship. Their music tells of the beauty and peace of home, of delight and sadness and the wild human emotions inherent in living and dying.
David arrived in Vermont in 1973, joining the Vermont Symphony that year and bluegrass/swing band Pine Island the next. In the intervening 42 years he has been a full-time musician, playing with such groups as the Midnite Plowboys, Redwing, Swing Shift, Will Patton Ensemble, Swing Noire, and Michele Choiniere. At home in a wide variety of genres, he brings improvisatory flare and depth of feeling to everything he plays.
Nathan lives with his family in Lincoln near the headwaters of the New Haven River, where he makes his living as a carpenter and musician. Nate is self-taught on the banjo, and his first album of all-original music, “Running Clear” (2011), received praise for its “stellar claw hammer style banjo and rich lyricism” (Jamie Masefield, Jazz Mandolin Project).
Doors open at 7 p.m., refreshments will be available during intermission. Admission is $10 for adults, teens and kids are free. Call (802) 388-6863 for more information.