Grace Bowers and Gary Clark Jr. light up the lawn at Shelburne Museum
Leave it to Ben & Jerry’s to host a concert that hits every sensory pleasure point. Free ice cream? Check. Golden hour lighting against a backdrop of Vermont’s green mountains? Check. A double bill featuring one of blues rock’s reigning legends and its teenage heir apparent? Big check.
On Friday night at the Shelburne Museum, the lawn crowd ditched their usual folding chairs and picnic blankets and rushed the barricade because when Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge took the stage, sitting wasn’t an option.
Still riding high off her debut record Wine on Venus, Grace Bowers might be best known for her Instagram shredding and late-night TV cameos, but she’s no social media gimmick. She’s the real deal, and the Shelburne set proved it. Blonde curls bouncing, vintage Bowie tee, she is straight out of a time machine from the ’70s. And like her, her Hodge Podge bandmates somehow play like seasoned pros despite their age.
Her set was short but left a long impression. Midway through, she lit the crowd on fire with a breakneck, jaw-drop cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Scuttle Buttin’.” Just 105 seconds of fretboard warfare that was arguably the tightest guitar solo of the night. And that’s saying something, considering who followed her.
As the sun dipped behind the mountains, Gary Clark Jr. took over. The vibe shifted from golden and giddy to dusky and cinematic. With backup singers and a full band behind him, Clark leaned into both the mood and the moment. There’s a comfort to how he performs now. No need to prove anything, just a steady burn of bluesy excellence.
But the real mic-drop came when Grace re-emerged later in his set to jam alongside him. Watching her trade licks with Clark felt like witnessing a passing of the torch in real time. One blues-rock generation nodding to the next.
Add in a few food trucks, some incredible local vendors, and a line around the block for Cherry Garcia, and this Ben & Jerry’s-sponsored show was just the quintessential Vermont experience.
Follow Grace Bowers: Website | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify
Follow Gary Clark Jr: Website | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify
This show was shot for The Concert Chronicles. You can find the original article here.
