Scott Tady: Party like it's 1799 in Freedom; check out Beaver Falls singer's viral release

School field trips to the Vicary Mansion never looked like this.

The Freedom historical site offers cocktails, games and live fiddle music at a Colonial Tavern Night on April 15.

"We will be serving various tavern food, such as meat pies, white pot pudding, cheese wafers, ginger cakes and brandy pound cake," Brenda Applegate, executive director of the Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation, said. "To the best of our research, we will be using similar receipts (18th-century term for recipes) for the food served. We will also have smoked cheeses, meats and nuts to nibble on."

Fiddle player Alex Brown will set the mood, as guests sip drinks such as Scotch punch; Cherry Bounce, Bloody Dirk Shrub, 1775 Rum Punch and beer. For non-imbibers, there's ginger beer, cider, water, coffee and tea.Tavern tabletop games will include Old Tavern Shooters, Fox and Geese, Nine Men’s Morris, Triangle Solitaire and iron-forged puzzles made by a blacksmith.

"Staff will be dressed in 18th-century period clothing," Applegate said. "Attendees are encouraged to dressin period attire, but that is optional."

I might have to iron my knee breeches and vest.

The party lasts from 7-10 p.m., with tickets $20, or $35 per couple.

Registration is due by April 6 by calling 724-775-1848.

The website, which mentions wenches, is bchrlf.org/events

Vanessa worldwide

As he's reminded his 5.4 million YouTube subscribers, Armin Van Buuren has a new album coming out Friday.

The world-renowned Dutch DJ has been promoting the album with the recent worldwide release of "Vulnerable," a collaborative single featuring Beaver Falls native Vanessa Campagna on vocals.

Quickly logging 303,000 YouTube views, the lyric video for "Vulnerable," co-written by Campagna, launches with a swirling, atmospheric soundscape, as the Blackhawk High grad's pretty, powerful voice praises a love that brings healing by allowing true feelings and emotions to be expressed. A bit past the 1-minute mark, Van Buuren releases a flurry of dance club beats that'll make that song a guaranteed banger at all of his 2023 tour dates booked on four continents, including the South American Lollapaloozas.

A leading figure in the "trance" subgenre of electronic dance music, for which DJ Mag has five times proclaimed him the world's No. 1 DJ, Van Buuren supplies just the latest worldwide exposure for Campagna, who has performed across the globe as a featured vocalist for contemporary Christian singer Michael W. Smith.

No word yet if Campagna will join Van Buuren in concert.

"Hoping to," the former CBS "Star Search" contestant said, "but I've got a bunch of stuff happening on my end with finishing my album and doing some of my own tour dates."

Earlier this morning, she released her new single, "How You Know."

Woodland Creatures

Danceable Americana.

That's how I'd describe the music of Woodland Creatures, a six-piece Pittsburgh band looking to take its career to the next level with a new album they'll introduce April 2 at a show at the Thunderbird Music Hall in Lawrenceville.

Woodland Creatures' alluring mix of multiple harmonies, fiddle and guitars stopped me in my tracks last year at the Deutschtown Music Festival on Pittsburgh's North Side. I immediately began plotting to get them to play Beaver County.

The new album, "Lay It All Down," deserves radio attention. Especially "No Time," with its message of life's too short to stay fixated on the rear-view mirror.

"The overall theme of 'Lay It All Down' is just what the title says: it's about putting our troubles to the side, living in the moment, enjoying life, and staying hopeful," Woodland Creatures fiddle player Hannah McGovern said. "All of us have demanding jobs, several of us have kids, and modern life can just be plain stressful. We all look forward to our weekly band practice so that for a few hours, we can be ourselves and have fun. This is the context in which all our music is written and recorded. When you listen to our songs, you can tell we are having a great time doing something we love."

Woodland Creatures started out as classical musicians getting together on a friend's front porch and taking a summer to learn how to jam.

"Because many of us have classical music backgrounds, we enjoy carefully arranging our music and playing with unique instrumentation, vocal harmonies and various musical styles," McGovern said. "We can get in the weeds a bit when deciding what chords and harmonies to use, but it totally pays off."

She said, "It's common for people to listen to our music and not know where to place us. Are we Folk, Alt-Country, Indie Folk, Roots, Rock, Americana? While 'No Time' is classic Americana, 'Deep' leans indie, 'Keep On Running' leans rock, 'Howl' has a disco flavor, 'Crows Don't Lie,' is bluesy. But all of our songs showcase our three-part harmonies, since that is what we are best known for."

They've got a great lineup for that April 2 show, joined by The Living Street (who were excellent New Year's Eve at Fermata Brewing in Ambridge) and Cello Fury (always a crowd pleaser at Beaver Station Cultural & Event Center.)

Tickets are $12 at thunderbirdmusichall.com

"Our live shows are very similar to our practices, we are there to have fun," McGovern said. "Nothing is better than having a room full of people enjoying the moment."

More:Steve Martin, Martin Short returning to Pittsburgh

Tidbits

*The Lindsay Theater in Sewickley begins its three-part National Day of Science on Screen this Tuesday with "Woman in Motion," a documentary about the impact "Star Trek" star Nichelle Nichols had on NASA. Ahead of the 7 p.m. screening will be a presentation by staff from the Moonshot Museum, which opened on Pittsburgh's North Side in October.

*Eve 6 will perform July 22 at the 59th annual Horse Trading Days on Main Street in Zelienople. The platinum-selling alt-rockers are best known for "Inside Out," that 1998 gem with the line "Wanna put my tender heart in a blender/Watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion/Rendezvous, then I'm through with you."

Tickets are $30 and $40 at horsetradingdays.com

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times. Reach him at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Party like its 1799 in Freedom; Beaver Falls singer has viral release