For Sunset Concert Series through August

From PSPS

POLAND – The Poland Spring Preservation Society has kicked of its summer concert series, at the Gazebo at Poland Spring.

The Sunset Series of concerts on Monday evenings supports the society’s mission to preserve and restore two wonderful historic buildings, the All Souls Chapel and Maine State Building.

The concerts begin at 6:30 p.m., and admission is $5 per person.

For forty-five years, this non-profit organization has been the steward of these amazing buildings, and with ongoing support, will continue to preserve them for future generations.

Please take a moment to speak to a volunteer, or one of our staff, if you are interested in learning more about the  buildings, the history of Poland Spring, or how to become a member or volunteer.

July 19

Christie Ray Trio

Christie Ray is an emerging New England singer-songwriter, based out of New Gloucester.

Her warm, captivating voice is turning heads wherever she performs. Drawing from her own experiences and the stories of life that she sees happening all around her, Christie has that rare ability to weave lyrics into stories that feel like they were written from the soundtrack of our own life.

Her catchy melodies and memorable lyrical-hooks, will have listeners singing along, as if they already knew the songs.

Though her sets focus on songs from her upcoming album “Night Life”, she’ll also put her own spin on cover songs from artists such as Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Miranda Lambert, Queen, Tom Petty,  Patsy Cline, Blondie and many more.

Christie will be accompanied by Andrew Pelletier on percussion and backup vocals, along with Sean Finn on bass guitar.

July 26

Ernie Gagne

Ernie and Scott Gagné are a father and son duo from Lewiston.

They’ve been performing together for a couple of years.

Ernie is a 6th grade teacher at St. Dominic Academy in Auburn.

Scott spent the last couple of years in Nashville before COVID, where he was the lead guitarist for Bucky Covington. He also accompanied upcoming country music star Cassidy Daniels, and the pair opened a couple of shows for Willie Nelson.

August 2

Sruli & Lisa Dresdner

Rabbi Sruli and Lisa are international Jewish music personalities who perform Klezmer, Hasidic, and Israeli music.

Their programs are joyous and interactive and they get everyone from Babies to Bubbies (grandmothers) singing, clapping, laughing, and dancing in the aisles!

They play the clarinet, violin, accordion, drum, bass, recorder, banjo, ukulele, nose-flute, kazarp, and musical saw–some simultaneously– and have been featured on PBS-TV and National Public Radio.

Rabbi Sruli Dresdner and Lisa Mayer have headlined at world music festivals from Poland to Germany to Israel to Canada and perform across the United States at festivals, theaters, synagogues and schools.

The New York Times called their music “tuneful and sprightly” and The Los Angeles Times called Sruli and Lisa “superb musicians!”

August 9

Anni Clark

Maine native Anni Clark traveled full time for 23 years with her 6 and 12 string guitars, her own songs, and her passion

for connecting with audiences of all ages.

With 7 albums and numerous songwriting, vocal and performance awards under her belt, she chose to work with behaviorally challenged students for 12 years, retiring from the field of education in 2016.

In November 2019, her video “I’m With You Greta” was screened at the International Environmental Film Festival in Barcelona, Spain, and won “Best Folk Video” in the Music Video Portland ME Awards in January, 2020.

When the COVID-19 pandemic dictated that her LIVE shows be put on hold, Anni went to work co-producing her first full studio album in 18 years. Titled “Will It Ever Be the Same”, the 12 tracks on her new album touch on themes of love, loss, transition, hope, social distance and the need to find closeness.

Anni’s gift for spotting the silver lining even amidst chaos shines through on this new release. Blending folk, pop & blues to share her stories, Anni hits a home run sure to please longtime supporters and new fans alike.

August 16

Cobblestones

The Cobblestones are made up of vocalist Carolyn Costanzi, guitarist/vocalist Michael Plourde, percussionist Mark Plourde and Tony Simmons, bassist.

They are often joined by pianist/vocalist Danielle Tran.

The band members are from Norway, Harpswell and Gorham, Maine.

Their  music is an eclectic collection that is best described as Americana with acoustic rock and classic favorites in the mix.

Set lists include many favorites old and new but we avoid songs often covered by other bands. We feature passionate  vocals, finger picking guitar, and tight harmonies.

August 23

Cilantro

Earl Bigelow, a seasoned musician, first picked up a guitar when he was eleven. At fifteen he was playing grange halls in the small towns of Maine. After going to college in Boston and a host stint playing music in NYC, he returned to Richmond

Maine to hit the country circuit where he met Carl Schlick.

Margot Frost is a singer/ songwriter who has been performing since the late 70’s, appearing primarily in Boston and surrounding areas. Having dropped out of the music scene for several years to pursue other interests, she moved to Maine in 2004 and reignited her career. As a songwriter and acoustic guitarist, Margot is writing, recording, and performing in a variety of venues with many other local musicians.

Base player Elna Joseph joined Cilantro in September, 2013. Her earlier musical experiences were classical, bluegrass and folk styles on guitar. She transitioned to bass guitar to play in the Main Cajun Band, Jimmy & the Jumbol’ayuhs with husband, Jim Joseph, an accordion and fiddle player.

Carl Schlick started drumming in 1963, receiving instruction from the highly respected Dick Demers of Auburn, Maine.

After a stint in the Army, Carl came home hungry to play drums again and was soon recruited by the country band Linda With Feelings where he met Earl Bigelow successfully playing the country circuit for several years. Earl and Carl’s friendship continued throughout this period and in 2012 they again joined up to make music.

Randy Dyer started playing saxophone in the fourth grade and continued to play throughout high school, but then pursued other interests. “I barely played for almost 20 years”, Randy said, “Until my daughter started playing in the Merry meeting Community Band.” Randy decided to join his daughter and reignite his musical interests.

August 30

The Grassholes

The Grassholes are a five-piece bluegrass band playing in the “traditional style” all-acoustic, one mic, and a heck of a lot of fun.

Featuring fast-paced originals, sweet-sounding traditional numbers, and creative takes on popular tunes in the bluegrass style, the Grassholes’ song list is various and textured. Listerners never know what a set might contain.

Currently, the band features the Bangor Symphony’s Heather Kahill on Fiddle, UMaine-Augusta music school graduate Flann O’Brien on bass, Sam Pfeifle (formerly of indie rock trio Brenda Walsh) on guitar and vocals, WMPG radio host Merrill Marsh (P.S.P.S. Board Member) on guitar and vocals, and the one and only Field Rider (yes, that’s his real name) on five-string banjo.

Maine State Building

When you visit the Maine State Building it is very hard to believe that in the late nineteenth century such a magnificent building could have been built with materials sent from Maine to Chicago, Illinois, dismantled and then later moved back to Poland Spring, Maine, and rebuilt.

Today, the Maine State Building is a museum, art gallery, and gift shop. Visitors can enjoy a guided tour of the building highlighting the Victorian and Gilded age of Poland Spring. The exhibits focus on the Columbian Exposition, the Ricker Family, Poland Spring® Water, the Poland Spring Hotels, the dining room at the Poland Spring

House, and Life After the Rickers.

We are also home to the Maine Golf Hall of Fame exhibits.

All Souls Chapel

The All Souls Chapel was built in 1912 with monies donated by the staff, guests, and the Ricker Family. The chapel is non-denominational and today is used for concerts, weddings and memorial services.

We welcome you to go see the beautiful hand painted windows and enjoy our quaint historic stone chapel.

Poland Spring Bottling Museum

Poland Spring Water’s extensive history began deep in the woods of Maine. Dating back to 1845, this company brought Maine settlers and respective dignitaries flocking to Poland Spring for its curative waters and picturesque setting.

In the early 1900’s, a state of the art bottling facility and springhouse were constructed using Spanish architecture

as its theme. Glass pipes shipped from Italy carried the water from the spring to the bottling room. State of the art bottling equipment was installed and quality control, was and remains, the most important theme.

After a three-year restoration project that began in 1998, the facilities were faithfully transformed into an informative museum open to the public.

Preservation Park

Today these buildings are collectively known as Preservation Park.