Jon Gailmor Credit: Courtesy I first met Jon Gailmor when I was 11 years old. He sat on a stool with an acoustic guitar in front of my class at Underhill Central School, smiling at us as we tried to write a song about possums (or maybe it was raccoons, I can’t quite recall). He’d just shown us how to put together a chord progression and was suggesting rhyming words, grinning from ear to ear as he observed a room full of tykes learn to write their first song. I didn’t see Jon again until 2024, more than three decades later, when he stopped by the Seven Days office for a sort of exit interview. The beloved Vermont children’s musician, educator and DJ was getting ready to move south to be closer to his family in New Orleans, following the death of his wife, Cathy Murphy, in 2022 and his recent diagnosis of leukemia. We talked for hours about music, life, the future and death. By the time I walked Jon to the door, I felt like I was seeing off a good friend on his way to a new adventure. Jon perhaps saw it differently. “I enjoyed seeing you again, Chris,” he told me, giving me a reassuring squeeze. “I’m not sure we’ll meet again, but I’ll remember this.” It was the last time I saw Jon. He died on Sunday, November 30, in New Orleans. He’s the latest Green Mountain music luminary to pass into the ether this year, joining local legends such as Nectar’s soundman Sergei Ushakov, who died in January, and Vermont Public DJ, musician and librarian Robert Resnik, who died in July. Robert Resnik Credit: Courtesy of Todd Lockwood Vermont’s music scene is small and tightly knit. When giants like Jon and Robert, people who spent their careers spreading their love of music and instilling it in younger generations, exit the stage, I worry about the vacuum that’s created. That thought weighed on me as I drove through the snow and ice last weekend to emcee Spectacular Spectacular, a youth talent show Seven Days hosts at the Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington. I’d been asked to step in for my colleague Jeff Baron, the usual host, who was off touring with the indie-rock band the Ladybug Transistor. (Break a leg out there, Jeff!) So there I was, bleary-eyed on a Saturday morning, surrounded by a room full of kids — and their parents — who were ready to dazzle with everything from singing and dancing to standup comedy to, my personal favorite, yo-yo tricks. I’ve hosted my share of battle-of-the-bands and talent shows before, but Spectacular Spectacular is a different beast: more than 20 different performers, many of them taking the stage for their first time in their young lives. Hosting can sometimes be a bit of a chore for me. For one, as longtime readers of the column can attest, I have the tendency to swear like a sailor when the mood takes me — I’m a Jersey kid, after all. I also never know how critical I’m supposed to be. There’s a fine line between giving advice and being a real bummer, especially with kids. It’s actually made me respect what Jon and Robert did even more. Those two hugely talented musicians and educators were both so skilled at speaking to kids, at understanding their drive to make art and knowing how best to encourage them to keep creating as they grow up and the world demands more and more. Poutine at Spectacular Spectacular Credit: Luke Awtry As the performers took the stage throughout the afternoon, I felt heavy stabs of emotion. Sometime between a string duo and a singer’s stirring rendition of the Cranberries’ song “Zombie,” I wondered what Jon and Robert would have made of the scene. They probably would have loved hearing several of the young artists perform original compositions, from holiday songs to tributes to lost pets to a full rock band closing the show. A few of the kids asked me if they could say something after their performance, during the brief QA segment between acts. Some shouted out friends and parents, but most took the chance to express gratitude to their music teachers, dance instructors and mentors. I spied a few Burlington musicians in the crowd, proudly watching their students perform. At one point, I had to buy some time while my coworker, production manager John James, lived out his roadie fantasy and hastily set up a drum kit. So I started to talk about the two prominent music teachers Vermont had lost in recent months. Rather than some sad-sack tribute, it felt like a sort of victory for both of the departed. The biggest rock club in Vermont was packed with the kinds of kids Jon and Robert would have loved to teach, many of whom just might grow up to join the Green Mountain music scene of the future. As the show ended and the audience and performers streamed out of the club, one music teacher after another approached me to thank Seven Days for putting on the talent show. And each face, still glowing with pride from watching their pupils on stage, gave me a new sense of hope. Legends like Jon and Robert may depart, but the work goes on. Rest easy, gentlemen.  The original print version of this article was headlined “The Next Generation” The post Soundbites: Watching the Future at the Spectacular Spectacular appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less