TONIGHT: 3rd Thursdays Returns @ Green Door Studio

It is damn near impossible to overstate what an important engine 3rd Thursdays has been for the Vermont hip hop scene. Before The Great Plague, it was a longtime fixture at Winooski bar The Monkey House, but in its newly resurrected form, Green Door Studio is the place to be. In a lot of ways, that’s an upgrade. Bars are … just bars, but Green Door Studio is home to an art collective that includes a fair few Anthill Collective representatives.

It’s not like art can entirely escape the gravitational pull of commerce … or drug culture, for that matter, and the sponsorship has shifted from beer to cannabis, a sign of the times, I suppose. Winooski Organics and Forbins Finest are both committed to the cause, alongside upstart hip hop imprint PROVISIONS. Smart business all around, and likely a far better use of their money than yet another dead weight 802 nonprofit.

The lineup tonight will be pretty tight, I must concede. There’s a large delegation from Maine, all representing for the long-running Portland hip hop showcase Monday of the Minds. Joining them will be the tireless workhorse Big Homie Wes, dark trap auteur Syierr, Green Mountain rap veteran and serial feature killer Madscatta, not to mention Old Growth Souljourner, one of the most unique (and studiously true school) emcees in the state.

All of this, of course, hosted by Mavstar and run by the highly acclaimed one man party DJ Kanga. Well worth the ten bucks, and if you’re an artist, essential networking.