09/21/2026
Thanks so much to & The Boston Globe for featuring us!
And thanks to for always documenting things, and to for stopping by a few years back!
Nova Arts — Keene, N.H.
If you’re tapped into New England’s alternative music scene, you’ve likely visited — or at least Googled — Nova Arts. Located in downtown Keene, the intimate, all-ages music venue is the premier place to catch independent artists in the region.
Nova Arts is perhaps best known as the main home of the annual music festival The Thing in the Spring, a multi-venue affair that embodies “eclectic taste.” (This year’s edition included Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah and fingerstyle guitarist Yasmin Williams.) But the venue’s calendar stays packed year-round with notable but under-the-radar talent. Think Sarah Lee Guthrie (yes, granddaughter of Woody); jazz pianist Orrin Evans, who previously performed as a member of the Bad Plus; and the perfect pairing of Roger Clark Miller (of Mission of Burma) and Rick Maguire (of Pile).
There are ample small businesses and restaurants to scope out within walking distance — Toadstool Bookshop is down the street, for instance — but Nova Arts itself is a one-stop shop for filling your plate and your record crate. The building also houses Terra Nova Organic Coffee Roasters and Brewbakers Café, a perfect pitstop for breakfast, lunch, or snacks. Snag a few additions for your record collection at on-site store Keene on Vinyl, which boasts its own inventory and a limited, curated stock from Feeding Tube Records (whose home base is in Florence, Mass.).
If you’re feeling ambitious, grab tickets for a second show at the nearby Colonial Theatre, a 100-year-old hub for live entertainment that next month will host acts like Josh Ritter, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, and the Blind Boys of Alabama (performing tunes from Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life”).
On your way north, make sure to wind through Swanzey and count (and swoon over) the covered bridges. Each mile is a view pulled straight from a postcard. — Victoria Wasylak
Nova Arts, 48 Emerald St., Keene, N.H
/
