South Burlington is already worth the drive — Burlington proper is right next door, Lake Champlain is right there, and late October in Vermont is its own reward. But Higher Ground’s Showcase Lounge is a reason to make the trip all by itself. Vermont’s premier music venue has been running since 1998, and the Showcase Lounge — their most intimate space, 300 people, standing room, three bars — is the kind of room where a show like this can become something you talk about for months. On Sunday, October 25, Carsie Blanton takes the stage at 7:30 PM.
About Carsie Blanton
Blanton describes her music as a blend of vaudeville, campfire singalongs, and punk rock — and she means all three. Her inspirations are Nina Simone and Woody Guthrie, artists who made music that was both beautiful and impossible to ignore, and her eight studio albums carry that same combination of melody and intent. Her latest, The Red Album Vol. II, released in January 2026, is part of a catalog she offers entirely on a pay-what-you-please basis, which tells you something about what kind of artist she is.
Songs like “Little Flame,” “Rich People,” and “Ugly Nasty Commie Bitch” give you a sense of her range: singalong hooks, a wry political edge, and a conviction that music should do something. She has toured mid-size venues across the U.S. and Europe and is not someone who plays a 300-person room by accident — she plays them because that is exactly where she wants to be.
The Venue
The Showcase Lounge at Higher Ground is the more intimate of Higher Ground’s two event spaces — standing room only, three bars, capacity of 300. The venue first opened in 1998 in Winooski and has been at the current Williston Road location since December 2004. For a show this personal, this room is the right call. Doors are at 7:00 PM. All ages. The North Country does not always get shows like this; when it does, you go.
Tickets & Pricing
Tickets start at $46. A 300-person room, an artist who regularly sells out mid-size venues across two continents — do not wait on this one.