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Happy birthday to Brady Edward McDermott!

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Year-round garden at Graham Academy in Kingston teaches nature lessons to students with autism

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; After touring a large portion of the country to play for a continuously growing fan base, keeping company with other celebrated musicians and widening their network of friends and listeners, Pennsylvania bluegrass band, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/features/492047/cabinet-to-play-two-nights-at-the-kirby-center-in-december" target="_blank">Cabinet, will celebrate Christmas at home</a>.</p><p>The six-piece Americana group with roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania will play two shows on Dec. 18 and 19 at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. The concerts are part of the Kirby&#8217;s Chandelier Lobby Series, which puts shows in a more comfortable atmosphere for both musicians and fans.</p><p>Mandolin player and vocalist J.P. Biondo said the tour was a pleasure, and he and his band-mates enjoy traveling and playing for audiences old and new.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been everywhere from Colorado to Burlington, Vermont, down to the Carolinas and a couple more local shows in Pennsylvania,&#8221; Biondo said. &#8220;We&#8217;re getting around and having a good time. We&#8217;ve had the great privilege to do some playing with Keller Williams recently on the tour, and he&#8217;s an awesome guy, someone we&#8217;re very happy to become friends with, and we&#8217;re pumped about that relationship.&#8221;</p><p>Biondo said the road can be an exhausting place, but <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/features/391189/wilkes-barre-based-band-cabinet-begins-fall-tour" target="_blank">Cabinet puts into perspective the effort necessary to do a big tour.</a></p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a labor of love when it comes to that,&#8221; Biondo said. &#8220;We all love the road the same way we love the music. We&#8217;re a little tired, but that&#8217;s just part of it.&#8221;</p><p>Coming home for Christmas brings good feelings after a travel-heavy year, and is significant for the members of the band, Biondo said.</p><p>&#8220;We want to be around home for the holidays,&#8221; Biondo said. &#8220;That&#8217;s important to all of us and our families, so it&#8217;s good to have that time here. Also, we&#8217;ve been building a fan base, but the ones we&#8217;ve had the longest are from right here, and they&#8217;ve stuck with us for years. We appreciate them, so it&#8217;s partly our duty to make sure we come back and give them a heck of a show and have a great time with them to let them know we haven&#8217;t forgotten.&#8221;</p><p>With a slew of friends and family in the local fan base, and the cocktails closer to the stage than usual, last year&#8217;s Cabinet Chandelier shows turned into a kind of Christmas party at the band&#8217;s house, full of well-wishing folks and sharing holiday libations while the guys in the band entertained their company.</p><p>&#8220;Doing the Chandelier thing, it&#8217;s great, because it&#8217;s a little more intimate,&#8221; Biondo said. &#8220;You&#8217;re not in a huge theater with a whole bunch of people, which maybe we&#8217;ll work up to one of these years, but for now we&#8217;re pretty pumped to be doing the Chandelier thing. It&#8217;s fun. It&#8217;s a great environment. We just get the whole Cabinet family together and have a good time, lots of smiles and friends all over the place.&#8221;</p><p>Another perk to performing in the lobby, Biondo said, is the freedom it provides the guys while they&#8217;re playing.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s much more relaxed,&#8221; Biondo said. &#8220;We know exactly what we&#8217;re getting into, and we can really let loose and have some serious fun.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Cabinet performs last year at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_cabitet-3-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Cabinet performs last year at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Amanda Hrycyna|For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_cabinet-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Cabinet, from left: Todd Kopec, Jami Novak, Mickey Coviello, Pappy Biondo, Dylan Skursky and J.P. Biondo. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_cabinet-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Cabinet, from left: Todd Kopec, Jami Novak, Mickey Coviello, Pappy Biondo, Dylan Skursky and J.P. Biondo. </caption1><photoCredit1>Times Leader archive photo. </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Pennsylvania bluegrass band to play two shows at Kirby Center</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>IF YOU GO:</p><p>What: Chandelier Lobby Series featuring Cabinet</p><p>When: 9 p.m. Dec. 18 and 19</p><p>Where: F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts</p><p>Ticket information: $25 in advance, $30 day of the show. Two-night pass $40 in advance, $50 day of the show.</p><p>Purchase tickets on the Kirby Center&#8217;s website, <a href="http://www.kirbycenter.org">www.kirbycenter.org</a> or at Cabinet&#8217;s website, <a href="http://www.cabinetmusic.com">www.cabinetmusic.com</a>.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or <a href="mailto:Twitter@TLArts">Twitter@TLArts</a></p></shirttailMeta></div>

Northeastern Pennsylvania-based bluegrass band Cabinet to play two shows at F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre