The musicians of What Doth Life, the Windsor-based recording consortium, continue to surprise.

For well over a decade, a group of rockers who grew up together and still live in Windsor has been recording its own songs under multiple band names. If being cool means not caring whether anyone thinks you’re cool, these guys have got it down.

This summer, What Doth Life has been sponsoring a monthly concert series at the Windsor Exchange, and a show set for Friday night demonstrates how the collective continues to branch out.

First, the show is a benefit for NOFA-VT’s Farmer Emergency Fund, which provides grants to organic farmers facing emergencies not fully covered by insurance. Admission is by donation, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds, but if you can give the opportunity is there.

“All the bands and organizations thought that it would be a good idea to raise some money for a good cause,” Brendan Dangelo, a member of the What Doth Life bands Carton and The Pilgrims, said in a phone interview.

The bands in question include only one from the Windsor collective, Derek and the Demons, a power trio comprising Derek Young, Chris Egner and Kiel Alarcon.

The other two bands are another example of the collective’s big tent approach to music.

Non Prophets is an avant-garde chamber music ensemble devoted to the works of the celebrated, if obscure, composer Moondog, and ensemble member Julian Calv, who recently relocated to Windsor. Calv’s work includes a piece titled “Route 4,” which features percussion laid over sounds of passing traffic.

The Burlington alt-weekly Seven Days just published a comic about Calv’s quest to keep Moondog’s music alive.

“I think it was just kind of luck and happenstance since Julian lives in Windsor now,” Dangelo said. “I’m looking forward to the show because I’ve never met him in person.”

The third act is Trevor Robinson, a southern Vermont musician who performs solo and is not easily classifiable.

He presents as a folk singer-songwriter, but wields an electric guitar.

In a recent performance at The Underground, in Randolph, he looped one guitar track over another, then sang lyrics from the far left of the dial. The overall affect was equal parts Sonic Youth, Billy Bragg and William S. Burroughs.

The doors of the Windsor Exchange, at 30 Depot Ave., open at 7 Friday night and music starts at 7:30.

The What Doth Life crew is planning another show for August, and it will hold its annual festival, with 10 to 12 musical acts, in September.

Gallery material

Three artists with interesting approaches to the material world have work on view at AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon. Charlet Davenport, Sabrina B. Fadial and Coralea Wennberg all seem focused on humble things.

As Fadial put it in her artist statement, “Materials are how we learn about and experience life.”

A reception for the artists, free and open to the public, is planned for 5 to 7 Friday evening, and the shows are on view through Aug. 26. Davenport and Fadial will talk about their work one after the other starting at 5:30 on July 28, and Wennberg will give a gallery talk at 5:30 on Aug. 4.

Sunshine art

Newport celebrates the installation of a new mural in town at its Community Block Party from 5 to 8 Friday night.

To its credit, the Newport Library Arts Center has made public art a particular focus over the past couple of years, including the restoration of a huge mural downtown last year.

Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.