Sergei
Vyacheslavovich Ushakov died unexpectedly at his home in Burlington,
Vt. on January 8, 2025.
Sergei
was born on August 16, 1959, in Yaroslavl, Russia, to Vyacheslav
Vasilyvich Ushakov and Praskoviya Demetrieyevna Ushakova (Bragina), a
well-educated epidemiologist and high-level cook, respectively.
Sergei spent the early years of his life at the family dacha in the
village outskirts of Yaroslavl, living simply and earnestly. The
origins of his immense work ethic and resourcefulness began here,
where Sergei’s family grew their own food; with it, his mother
taught him to cook many delicious Russian dishes that he frequently
made and shared with friends and family. To no surprise, Sergei was
an excellent grade school student and a member of the ensemble. By
his teenage years, he was also starting to immerse himself in classic
rock, listening to the likes of CCR and Deep Purple on black-market
albums under threat of the KGB.
Sergei’s
journey into music production started small, playing guitar and drums
with cover bands, but was pushed further in the 1970s while playing
the trumpet during compulsory conscription in the Soviet Army of the
former U.S.S.R. and later building microcircuits in an aerospace
factory. After an interlude of clowning around and taking care of
elephants in the traveling Russian circus, Sergei returned to music
formally at the Yaroslavl Philharmonic, then, by chance, as a member
of a rock band called Telephone, he had his opportunity to run sound,
never turning back. For many years he was the permanent sound
engineer of the Jazz Over the Volga festival in Yaroslavl, which
ultimately brought him to Burlington after the formation of the
sister city partnership in the late 1980s. In Burlington, he
established himself as front of house in the local music scene,
joining Nectar’s full time in 1994. He later toured nationally for
a few years in the mid-2000s with the Samples and then Pork Tornado.
His audio legacy was further cemented at many other Burlington area
venues over the years with the hundreds of musicians he worked with
and the thousands of pounds of equipment he set up, broke down and
acoustically optimized for the space at each and every show.
Those
that knew Sergei well knew that he never worked a day in his life.
The more hours at the club, the more difficult the repair of a mic or
mixer, the more time spent surfing the internet for rare analog gear,
the more joy he found in what he did. And what he did was transform
the Burlington live music scene, starting in the 1990s, setting a
standard of excellence and quality in music production that carried
on for decades. His legacy will survive in countless recordings,
future gigs at Nectar’s, and venues around Burlington and the
world, as well as the uncountable pieces of sound equipment that were
brought back to their former glory — or made even better — with
his eBay acumen, multimeter and soldering iron. In fact, right up to
the night he passed, he was fixing equipment for friends and
documenting his mastery and goofiness on video.
Sergei
is predeceased by both of his parents, as well as his brother, Vasily
Vyacheslavovich Ushakov. He is survived lovingly by his three
children — Anna Ushakova of Yaroslavl, with former wife Lydia
Ushakova (Kuchina); Steven Ushakov (and wife Bridget Ushakova) of
Burlington; and Kristina Ushakova (and partner Shaun Roberts), of
Richmond, Vt. — with his former wife and devoted friend, Marina
Collins. He recently earned the title of “Dudja” (grandfather, in
Russian), welcoming with great enthusiasm his first grandchild,
Lilia, born to Steven and Bridget this past year. He leaves behind
countless close friends all throughout the music industry, who will
sorely miss his irreplaceable brilliance, honesty and dry Russian
wit.
A
fittingly loud and rockin’ celebration of Sergei’s life will take
place the weekend of February 15, 2025, at Nectar’s. More details
to come at liveatnectars.com.
To
honor Sergei, support your local music scene by attending a live
show!