Lessee, upbeat songs about NH. Well, there's that awful whiney "Ohhhhh, NH, NH's the place I want to beeeeeee" song by the Shaw Brothers. It makes dogs howl, puts cows off their feed, and causes permanent psychic damage to the spirit of man. To heck with heavy Death Metal, that song ought to be investigated and the results turned over to the Dept of Defense. A fellow who had done time in the state penetentiary had a minor hit with "Live Free Or Die" (I learned it while I was visiting that self-same Big Brick Hotel). It's a funny song about our curmudgeonly license plate motto, which at the time was stamped by prison inmates. Bill Morrisey has written a slew of songs set in NH but very few mention the state by name; "Small Town On The River" is a wonderful bittersweet tune about Newmarket, and "Night Shift" is about working in one of the shoe shops that used to dot the state like small pox scars. Slade Cleaves first album had at least one song about 2 brothers growing up in NH, but it certainly didn't qualify as "upbeat".

In retrospect Bill Staines might be your best bet, he genuinely likes the place.