Our Summer Schedule:

ED GERHARD

From Tokyo to Rome and venues across the US, Ed Gerhard’s music has touched audiences all over the world. Performing on 6-string, slide guitar or Acoustic Hawaiian Lap Slide (Weissenborn), Gerhard’s virtuosity, generosity and humor shine through. His distinctive touch is unmistakable. Whether performing a lush, sensual ballad or a haunting, bitter lap steel melody Gerhard will mesmerize. His connection with his audience is palpable.

Gerhard’s releases have all received high praise from critics and guitar fans worldwide, including the Boston Globe Critic’s Poll “Top Ten Albums of the Year.” In 2010 Ed’s CD “Luna” chosen by Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s 20th Anniversary List of 240 Essential Albums “This soulful album of original compositions rich in melody, chordal complexity and stylistic variety proves why Gerhard is considered to have the most exquisite acoustic guitar tone on the planet.”

Gerhard was awarded a GRAMMY® for his inclusion on the compilation CD “Henry Mancini; Pink Guitar.” He arranged and performed “Moon River.” His guitar work can be heard on CDs by Arlo Guthrie, Jorma Kaukonen and Bill Morrissey and is featured in the Ken Burns’ films “Mark Twain” and “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”

Along with players like Ben Harper and David Lindley, Gerhard’s unique approach to the Weissenborn is playing a significant role in reinvigorating interest in this somewhat esoteric but beautiful instrument. Ed composes and arranges music for solo Weissenborn with beautiful melodies, complex chords and moving bass lines, unusual for an instrument that normally serves an accompaniment role.

JIMMY SFERES & JEN WHITE

Jimmy Sferes and Jennifer White have discovered an uncommon synergy, blending clear and luscious harmonies with complex and imaginative guitar playing. Their fun and engaging live performances feature an eclectic and soulful combination of blues, roots and rock. Their song “Small Stuff” won an Honor Award in the Great American Song Contest, and they have appeared on Garrison Keillor’s "Prairie Home Companion" radio program as well as the Hallmark Channel’s New Morning TV show. Derek Blackmon from Indie-Music.com says that Sferes & White have, “vocal harmonies that work so well together it sounds almost too good to be true.” There latest collaborative project was to produce the closing song and instrumental soundtrack for the soon to be released modern western “Out of the Wild.” White grew up in a musical family but was a relative late bloomer to the professional music scene. Her first studio effort for the Narrow Gauge Band was produced by Doug Haywood (bass player and background vocalist for Jackson Browne); she has also performed in acapella groups and country rock bands. Sferes played his first guitar at thirteen and during his diverse music and recording career has opened for the likes of David Wilcox, Delbert McClinton, Blues Traveler, Larry Coryell, Richard Elliott, and America.

LINDSAY STRAW

Lindsay Straw "Hearken(s) back to more innocent times, of Greenwich Village and pure folk." (The Living Tradition)

Lindsay Straw is a singer, guitarist, and Irish bouzouki player who performs traditional songs and tunes from the British Isles. Originally from Montana, she began to explore Boston’s Irish and folk music scenes while studying film scoring at Berklee College of Music. Her debut solo album My Mind From Love Being Free was released on May 1, 2015. She is a 2015 recipient of Club Passim’s Iguana Fund Grant, which will enable her to make her second album in 2016.

Lindsay has impressed with her tender singing voice and an extensive repertoire that is rooted in the Scottish and Northern Irish traditions, but which also delves into contemporary songwriters like Richard Thompson and Bob Dylan. She has also drawn praise for her sensitive, agile accompaniment on bouzouki and guitar at many a local session and in concert as a member of the Irish quartet The Ivy Leaf, with piper Joey Abarta, and with fellow guitar & bouzouki player Owen Marshall.

DAVID SURETTE & SUZY BURKE

Warmth, vitality, and spontaneity mark the performances of Susie Burke and David Surette, and have earned them a reputation as one of the finest acts on the lively New England folk scene. Susie's beautiful, complex voice and David's graceful, nimble-fingered string playing combine to yield a unique blend of contemporary, traditional, and original folk and acoustic music. Together since 1988, Susie and David have built a loyal following for their music, through a steady series of concerts and well-received recordings.

OPEN MIC NIGHT

The Tradition continues, Stop by to listen or join in. Sign up on site with the host for your 15 min or three songs. Storytellers also welcome!

— BEAT FEST —

with

KATHY LOWE
&
JULIE COREY

Come and join this multigenerational drum jam. Bring your drum and dancing shoes. Solo instruments invited. . Kathy and Julie will anchor down the BEAT with Rhythm and Song, as we journey together from the heart of the drum.

LOW LILY

The Brattleboro, VT-based band LOW LILY explores the roots and branches of American folk music, creating a unique brand of acoustic music that is rooted yet contemporary. The members of Low Lily – Liz Simmons (vocals, guitar) Flynn Cohen (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Lissa Schneckenburger (vocals, fiddle) – are masterful players, composers and arrangers with deep relationships to traditional music styles ranging from Bluegrass to Irish, Scottish, New England and Old Time Appalachian sounds. Liz has developed a unique vocal and guitar style that draws from her musical history in the folk and ballad traditions of Ireland, England and America as well as contemporary folk music. She has performed with Livingston Taylor, EVA, the John Whelan Band, and others. Flynn has toured worldwide with numerous notable acts in traditional and contemporary acoustic music, including John Whelan and Americana singer/songwriter Adrienne Young. Lissa grew up in Maine as an active member of the folk community, graduated from The New England Conservatory of Music and has performed as a solo artist and with Solas and Childsplay, among others. Together as Low Lily, these young but well-seasoned musicians bring their considerable strengths, experience and history together to create an undeniably rich and versatile musical palette.

"(Low Lily) takes roots music into areas that have not been explored fully and it sounds exceptional and refreshing... (respectful) of another time with modern clarity and restrained power." –No Depression

TOM PIROZZOLI

Tom Pirozzoli is well known, much respected on the New England and on the national music scene. Tom's songs have been recorded by artists as varied as Tonto's Big Idea, Willy Porter, and Pam Prior. His co- writes with Willy Porter have been performed in Carnegie Hall, at Madison Square Garden and The Royal Albert Hall. Original songs recorded by Tom in the 1980's with the Fast Folk Music Magazine (New York) are in the Smithsonian collection. Tom's skills as a performer and singer-songwriter were honored by Musician Magazine as a winner in their "Best Unsigned Band" contest

Coffeehouse of the Absurd
(Mike Agranoff & John Forster)

Coffeehouse of the Absurd is an evening of intelligent and satiric comedy featuring Mike Agranoff and John Forster. Mike is renowned for songs of twisted logic (Railroad Bill, wherein the title character gets into a heated argument with the singer of the song), mile-a-minute patter songs (The entire story of Hamlet in 3 minutes) and some of the most brilliant parodies this side of Weird Al Yankovic. John obviously fell asleep one too many times as a child listening to his Tom Lehrer albums. This is evidenced by his twisted sense of humor, his delightfully skewed view of the human condition, and his prodigious skills as a pianist. His songs have a knack for taking the plausible but improbable, and leading that to its implausible but inevitable conclusion by way of unlikely rhymes, horrible puns and ironic satire. His signature ode to Cape Cod motoring, Entering Marion, is a perfect example. Together, Mike and John present a show that is guaranteed to leave their audience in stitches!

NO SHOW TONIGHT

It was a mystery!

Alas, the mystery is solved.

CLICK HORNING TRIO

The Lake Sunapee, NH region has always had more than its share of musicians. Maybe it's the mountain air or maybe it's the scenery, but something keeps them coming back. Just ask Click Horning, New London's singer songwriter who left when he was seventeen for the Big Apple. Twelve years, a record contract and an album later it was time to come back. Early influences were Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Peter Paul & Mary, as well as rock and roll and R&B that he listened to growing up.

Click's music has taken him across the country several times, to the Rockies and to the deep south . Click has produced two more solo albums and two albums with his band Night Kitchen , a "get up and dance" band composed of Click on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Gerry Putnam on lead guitar, Dinty Child on electric rhythm guitar and keyboards, Dana Flewelling on drums and Dave Doran on bass.

Click began playing guitar at boarding school, influenced by other guitar playing students, one in particular being Gram Parsons. Click persuaded his grandmother to finance a bottom-of-the-line Gibson guitar (a combination birthday and Christmas gift). "I had been spending all my spare time practicing on a friends guitar, but soon found I had to have my own."

He began playing folk songs, but after hearing Gram and writers like Bob Dylan, he decided to try his hand at writing songs. "It was the perfect blending of poems and music that intrigued me. I've always loved lyrics that tell a story."

The Click Horning Trio is: Click on acoustic guitar and vocals, Joanie Horning on bass, Justin Ferren on lead guitar, and an occasional gig with Harley Walker on Drums