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A
monthly folk and alternative music coffeehouse at All Souls
Church, Greenfield, MA, featuring some of the best sounds in
New England. The third Saturday evening of each month,
Coffee & Soul has regular Open Mic Sessions (hosted by
"Open Mike" Chrisman: 413-337-4297) and an annual
Winter Solstice Concert on December 21.
2004
- 2005 Schedule
2001
- 2002 Schedule:
Contact:
Diane Dix
(413) 773-5018
music@uugreenfield.org
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September
15, 2001: Molly Scott
Molly Scott is a licensed psychotherapist, educator, poet,
singer, and songwriter who has presented her work with
psychology and sound in Europe, North America, and Asia. Her
early career in television, theater, and film led to her to
be active as performer and composer in the social justice
and peace movements. A pioneer in the field of sound therapy
and the creator of the Deep Story treatment for trauma, Dr.
Scott directs the Creative Resonance Training Institute,
teaches at Antioch New England Graduate School, and
maintains a therapy practice in Western Massachusetts. Her
recordings include We Are All One Planet, Honor
the Earth, and Sound of Light, which was recorded
in the chapel at Rowe.
(Top
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October
20, 2001: Carol Noonan
Carol Noonan's most recent recording, Big Iron, is
the second album she has released on her own label, Noonan
Music. Selling thousands of copies from her home in rural
Maine, her last album Self Titled was the most
successful one to date, garnishing her wide critical
acclaim, and a newly acquired national audience, via the
internet. These recordings however, were not her first
introduction to the music business, nor success as an
independent. In the early nineties, her band Knots and
Crosses sold over 20,000 records independently and grew to
be a New England phenomenon. After a short relationship with
Island Records, the band split up, and they were just
another big label signing gone bad. Noonan was determined to
move ahead though, with her voice and her songs.
She recorded three albums for Rounder records - Absolution,
Noonan Building and Wrecking, and The Only Witness.
They were critically acclaimed, but commercially
unsuccessful. She had spent over a decade in the music
industry, and although she had been considered one of the
best singers on the scene (she received a Boston Music Award
in 1993 for Best female vocalist, as well as several other
nominations), she had watched first, Knots and Crosses, and
then her own career decline.
At the same time, her husband Jeff faced his own career
difficulties, as his business of building commercial fishing
nets suffered great losses when the New England fishing
industry was hit hard with the new imposition of government
regulations. It was time to face facts. There was no room
for the indulgent participation in a musical career that
would only add to their financial burdens. So Noonan put
down the guitar, and remained close to home, working two
jobs to help hold onto their precious farm. Times were hard,
but as her husband's business bounced back, so did Noonan's
music. When she released "Self Titled", she found
that the respect that she had been honored with years before
was still intact, and so were her fans. With the help of a
wonderful network of musicians and multimedia, she was able
to spread her music all over the country and even overseas
to a brand new and larger audience.
"Noonan's voice has an alluring dronal feel. Her mostly
somber originals become transporting, even elegant. Her
sustained notes open gorgeously like a young Joan Baez."
— Scott Alarik, The Boston Globe
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Carol
Noonan Website
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November
17, 2001: The Stone Coyotes
The Stone Coyotes are a family trio. But as one writer put
it, "Don't expect lace curtains, casseroles or
Partridge Family kitsch. With songwriter Barbara Keith on
guitar and vocals, husband Doug Tibbles on drums, and
stepson John Tibbles on bass, this band rocks - and they
mean it." Their songs are grounded in rock, country,
punk, folk and blues with an unmistakable sound that is
instantly recognizable.
The Stone Coyotes have quite a history. Barbara began her
career at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village, and was soon
recording for MGM/Verve, A&M and Warner Brothers Her
songs have been covered by Tanya Tucker, Lowell George,
Delaney and Bonnie, Barbra Streisand, the Dillards, Hank
Snow and others. Her husband Doug Tibbles had been a TV
writer for such shows as "The Munsters",
"Bewitched", "My Three Sons",
"Family Affair", "Andy Griffith",
"Love American Style" . Unhappy with show biz in
general, they gave back Barbara's major label advance and
went underground. Doug took up drums and his son John took
up bass at age eleven. Reclusive by choice, the band moved
from L.A. to Western Massachusetts to write and woodshed.
They began playing the occasional show while recording in
their cellar.
When best selling author Elmore Leonard ("Get Shorty",
"Jackie Brown", "Out of Sight") walked
in the Troubadour in L.A. one night looking for inspiration
for his sequel to "Get Shorty", he discovered The
Stone Coyotes. They became the model for Chili Palmer's next
adventure, "Be Cool". Leonard included some of
their lyrics and dedicated the book to them. He and the band
made a string of appearances together around the country.
"Be Cool" is currently being developed as a major
motion picture.
"The Stone Coyotes rocked and shocked…with their
AC/DC meets Patsy Cline sound…" — Toronto News
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Stone
Coyotes Website |
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January
19, 2002: Ben Demerath
From
his gritty, inspired songwriting to his impressive guitar
playing and silk lined vocal register, Ben Demerath is a
pure talent in every sense. He has garnered recognition and
respect from some of the finest acoustic performers in the
world. Having launched his career under the tutelage of the
renowned 'King of All Things Stringed', Mike Marshall,
Demerath has carved his own niche in the folk and bluegrass
world. While incorporating his eclectic musical background
and influences ranging from John Hiatt to Aretha Franklin,
Tower of Power to traditional Indian and Irish music,
Demerath is a complete original.
"His
high and lonesome tenor is perfectly suited to the
progressive bluegrass for which he has already garnered
awards in the band Sugarbeat. With this album, Demerath
pushes further into folk-pop territory. His haunting,
bittersweet vocals easily bear the emotional weight of the
lyrics, and are the riveting focus of his
performances." — San Francisco Bay Guardian
(Top
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Ben
Demerath Website |
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February
16, 2002: Northern Lights
They
are true believers in the high lonesome sound of traditional
bluegrass, but Northern Lights' roots range from rock to
jazz and everything in between. The result is a superlative
bluegrass blend that has put three of the band's albums in
the top ten of the National Bluegrass Survey.
Jonathan Edwards and Vassar Clements occasionally joined the
band between 1997 and 1999. A career highlight occurred on
June 20, 1998, when Northern Lights provided the music for
the "Car Talk" 10th Anniversary Gala at
Harborlights in Boston, which included, along with
"Click & Clack" the Tappet Brothers, Dr. Joyce
Brothers, the Smothers Brothers, and the Flying Karamazov
Brothers.
In June of 2000 the band signed with 1-800 Prime CD, which
released their next two albums: a live project with Vassar
Clements entitled Three August Nights (Aug., 2000), and
Another Sleepless Night (May, 2001).
"These
guys are undoubtedly one of the most vibrant and refreshing
contemporary bluegrass bands around." — RELIX
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Northern
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March
16, 2002: Bernice Lewis
"I guess what I want people to know is that, for me,
it's about the songs, each different, each a
well-thought-out message, each a labor of love," says
Bernice Lewis. And in her tender evocations of the heart, in
her explorations of the struggling soul, and in her tales
highlighting the victories and defeats of everyday life,
Bernice Lewis has more than earned her stellar reputation as
a songwriter's songwriter. Carving her niche in the new-folk
idiom while drawing on traditional folk, blues, pop,
country, jazz and world-beat influences, Lewis's
carefully-honed songcraft and musicianship and her
strikingly heartfelt vocals have made her a favorite of fans
from Berkeley to Boston and everywhere in between.
A
fixture on the coffeehouse circuit, contemporary-folk radio,
and at the major folk festivals, Lewis -- who studied vocal
improvisation with Bobby McFerrin and guitar technique with
Alex DeGrassi and Guy van Duser — has been a featured
performer on National Public Radio's "Mountain
Stage" program and a finalist in the 1987 New Folk
Songwriting Contest at the prestigious Kerrville (Texas)
Folk Festival. Her new ballad, "Bridges That
Hold," was included in the PBS-TV "Lifelines"
documentary starring Peter, Paul and Mary.
"It is impossible not to have a good time listening to
Lewis sing."
— Scott Alarik, The Boston Globe
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Bernice
Lewis Website |
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April
20, 2002: Tim Harrison
Tim Harrison is one of Canada's finest and most
"unique" singer-songwriters on the folk and
acoustic music landscape today. Hailing from Owen Sound and
now living in Toronto, Tim made his debut in 1979 with the
appearance of the much heralded recording, Train Going
East, produced by Stan Rogers and engineered by Daniel
Lanois. Since then, he has recorded In The Barroom Light
(1985), The Stars Above (1995), Bridges (1997)
and Tim Harrison (1999), all of which have garnered
accolades at home and abroad. His new and 6th release, Sara
And The Sea (2001) is a signature album of stirring
ballads influenced by the traditions, yet which have Tim's
inimitable stamp. Tim is currently recording a new CD, Wheatfield
With Crows, which promises to be another fine collection
of songs.
Tim
is a consummate artist whose performances are propelled by
his powerful singing and poetic lyrics. He makes the
"everyday" extraordinary by his ability to reveal
and describe our inner-most thoughts, emotions and
social/political realities, while infusing sometimes dark
experience with the light of optimism and hope. His concerts
are punctuated with great storytelling and wit, making him
an audience favorite.
"A wizard with words, wringing poetry from our everyday
struggles and making those subtle shifts in imagery that
make a great songwriter." — Toronto Star
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Tim
Harrison Website |
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May
18, 2002: Bill Staines
For over 30 years, Bill Staines has traveled back and forth
across North America, singing his songs and delighting
audiences at festivals, folksong societies, colleges,
concerts, clubs and coffeehouses. A New England native, Bill
became involved with the Boston-Cambridge folk scene in the
early 1960's and, for a
time,
emceed the Sunday hootenanny at the renowned Club 47 in
Cambridge. Bill quickly became a popular performer in the
Boston area. In 1971, after one of his performances, a
reviewer for The Phoenix stated that Bill was "simply
Boston's best performer". A decade later, both in 1980
and 1981, the annual Reader's Poll
of
The Boston Globe selected him as a favorite performer. In
1991, Bill entered his forth decade as a folk performer with
an international reputation as an artist.
Singing
mostly his own songs, he has become one of the most popular
singers on the folk circuit today and averages around 200
concert dates a year. Bill weaves a gentle blend of wit and
gentle humor into his performances, and as one reviewer
wrote "he has a sense of timing to match the best
stand-up comic." His music is a slice of Americana,
reflecting with the same ease, his feelings about the
prairie people of the Midwest or the adventurers of the
Yukon.
"Any new song that can live comfortably beside the
well-worn songs of folk tradition has a good chance of
surviving the test of time. Such, we believe, are the songs
of Bill Staines"
— Charles Paton, Folk Legacy Records
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Bill
Staines Website |
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June
15, 2002: Laura Wetzler
ASCAP Award-winning singer-songwriter LAURA WETZLER tours in
over 150 concerts and lectures each year, singing
critically-acclaimed Contemporary Folk/Americana originals,
World Jewish Roots Music in Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino(Judeo-Spanish)
and the great classics of American songwriting. Her debut CD
of original songs, Songwriter's Notebook receives airplay on
over 300 radio stations around the world and has garnered
great reviews for both her "impressive poetic
gifts"-Bob Sherman, NY Times and her voice, "which
grabs a listener and won't let go"-Seth Rogovoy, WAMC/Public
Radio. In addition to her extensive Songwriter's Notebook
concert tour, she created and performs in more than 20
different theme or tribute concerts/ lectures, among them a
unique duo show with gospel singer Janiece Thompson called
"Jewels of the Diaspora-A Concert Celebration of
African-American and Jewish Song."
Singout Magazine's Vic Heyman calls Laura "a
road warrior…who can belt out a song with the best singers
on the circuit", playing concert halls, arts festivals,
clubs, colleges, museums, and on national TV and radio,
having appeared with such artists as Richie Havens, The
Klezmatics, Odetta, Disappear Fear, David Amram, Vance
Gilbert, Laurie Anderson and many others. She is featured on
The Best of American Independent Music compilation Mp3 CD
from MusicMatch, Crossroads Magazine Choice Acoustic CD,
Outloud and the forthcoming Seeds of Peace CD with folk
legend Pete Seeger. When not on tour, Laura divides her time
between NYC and Cummington, MA.
"Laura is one of the very best…" — Pete Seeger
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Laura
Wetzler Website |
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All Souls UU
Church
399 Main Street, P.O. Box 542
Greenfield, MA 01301
413.773.5018
uugreenfield@uugreenfield.org
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