On Friday, April 21, beginning at 7 PM in the Highland Lake Grange Hall, Celtic fiddler Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki and guitarist Matt Jensen, both New Hampshire natives, will offer a show “blending traditional Celtic music with their own original material, drawing on multiple genres to produce a unique sound.” Go to jordantwmusic.com/music/ for a sampling of their sound, which has been described as “ranging from haunting waltzes to foot stomping reels and described as ‘bright, crisp and energetic’ by the Boston Irish Reporter.”
The Celtic concert will be a first for the Coffeehouse. Coffeehouse volunteer Jennifer White, who manages bookings for the monthly concerts, explains: “In the first two-plus years of our existence, featured performers have brought us a variety of genres, from bluegrass to Broadway, and everything in between. But we’ve not yet featured the music that’s at the very roots of much of what we’ve heard. That music is Celtic music, which comes to us mainly from Ireland and Scotland. We’re delighted to have Jordan and Matt with us on April 21.”
Also appearing onstage will be up to a dozen open microphone performers, whose contributions in previous months have ranged from the spoken word to show business, jazz, folk, bluegrass, and country and western tunes.
Coming up: On Friday, May 19, New Hampshire singer-songwriter, Holly Furlone, recently hailed by the Concord Monitor as “a local rising star,” whose solo and acoustic performances have been described as “passionate, candid and pure.” Take a look and listen at soundcloud.com/hollyfurlone.
Doors to the Grange Hall will open at 6 PM for food purchases offered by the Andover Congregational Church, and for open-mic sign-ins on a first come, first serve basis. Concert sponsor is the Weapons-Grade Communications Collective, “operating without detection since 1993.”
Information about future dates and scheduled performers, and a photographic record of the performers, both headliners and open-mic participants, are shown on the Coffeehouse Web site at andovercoffeehouse.org, or on the Facebook page “Andover Community Coffeehouse.”
Video recordings of past programs are shown on a number of community access channels across the state, and are available for viewing anytime on Andover’s town Web site at andover.nh.us/ by clicking on “Town Information” and then “Video Archive.”
The coffeehouse venue, a former grange hall, is now the property of the Andover Congregational Church, which is located next door at the intersection of Route 11 and Chase Hill Road in East Andover. The Andover Community Coffeehouse operates under the umbrella of the Andover Community Association (ACA).
Directions: From Franklin, take State Route 11 West (Franklin Highway) toward Andover for about five miles. Turn left onto Chase Hill Road, immediately after the Andover Congregational Church, also on the left. The Grange Hall is across the parking lot from the church. From Andover village, take State Route 11 East (Franklin Highway) toward Franklin for about five miles. Turn right onto Chase Hill Road just before the church.