Stopping by the Andover Community Coffeehouse as part of a nationwide tour promoting his new album, and offering “a cocktail of rock, country and blues influences,” singer-songwriter Toney Rocks will headline the November 16 “third Friday” concert starting at 7 PM in the Highland Lake Grange Hall at 7 Chase Hill Road in East Andover. The concert is open to the public at no charge, though donations are gratefully accepted.
According to his website, “Drifting,” Rocks’ new album, “is a solo work that features the artist’s soulfully gritty singing over either acoustic guitar, piano, or ukulele. No one sounds quite like Toney Rocks.” For more information, go to www.toneyrocks.com.
Rocks will share the spotlight with up to a dozen open-microphone performers, whose past contributions have ranged from the spoken word to show-business, jazz, folk, bluegrass, and country-and-western tunes, often to standing ovations.
While many of the open-mic participants are repeat performers who bring their fans with them, the Coffeehouse also warmly welcomes newcomers. Doors to the Grange Hall 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.
Sponsor for the November event is the Andover Community Association (ACA), parent organization of the Coffeehouse. The ACA is now in the process of merging with The Andover Hub in order to offer a wider variety of community activities under one umbrella. Sponsor donations defray room-rental costs and, along with pass-the-hat audience donations, enable the Coffeehouse to offer performances at no charge.
Coming up: On Friday, December 21, the Coffeehouse Christmas Concert will feature Hiroya Tsukamoto, “a one-of-a-kind composer, guitarist and singer-songwriter from Kyoto, Japan.” Tsukamoto came to the U.S. in 2000 upon receiving a scholarship from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. The December event will mark the completion of four years of Coffeehouse concerts.
Sponsor for the December concert is NineJuly, a website-development and video-production company devoted exclusively to supporting artists in the folk-music community. Learn more at NineJuly.com.
Information about future dates and scheduled performers, and a photographic record of performers, both headliners and open-mic participants, are shown on the Coffeehouse website 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 the Andover town website at www.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 N.H. Route 11 and Chase Hill Road in East Andover.
Directions: From Franklin, take 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 Route 11 East (Franklin Highway) toward Franklin for about five miles. Turn right onto Chase Hill Road just before the church.