The Andover Community Coffeehouse returns to its roots in November, with a repeat featured performance by singer-songwriters Jimmy Sferes and Jennifer White, two Andover residents who have been instrumental in bringing live entertainment to town on a monthly basis since the beginning of 2015.
The duo will appear on the stage of the Highland Lake Grange Hall in East Andover beginning at 7 PM on Friday, November 18. The concert is open to the public at no cost (although donations are gratefully accepted).
As in earlier Grange Hall concerts, the November program will also feature up to a dozen open-microphone performers, whose contributions have ranged from the spoken word to a capella, show-business, jazz, folk, bluegrass, and country-and-western tunes.
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.
Sponsor for the November concert is Ragged View Farm, “offering horse-drawn sleigh rides and maple syrup, right here in Andover.”
Sferes and White are described as having “discovered an uncommon synergy, blending clear and luscious harmonies with complex and imaginative guitar playing. Their 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.” See their Web site at SferesAndWhite.com for more information.
Residents of Andover, the duo have played key roles in the creation of the Community Coffeehouse and in its continuing success ever since, with White handling the bookings of featured performers and Sferes managing the professional-level sound system. Their first featured performance in Andover was in May 2015.
Coffeehouse events since January 2015 have drawn near-capacity audiences and a full complement of open-mic candidates on the third Friday of each month. The venue was chosen by the editor of New Hampshire Magazine as “2015 Best of New Hampshire Open Mic Night.” In this year alone, queries from would-be featured performers have been received from as far away as Ireland, France, England and Nashville.
Information about future dates and scheduled performers, and a photographic record of past 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 may be viewed at any time on Andover’s town Web site at andover.nh.us/ by clicking on “Town Information” and then “Video Archive.” The video programs are produced by volunteers at Andover Community TV.
The Coffeehouse is an arm of the Andover Community Association. For more information, e-mail andovercommunity03216@nullgmail.com.