Called “one of New England’s finest emerging acts,” and nominated last year for a top honor by the New England Music Awards, Ashley and Eric L’Esperance will be the featured performers at the Friday evening, April 19, concert offered by the Andover Community Coffeehouse.

The performance will begin at 7:00 PM in the Highland Lake Grange Hall, 7 Chase Hill Road in East Andover.  Admission is free, although donations — which are shared with the performers and the Andover Community Church, owner of the Grange Hall — are gratefully accepted.

Performing together under the title The Promise is Hope since 2013 (and married since 2014), the duo is said to offer “tightly woven harmonies, two guitars, and intimate songwriting. They present a beautifully moving, inspired and connected live performance.”


Their work has also been described as marrying “two distinctly talented songwriters whose sound is shaped by tastes of folk, acoustic and pop. Ashley performs subtle yet stunning melodies with a classically-trained, but often folksy voice…. Eric’s obvious reverence for the beloved songwriters of the 60’s and 70’s shines through his sweetly deep voice.”  There’s much more at www.thepromiseishope.com.

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.

Sponsors for the April concert are two “Friends of the Andover Community Coffeehouse” who wish to remain anonymous.  Sponsorship funds help support the ongoing renovation of the Grange Hall.

Coming up on Friday, May 17:  From Asheville, North Carolina, by way of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Andrew “Finn the Fiddler” Magill grew up studying with many of the world’s best traditional American and Irish fiddlers.  More recently, he’s been based in Brazil, leading a choro band called O Finno. (According to Wikipedia, “Choro is a Latin American music genre characterized by virtuosity, improvisation and subtle modulations, and is full of syncopation and counterpoint.”)  Learn more at www.andrewfinnmagill.com.

Doors to the Grange Hall open at 6 PM for food purchases offered by the Andover Community Church, and for open-mic sign-ins on a first-come, first-serve basis.