It’s now, officially, the “Award-Winning Andover Community Coffeehouse,” thanks to the New Hampshire Magazine Editor’s Pick as the “2015 Best Open Mic Night” in the Granite State.
And the featured performers for the free “third Friday” event on June 19 will be Decatur Creek, an acoustic trio from Antrim specializing in folk, Americana, and ballads, many of their own creation. The program will also offer an open-microphone opportunity for local talent.
The fun begins at 7 PM in the Highland Lake Grange Hall in East Andover, although open-mic performers should sign in between 6 and 7 PM. Times will be allotted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Offering “third Friday” events only since January of this year, the coffeehouse has drawn enthusiastic near-capacity audiences each month. News of the “Best Open Mic Night” designation came in a mid-May phone call from New Hampshire Magazine, which promised details would follow.
About the magazine designation, Coffeehouse Committee chair Paul Currier commented, “We owe it all to the great turnout of talented open-mic performers month after month – and also, of course, to the enthusiastic responses that our audiences have shown. We couldn’t have asked for a better combination.”
Although the event is open to the public at no charge, donations will be accepted. Sponsor for the evening is the Highland Lake Inn Bed and Breakfast of Andover. (Sponsors and donors help the Coffeehouse Committee defray costs associated with each performance.)
Soup, sandwiches, and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase beginning at 6 PM, thanks to members of the Andover Congregational Church, whose Grange Hall Renovation Fund benefits from the sales.
The three members of Decatur Creek – Jack Carlton, Steve Dionne, and Doug Farrell – are each accomplished New Hampshire musicians, singer/songwriters, and performers. They met as solo performers through local coffeehouses and open mics, attracted by each others’ songwriting and musicianship. From their first performance together in 2012, “they realized there was musical chemistry that compelled further exploration,” according to the musicians’ statement. “Their diverse styles, backgrounds, and skills complement one another, and the group’s evolving original acoustic sound will bring a smile to your face, rhythm to your feet, and leave you wanting more.”
Coffeehouse performances are offered on the third Friday of each month, with some exceptions and additions. In July, for example, in addition to its regular “third Friday” event on July 17, the Coffeehouse team will stage a free outdoor concert in Andover Village on Friday evening, July 3, featuring Lindsey Schust and the Ragged Mountain Band.
For up-to-date information about dates and scheduled performers, visit AndoverCoffeeHouse.org or the Facebook page “Andover Community Coffeehouse.”
Coffeehouse events since January have drawn close to a dozen open-mic performers each month. A photographic record of the performers is shown in the Web site, both headliners and open-mic participants. In May, for example, these included Sferes and White, featured performers; and open-mic participants Jim James; “Dr. Jack” Polidoro; Newfound Grass; Jim Makris; Irina Kirilenko, Chris Gilb, and Paul Hubert; Carl Beverley; Ron Towle, Pam, and Peter Burghardt; the Bradford Bog People; Greg Gage; the Thursday Night Supper Club; and Charles Collins.