It’s “double your listening pleasure” in July as the award-winning Andover Community Coffeehouse offers not one but two local events.
First is an outdoor concert on early Friday evening, July 3, and following up is the regular “Third Friday” performance on Friday, July 17. Both are free and open to the public.
Helping kick off a weekend of local activities celebrating Independence Day, the Andover-based Lindsey Schust and the Ragged Mountain Band will offer a dinnertime concert of folk, country-western, bluegrass, and folk rock beginning at 6 PM on Friday, July 3, in the outdoor amphitheater beside Andover Town Hall (between the AE/MS Annex and the skateboard park).
Food will be available for purchase beginning at 5 PM, supplied by the Andover Congregational Church. Attendees are invited to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating. Sponsor for the evening is Pizza Chef of Andover.
Band members include Lindsey, Grace, Jim, and Jesse Schust; Paul Currier; and Jim Connell.
On Friday, July 17, Kenny Weiland, a Concord-based jazz- and swing-oriented soloist and guitarist, will headline the monthly Coffeehouse show, with a cast of open-microphone performers adding variety to the proceedings. Doors to the Highland Lake Grange Hall in East Andover 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. The show begins at 7 PM, under the sponsorship of Dr. M. Jonathan Mishcon, Tilton Medical Associates.
Coffeehouse performances are offered on the third Friday of each month, with some exceptions. 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 standing-room-only audiences and close to a dozen open-mic candidates each month. The venue was chosen by the editor of New Hampshire Magazine as 2015 Best of New Hampshire Open Mic Night: “The Andover Community Coffeehouse in the East Andover Grange Hall (AndoverCoffeehouse.org) is practically in the middle of nowhere and only meets every third Friday of the month. Even so, it’s become a standing-room-only event on most nights with folks of all ages enjoying the cozy atmosphere, good inexpensive food and drink, and real heartfelt music from the local stars.”
When June coffeehouse emcee Cindy Benson read the tribute at the June 19 coffeehouse, it drew a rousing ovation. Thanks to Andover’s Paul Currier for getting this show on the road!
Looking ahead: Coming up on Friday, August 21, is singer-songwriter-acoustic guitarist Scott King, “one of the most inventive and compelling independent performing songwriters you’ll ever come across. In addition to having a delightfully eclectic sound that sets him apart, King is also one of the finest acoustic guitar-players around.”