Roslindale Open Mike
2026-03-23 19:00 - 21:00, 2026-04-13 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Online
A semi-monthly virtual open mike sponsored by Roslindale Open Mike. Watch on YouTube.
Performers are welcome! Visit Roslindale Open Mike for more information.

Adam Simons
2026-03-26 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-03-27 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-03-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Goodfolk, 7 Central Street, Topsfield, MA, 01983, United States
A native of the Arizona desert now living in Nashville, Adam Simons is a singer-songwriter born in the wrong decade. Raised on the music of the 1970’s, Adam has found his niche in simple but honest songwriting, organic instrumentation, and the spirit of ‘Laurel Canyon Americana.’ His songs and performances have gained him a massive following online, with over 200,000 followers across platforms, and features with Fender, Universal Music Group, and Searchlight Pictures. His upcoming self-produced album features his latest single, “Little Bit Of Gold” – an ethereal folk anthem about holding on to the glimmers of a dream as we grow older.

John Henry’s Hammer Coffeehouse – Open Mic Friday 3/27/2026
2026-03-27 18:30 - 21:30 | John Henry’s Hammer Coffeehouse, Worcester MA, 90 Main St, Worcester, MA, 01608, United States
Here are the usual IMPORTANT details for JHH Open Mic:
2nd and 4th Fridays (except when noted)
First Unitarian Church, 90 Main St, Worcester, MA
Doors open and performer sign-up at 6:30 p.m.
Performances begin @ 7 p.m.
10 minutes in the limelight- spoken word or music (usually two songs unless you choose to sing American Pie or some sea shanty with fifty verses). Duos or groups are considered one act and CANNOT sign up as single performers too. Putting on a clown wig will NOT fool us. $3.00 admission for everybody. Performer or spectator. Payable to the lovely lady at the folding card table (please bring $1 bills). Refreshments & snacks (donation appreciated).
PLEASE enter State Street upper parking lot door. Handicap parking and accessibility at the other side of the church on Court Street by the Courthouse apartments. If you DO park on Court Street only park on the church side of the street or you could get towed. The parking meters on Main Street and State Street require money until 8:00 pm. The meter maids (and dudes) love to hand out tickets.
Weather Cancellations: ANY weather cancellations of the Worcester Public Schools on the day of Open Mic WILL cancel Open Mic.

North Reading Community Coffeehouse - Performing Artist Series Featuring Crowes Pasture
2026-03-28 19:30 - 21:30 | North Reading Community Coffeehouse, North Reading MA, 147 Park St, North Reading, MA, 01864, United States
The North Reading Community Coffeehouse (NRCC) is proud to welcome “Crowes Pasture” featuring Andy Rogovin and Monique Byrne. The show is on Saturday, March 28. Doors open at 7 PM and the show begins at 7:30 PM.
Crowes Pasture is a New England-based folk/Americana duo. Two-time nominees for “Roots Act of the Year” and winners of the International Acoustic Music Awards’ “Best Country/Bluegrass Song” in 2024, the duo inspires audiences with intimate, harmony-driven performances that are both heartfelt and deeply connective. Their banjo-guitar interplay and soulful songwriting have earned them a loyal following and acclaim from “Americana Highways” as “a wholly vintage vocal parfait” with “a genuine instinctive unifying feel.”
The concert is free, but there will be a “Suggested Donation” of $15, if you are in a position to do so. The important thing is join us if you can and do what we can to help keep live music alive!

For more about Crowes Pasture, you can go to their Facebook page at: crowespastureduo.com
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Friends of the Flint Memorial Library in North Reading with whom we will be doing these concerts in conjunction with, to help support the library. We are located in the Activity Room of the Flint Memorial Library at 147 Park Street in North Reading. There is plenty of free parking. Please come, sit back, relax and listen to some terrific music! This event is partially sponsored by the North Reading chapter of the Massachusetts Cultural Council. If you have any questions, please contact Art Grossman at NRCoffeehouse@gmail.com

The event will also be livestreamed on the North Reading Community Coffeehouse Facebook page and on the YouTube channel the following day! The links to those two sites are:
https://www.facebook.com/nrcoffeehouse

https://www.youtube.com/@NRCoffeehouse

James Keelaghan
2026-03-28 19:30 - 22:00 | Circle of Friends Coffeehouse, Franklin MA, 262 Chestnut St, Franklin, MA, 02038, United States
Called Canada’s finest singer-songwriter by one of the most respected and lauded music journalists of the last 50 years, James Keelaghan is an artist who has proven to be a man for all seasons.
As the calendar pages have turned, for almost a quarter of a century now, this poet laureate of the folk and roots music world has gone about his work with a combination of passion, intent and intensity, and curiosity.
Fusing his insatiable appetite for finding the next unique storyline, Keelaghan also forges his pieces with brilliantly defined craftsmanship and a monogrammed artistic vision, making him one of the most distinctive and readily identifiable voices of not only the Canadian scene, but as a member of the international singer-songwriter community.

Piedmont Style Blues Guitar Workshop with Andy Cohen
2026-03-29 13:00 - 14:30 | Acton MA, Address given when you reserve, Acton, 01720, United States
$20 at the door (or $35 for both the workshop and the Cohen, Ellis and Ellis house concert)
Reservations required: HouseConcerts@fssgb.org
Andy Cohen is a virtuoso finger-style guitarist who has been described as “a walking, talking folk-blues-roots music encyclopedia.” He grew up in a home with a piano and lots of Dixieland Jazz records. During the Sixties Folk Revival, he got hooked on the music of Big Bill Broonzy and the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. When Andy was 16, he heard South Carolina’s Rev. Gary Davis perform and the effect on him was profound. He has devoted his life to studying, performing, and promoting traditional blues and folk music of the pre-World War II era. Andy has toured solo, as well as with Martin, Bogan and Armstrong, John Jackson, Rev. Gary Davis, Brother Daniel Womack, Rev. Dan Smith, Jim Brewer, and Honeyboy Edwards. He also worked extensively with Walt and Ethel Phelps, Big Joe Duskin, Pigmeat Jarrett, Etta Baker, Big Boy Henry, and James “Son” Thomas.
In the workshop, we will be going over a number of straightforward songs in the key of C: Freight Train, Louis Collins, Come Let Us March, Gary Davis’s Candy Man, and if we get that far, I will teach Davis’s Buck Dance, which is a little more complex than the others. You’ll learn how to keep your thumb going, count while playing, And learn how to play a scale in major and minor sixths.

Rupert Wates
2026-03-29 15:00 - 17:00 | Whale Cove House Concerts, Rockport MA, Rockport, MA, 01966, United States
This concert will be indoors in the hosts’ living room and capacity will be limited to 30. The suggested contribution is $20, payable at the door by cash, check, or Venmo. Send email to info@whalecove.org to get more information or to request an invitation.
Rupert Wates is a London-born, award-winning songwriter who signed an exclusive publishing deal with Eaton Music in the late 1990s and has been writing full-time ever since. Since relocating to the U.S. in 2006, he has released eleven acclaimed full-length albums, earning airplay across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel, and Australia. His work has inspired over 50 songwriting awards and more than twenty cover recordings by other artists, including two full tribute albums recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles. Performing an average of 120 shows a year across North America and Europe, Wates continues to captivate audiences with his haunting, melodic brand of acoustic art-folk.

Della Mae
2026-03-29 16:00 - 18:00 | The Park Theatre, Jaffrey NH, 19 Main St, Jaffrey, NH, 03452, United States
Peterborough Folk Music is excited to be on Della Mae’s CD Release Tour and brought back to The Park Theater by popular demand.
ABOUT:
Each generation, perhaps once a decade, bluegrass experiences a band or an artist that redefines and recenters the genre itself. Della Mae is one such band.
The GRAMMY-nominated string band was founded in 2010 and over the next decade and a half they’ve demonstrated to the roots music world, once and for all, that a band of all women is not, nor has ever been, a mere novelty. They remain at the forefront of the explosion of women instrumentalists and all-women acts in roots music and their impact is striking and measurable – not just in North America, but around the globe.
Now 15 years since their origin, Della Mae can boast their strongest lineup yet. Founders Kimber Ludiker and Celia Woodsmith are joined by guitarist and songwriter Avril Smith and vocalist and two-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year Vickie Vaughn.
There has never been a band like Della Mae in roots music before, but thanks to Kimber Ludiker, Celia Woodsmith, Avril Smith, Vickie Vaughn – and all of the women who have been part of this band over its long life – we know there will be many more bands, singers, songwriters, and pickers just like Della Mae in the future.
https://www.dellamae.com

Andy Cohen, Eleanor Ellis and William Lee Ellis House Concert
2026-03-29 16:00 - 18:00 | Private home, given when you reserve a seat, TBD, United States
$20 at the door
Reservations required: HouseConcerts@fssgb.org
Acclaimed acoustic performers Andy Cohen, Eleanor Ellis and William Lee Ellis return as a trio with this new album, WHISTLIN’ PAST THE GRAVEYARD. Released on Cohen’s Riverlark label, the ambitious project is a 21-track tour-de-force of old-time blues, gospel, ballads, ragtime, and country song that surpasses their previous high bar, the 1993 Marimac outing, Preachin’ in That Wilderness.
All three musicians have established themselves as noted artists in the folk and blues worlds, both on stage and in the studio: Eleanor records for the Patuxent label, Andy for Earwig Music, and William for Yellow Dog, where his latest solo album, Ghost Hymns, earned a Blues Music Awards nomination for Acoustic Blues Album of the Year.
Produced by William Lee Ellis and River Hartley (Ghost Hymns), Whistlin’ is a truly unique listen, one that fits no single musical category; rather, it explores with finger-picked verve and joy the expansive palette of America’s musical past, still relevant and very much alive in the sound of this remarkable trio.
ANDY COHEN: “A singularly unique figure, Andy Cohen deserves some long overdue accolades.” – ALL MUSIC GUIDE
ELEANOR ELLIS: “A celebrated master of the country and Piedmont blues, one of the most significant women in the acoustic genre… a torchbearer.” – LIVING BLUES
WILLIAM LEE ELLIS: “A masterful genre-bender who sounds completely at home and thoroughly invested in whatever style he tackles.” – ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Dan Pallotta
2026-04-04 19:00 - 20:30 | Goodfolk, 7 Central Street, Topsfield, MA, 01983, United States
Dan Pallotta is the entrepreneur behind Goodfolk. He’s also folk singing poet and storyteller, with a cocktail of Joh Prine, Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle influences. Steve Earle himself has called his music, “potentially groundbreaking,” and Clive Davis has called him, “a gifted musical poet.”

John Henry’s Hammer Coffeehouse – Open Mic Friday 4/10/2026
2026-04-10 18:30 - 21:30 | John Henry’s Hammer Coffeehouse, Worcester MA, 90 Main St, Worcester, MA, 01608, United States

Cosy Sheridan with Charlie Koch and Kent Allyn
2026-04-10 19:30 - 21:30 | Parish Center for the Arts, Westford MA, 10 Lincoln Street, Westford, MA, 01886, United States
Cabaret Seating. BYOB & Snacks. Doors Open at 7:00 PM
$20 Members/ $22 non-members in advance ; $25 at the door (if available)

Cosy Sheridan has been called one of the era’s finest and most thoughtful songwriters, and also ‘a buddhist monk trapped in the body of a singer-songwriter’. Her music regularly tops the folk radio charts. Her CD “Pretty Bird” was listed among Sing Out Magazine’s Great CDs of 2014. Her concerts are wide-ranging explorations: ragtime guitar and social satire, modern renditions of mythology (meet Hades the Biker) and tales of modern adulthood. She first caught the attention of national folk audiences in 1992 when she won both the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Song Award and The Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour Contest, and then released her critically acclaimed CD Quietly Led on Waterbug Records. Since then she has released more than 13 CDs and written a one-woman-show.
Charlie Koch is Cosy Sheridan’s husband and musical partner. He started learning guitar at 11 years old, and has taught bass or guitar classes at Puget Sound Guitar Workshop and also at Moab Folk Camp. Koch also has a lifetime of experience teaching horseback riding, skiing and tennis.
Cabaret Seating. BYOB & Snacks.

Ellis Paul
2026-04-10 19:30 - 22:00 | Second Friday Concerts at First Church Belmont MA, 404 Concord Avenue, Belmont, 02478

Eric Andersen with Steve Addabbo
2026-04-10 20:00 - 22:00 | Me&Thee, Marblehead MA, 28 Mugford St, Marblehead, MA, 01945, United States
Folk icon Eric Anderson returns to the Me&Thee with Steve Addabbo for the first time in more than a decade. Anderson’s career has spanned 45 years with 25 albums and numerous tours of North America, Europe and Japan.

Tom Pirozzoli and Willy Porter
2026-04-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Bass Hall at Monadnock Center, Peterborough NH, 19 Grove St, Peterborough, NH, 03458, United States
For more than thirty years, Tom Pirozzoli’s simple path has been a life rich in music, art, and travel, yielding a career filled with nine studio albums, numerous songwriting credits, and collaborations with other artists such as Willy Porter, Joyce Andersen, and David Wilcox. Tom’s sophisticated guitar work forms the rich backdrop for his warm tenor that delivers melodies and lyrics exploring the full range of the human and global experience.
A self-taught guitarist and painter, Tom found himself playing in New England coffeehouses at the age of 19. The sense of endless possibility and adventure of the 1970s lead to travels – initially through Europe and South America, India and Southeast Asia, and eventually to China and Tibet. His encounters with such an array of people, cultures, and ideas have contributed to and enriched his painting, music, and lyrical content.
“Pirozzoli ‘s hypnotic soothing vocals and rich guitar textures… well crafted” –Sing Out
“…good sound, man!” –Taj Mahal
“The passionate philosopher-songwriter captures a variety of musical styles in his original songs, invoking a feeling of comfortable familiarity, like spending time with a good friend.” – Autumn Magazine

Willy Porter
Searching for the shaman that lives inside the guitar has led Willy Porter on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 10 albums, and multiple continents. His journey remains defined by an independent drive to evolve as a musician and human, affording him the freedom to create the next song on his own terms. Equally accomplished as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Porter’s songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven events—equal parts grit, soul, and muscle—that are electrifying, dynamic, and wholly original in the way that Porter’s voice blends and fuses with his virtuoso fret work.
“I found Willy on iTunes six years ago. Went to see him live and joined the converted.“— Al Kooper (Bob Dylan/Blood, Sweat & Tears)
“Thank goodness he doesn’t play the flute.“— Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull
“Porter is a dazzling acoustic guitarist with a moody baritone…“— The Washington Post

Ellis Paul House Concert
2026-04-11 19:00 - 21:00 | House of Play Houseconcerts, Newton MA, Newton, MA, United States
Come join us for a warm and fun evening, up close with Ellis Paul! You’ll be welcome in our friendly home. Drinks, snacks, and plenty of joy provided. This concert will sell out, so reserve seats as soon as you can. You can do that by clicking on the link below where you will find more information about Ellis and our series, (or you can email us at houseconcertsnewton@gmail.com.) 35 minimum suggested donation by Venmo or cash goes 100% to the musician. Please only reserve seats if you are sure you can attend as this event counts on the donation for each seat.

Vance Gilbert
2026-04-11 19:30 - 22:00 | Circle of Friends Coffeehouse, Franklin MA, 262 Chestnut St, Franklin, MA, 02038, United States
Starting out hoping to be an R&B and jazz singer once at college, there he discovered his affinity for the storytelling sensibilities of the acoustic singer-songwriter thing. Word spread like wildfire about Gilbert’s stage-owning singing and playing, and Shawn Colvin invited him to be special guest on her 1992 Fat City tour where he took much of America by storm and by surprise. “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god..” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Rob Flax Trio
2026-04-12 14:00 - 17:00 | Lakeview Houseconcert Series, Sharon MA, Sharon, MA, United States
Lakeview Houseconcerts in Sharon, MA Presents:
Robert Flax Trio 2 PM Sunday April 12th 2026 Potluck lunch at 1PM
RSVP to info@lakeviewhouseconcerts.org to reserve a seat. You must get an invitation email from me to attend.
For more info about the Trio see www.robflax.com
Call 508 528 0026 for questions, please leave a message.
$25 suggested donation in the tip jar but payment is optional. 100% of the donations go directly to the artists. There are no tickets, but please RSVP so I know how many will be here. Join us at 1PM here for a potluck lunch. Bring a dish, we supply drinks and ice cream at intermission.
We have recently added shows by Rod McDonald, Claudia Nygard and an extra special show with John Forster & Mike Agranoff.
Multi-instrumentalist and educator Rob Flax describes his music concisely: “I play things with strings, I hit stuff, and I sing.” Behind this simple tag line lies a rich depth of genre-bending, from classical and jazz violin to bluegrass fiddle, to blues and rock influences, and beyond. Rob performs his original music solo (with looper pedal) and with his Boom Chick Trio, and he plays as sideman and session musician in many other projects. Rob is also the inventor of the Chessboard Drum Machine.

Hubby Jenkins
2026-04-17 19:30 - 21:30 | Follen Folk Nights, Lexington MA, 755 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA, 02420, United States
Hubby Jenkins is a talented multi-instrumentalist who endeavors to share his love and knowledge of old-time American music. Born and raised in Brooklyn he delved into his southern roots, following the thread of African American history that wove itself through America’s traditional music forms. As an integral member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and later Rhiannon Giddens band, Hubby has performed at festivals and venues around the world, earning himself both Grammy and Americana award nominations. Today he spreads his knowledge and love of old-time American music through his dynamic solo performances and engaging workshops.

Cara Brindisi
2026-04-17 20:00 - 22:00 | Me&Thee, Marblehead MA, 28 Mugford St, Marblehead, MA, 01945, United States
Cara Brindisi leads a double life, with a 15-year career as a singer-songwriter and as a music therapist working in hospice care. Brindisi will perform songs from her debut album I Am Home at the Me&Thee. The folk-pop album is a compilation of songs spanning her adult life: some were written 10 years ago, some composed only last year.

North Reading Community Coffeehouse April, 2026 Showcase
2026-04-18 18:30 - 21:30 | North Reading Community Coffeehouse, North Reading MA, 147 Park St, North Reading, MA, 01864, United States
The North Reading Community Coffeehouse is proud to present its April, 2026 Showcase. The performers are Diane Battistello, Mary Ann McAllister, Karen Silver and Jerry Sancinito. We have a group of very talented musicians this month with a nice variety of music which will make for a very entertaining show. Each performer will do about a 30 minute set.The event is free but donations will be gratefully accepted and we will be offering refreshments with all the proceeds going to the Friends of the Flint Memorial Library in North Reading with whom we will be doing these concerts in conjunction with, to help support the library.

The event will also be livestreamed on the North Reading Community Coffeehouse Facebook page and on the YouTube channel the following day!
The links to the Facebook page and YouTube Channel are:
https://www.facebook.com/nrcoffeehouse
https://www.youtube.com/@NRCoffeehouse
We are located in the Activity Room of the Flint Memorial Library at 147 Park Street in North Reading. There is plenty of free parking. We start at 6:30. Please come, sit back, relax and listen to some terrific music! If you have any questions, please contact Art Grossman at NRCoffeehouse@gmail.com.

Jeffrey Foucault
2026-04-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Bass Hall at Monadnock Center, Peterborough NH, 19 Grove St, Peterborough, NH, 03458, United States
6:30 pm

ABOUT:
In His Own Words
“I grew up in Wisconsin, and my Dad wore a tie to work and played a knock-off Gibson with a chunk of the headstock missing where he’d backed over it with the car. Mom sang along. I knew all my Grandparents well into my thirties, and I knew both my Great Grandmas. Winter Sundays were for church or ice-fishing, and summers we hauled an old travel trailer up to the north woods. School was a drag, and I drew a lot of pictures. When I was eleven I bought a cassette copy of Little Richard’s Greatest Hits. At seventeen I learned to play all the songs on John Prine’s 1971 debut in my room with the door locked and subway posters of British New Wave bands looking morbidly on. At nineteen I stole a copy of Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Live & Obscure,’ and listened to it every night for a couple years. Then a girl from Iowa gave me a Greg Brown cassette. At twenty-four I made a record and start traveling around the country. I have two older brothers. They don’t sing but they both fish.
I live out in New England, in a little town with a river through the middle. I can’t get home without crossing good water. We have a chicken coop and a little barn and a truck that often runs. I like to listen to records real loud when I do the dishes, and I do most of the dishes.”
https://jeffreyfoucault.com/press

Don White
2026-04-18 19:00 - 21:30 | Parish Center for the Arts, Westford MA, 10 Lincoln Street, Westford, MA, 01886, United States
Cabaret Seating. BYOB & Snacks. Doors open at 6:30
$20 Members/ $22 non-members in advance ; $25 at the door (if available)
Back for another year, Don White is equal parts storyteller-comedian-author-troubadour-folk singer-songwriter. He has been bringing audiences to laughter and tears for 30 years. White’s arc as an award-winning songwriter and performer has taken him from his industrial hometown of Lynn (MA) across the country as hitchhiker, through Boston’s comedy clubs and coffeehouses, and onto the stage with greats like Arlo Guthrie, Taj Mahal, Ritchie Havens, Patty Larkin, Bill Morrissey, Tom Rush, Louden Wainright III, and Christine Lavin, with whom he toured for 8 years all across North America in a co-bill called ‘The Funny Side of the Street.’ At every point, White has been the ultimate observer, infusing his work with his experiences as a husband, a father, a seeker, and a joker.
Cabaret Seating. BYOB & Snacks.

Garnet Rogers
2026-04-18 19:30 - 21:30 | New Song, Bedford MA, 10 Mudge Way, Bedford, MA, 01730, United States
Barely out of high school, Garnet Rogers was on the road as a full-time working musician with his older brother Stan. Together they formed one of the most influential acts in North American folk music.
Since then, Garnet Rogers has established himself as “one of the major talents of our time and a “charismatic performer and singer” (Boston Globe).Garnet is a man with a powerful physical presence and a voice to match. With his “smooth, dark baritone” (Washington Post), his incredible range, and his thoughtful, dramatic phrasing, Garnet is widely considered by fans and critics alike to be one of the finest singers anywhere.
His music, like the man himself, is literate, passionate, highly sensitive, and deeply purposeful. Cinematic in detail, his songs “give expression to the unspoken vocabulary of the heart” (Kitchener Waterloo Record). An optimist at heart, Garnet sings extraordinary songs about people who are not obvious heroes and of the small victories of the everyday. As memorable as his songs, his over-the-top humor and lightning-quick wit move his audience from tears to laughter and back again.

Sally Rogers and Claudia Schmidt
2026-04-18 19:30 - 21:30 | New Moon Coffeehouse, Haverhill MA, 16 Ashland St, Haverhill, MA, 01830, United States
Singer/songwriters Claudia Schmidt, and Sally Rogers perform at the New Moon Coffeehouse on Saturday April 18th at 7:30pm. The coffeehouse is in the Universalist Unitarian Church, 16 Ashland St, Haverhill MA. Admission to the show is $25; $10 for those aged 21 and under.
Claudia Schmidt and Sally Rogers have been weaving their voices, dulcimers, and guitars together for decades, creating joyful, lush music. Their soaring harmonies, fascinating double dulcimer work, and the mix of 6 and 12 string guitars, perfectly blend with their wide variety of songs.
The two have been perfecting their craft of performing for almost four decades, both as solo artists and as a duo. Claudia sees the world with clarity, humor and wonder and this comes through in her storytelling songs; often funny, always heartfelt. Sally’s crystal-clear voice, boundless energy, and good humor stirs audiences to sing right along with her. Both musicians have been frequent guests on the radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” which helped launch their careers. A concert by these two masters of their craft is an immensely joyful and restorative experience.
Reserve or buy tickets for the show on the New Moon website; www.newmooncoffeehouse.org. Tickets are also available on show day at the door, cash only. The box office opens around 6:30pm; doors open at 7:00pm. Please bring cash with you to pay for gate tickets and extras, like desserts and musician products. Credit card ticket purchases can only be made on our website.
The New Moon Coffeehouse is a nonprofit, an all-volunteer organization dedicated to supporting and enjoying the creative talents of acoustic performers. We strive to bring you the best performers in a relaxing, friendly, smoke and alcohol-free environment, where you can enjoy a great show, and awesome desserts. The listening room is handicap accessible. And there is plenty of free parking around the church. Before the show, and during the intermission, delicious homemade desserts and hot and cold non-alcohol beverages are for sale. Audience members also can buy merchandise from the artists and usually meet them in person. For more info, go to the NM website or call 617-327-0542. Do not call the church.

Craig Bickhardt - April 18, 2026 - CANCELLED
2026-04-18 19:30 - 22:00 | Rose Garden Coffeehouse, Mansfield MA, 17 West St, Mansfield, MA, 02048, United States
UNFORTUNATELY, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
By Barry Alfonso
When Craig Bickhardt steps onto a concert stage, he comes equipped with his trusty acoustic guitar. A side musician or two will frequently join him. He’s also accompanied by something invisible, yet ever-present: the stories of a lifetime, vividly translated into words and melody.
From the boisterous club scene of Philadelphia to the country-rock milieu of Los Angeles to the picking parlors of Nashville, Craig has immersed himself in the sights and sounds of American music. His music reflects a life lived as a rock band lead singer, a solo troubadour, a dedicated songwriter, a husband and father. Dreams, heartaches and hard-earned lessons have fed his creativity. There is no other way he could’ve written the eloquent, often bittersweet songs that have become his trademark.
“I start a lot of songs because I feel conflicted,” he explains. “I may begin from a point of darkness, but I usually end up writing towards the light because, for me, hope is the thing worth singing about. The characters in the stories I sing aren’t heroic; they’re very ordinary. But they’re reaching for something beyond themselves, and I find nobility in that.”
Craig is a singer/songwriter of the old school – you can hear echoes of such ‘60s folk revival artists as Tom Rush, Gordon Lightfoot and Eric Andersen in his work. Added to this is the melodic sophistication of a Jimmy Webb or a Paul Simon, as well as a spare but telling lyric approach. “I admire songwriters like Woody Guthrie and poets like Robert Frost because they created functional art,” he says. “Too much music today is just for the singer, not for Everyman. I think of my work as a ‘Please Touch’ museum – I want my songs to be sung until they’re worn out.”
Also crucial to Craig’s art is his virtuosic guitar work, interweaving folk, blues, country and ragtime influences into a unique whole: “The guitar isn’t just an accompanying instrument for me – sometimes it’s the front man and my voice is the accompanist.”
Craig came to music as something of a family inheritance. His father Harry worked at WIP radio in Philadelphia and moonlighted as a big band musician. As a youngster, Craig absorbed everything from Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins to Stan Kenton and Duke Ellington. At 14, Craig found an old guitar in the family attic and taught himself to play. Soon he was writing songs and performing at venues like Philadelphia’s famed Main Point.
The Philly club scene shaped his emerging musical style. “I was lucky to grow up in a town that was a melting pot for musicians,” Craig says. “I got to hear lots of R&B as well as the great folk performers of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. It taught me that nothing moves people like a great song sung with some passion.”
By the mid-‘70s, Craig was co-lead singer/guitarist with Wire and Wood, an eclectic country-rock quintet that won a fervent East Coast following. The group opened for the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Stephen Stills before relocating to L.A. in search of a record deal. Craig and his compadres succeeded in attracting the interest of Bob Dylan’s former manager Albert Grossman, who signed them to his Bearsville/October Records label. Unfortunately, Wire and Wood’s album was never completed and the group called it quits soon after.
Craig went through another life-changing ordeal while living in L.A. One night, he awoke to find that the house he shared with his band mates was on fire. He barely managed to escape before the place collapsed in flames – and came away with a revelation: “At that moment, everything in the world felt luminous again, like it did when I was young. That experience made me realize that my happiness didn’t depend on possessions or status. I suddenly felt free and very grateful to be alive.”
This brush with mortality also re-motivated him as a musician. After Wire and Wood dissolved, Craig secured an assignment to write and sing songs for Tender Mercies, a country music-themed film starring Robert Duvall. This led to a lengthy residency in Nashville, where he saw his songs recorded by such legends as Ray Charles, B.B. King, Johnny Cash, the Judds, Tony Rice and Alison Krauss.
All the while, Craig continued playing his music live at the Bluebird Café and other clubs in the Nashville area. The call to the stage grew stronger after he released his first solo album, Easy Fires, in 2001. Five years later, he returned to his Pennsylvania roots and fully came into his own as a solo performer. By the end of the decade, Craig had won a new legion of fans on the East Coast and beyond through opening gigs for the likes of Judy Collins, Kathy Mattea and Billy Joe Shaver and club dates on his own.
A Craig Bickhardt live set is a mix of absurd anecdotes and personal confessions, accompanying a well-stocked bag of original tunes and the occasional choice cover. His decades in music have given his performances the depth of experience – his love songs seem sweeter and more poignant, his story-song narratives more true-to-life than they could have in the past.
“I think people come to my shows to be reminded that there’s something profound in the small stuff we experience every day,” he says. “My goal is to get an audience to look deeper at the things we all take for granted.”
Craig Bickhardt travels light to his gigs – but he brings a great deal to the stage. He combines a seasoned troubadour’s easy command of his art with a beginner’s passion to win over his next audience and top his next song. The stories of his lifetime are simply too good not to share.

Antje Duvekot and David Berkeley
2026-04-18 19:30 - 22:00 | Old Sloop Presents, Rockport MA, 12 School St, Rockport, MA, 01966, United States
Advance tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for those age 18 and under. Visit oldslooppresents.org, John Tarr Store in Rockport, or The Bookstore of Gloucester. The suggested contribution at the door is $25 for adults, $5 for those age 18 and under, and $50 for families.
Tickets and more information
Two outstanding singer-songwriters, one a New Englander originally from Germany and the other a traveler from New Mexico, will appear at the Old Sloop Presents performing arts series Saturday, April 18.
Antje Duvekot has won three of the top prizes in the singer songwriter world: the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the prestigious Kerrville, Texas “Best New Folk Award” and, in one of the nation’s top music markets, the Boston Music Award for “Outstanding Folk Act”. She is a compelling live performer and has been invited to play some of the world’s top festivals including The Newport Folk Festival as well as the Mountain Stage, Philadelphia and Kerrville Festivals. Internationally, she’s headlined the Celtic Connections Festival in Scotland and the Tonder Festival in Denmark.
David Berkeley’s gift as a songwriter and storyteller is that he sees the tragedy and comedy in life, writing songs capable of both breaking and healing the heart. Berkeley has been called a “musical poet” by the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times praises his “lustrous, melancholy voice with shades of Tim Buckley and Nick Drake”. That voice and his gift with words is what first sets Berkeley apart from all other guitar-slinging songwriters. But it is his onstage charisma and unparalleled repartee that truly puts him in a class by himself. Each show is completely unique, and David’s humanity shines through every note he sings and every word he speaks.
The performance will take place at 7:30pm in the handicap-accessible Fellowship Hall of the First Congregational Church of Rockport, 12 School St. Advance tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for those age 18 and under. Visit oldslooppresents.org, John Tarr Store in Rockport, or The Bookstore of Gloucester for tickets or more information. The suggested contribution at the door is $25 for adults, $5 for those age 18 and under, and $50 for families.
