You don't keep a coffeehouse open for 38 years without knowing how to have some fun! Marblehead's own me&thee coffeehouse, which opened in 1970, is one of the country's most renowned folk music venues. Tonight, noted journalist, author and folk musician Scott Alarik shows us what happens at me&thee, with a freewheeling, jam-happy romp through the modern folk landscape, from his own insightful and often hilarious songs to the classic jazz of Boston legends (and MFA Hall of Famers) Guy Van Duser and Billy Novick to the hip, urban Celtic sounds of Matt and Shannon Heaton.

Scott Alarik is the principal folk writer for the Boston Globe, and a frequent contributor to Sing Out, and public radio. Black Wolf Press recently published his first book, "Deep Community: Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground," He is also a folk singer and songwriter who performs regularly at coffeehouses near his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dar Williams calls Scott Alarik "the finest folk writer in the country," and Pete Seeger says, “Alarik is one of the best writers in America.” Before becoming the folk critic for the Boston Globe, Alarik, who grew up in Minnesota, was a popular singer-songwriter on the national folk circuit. He was also a regular performer on A Prairie Home Companion; and Garrison Keillor said of him, "I have rarely seen an audience in such a good mood as when he’s just been there." Alarik mixes his own incisive songs with timeless traditional gems, sung in a rich bass-baritone voice, and sprinkled with what the Boston Globe's Jeff McLaughlin called a "delightfully wry, backbeat wit." His latest album is called "All That Is True."

Guy Van Duser & Billy Novick have been performing their unique style of classic jazz since 1976! "Elegant." "Riveting." "Soulful." "Classic mastery." These are a few of the terms that have been used to describe the unique and stunning swing-jazz music of acoustic guitarist Guy Van Duser and clarinetist Billy Novick.

Together as a duo for more than a quarter of a century - longer than most marriages - Guy and Billy have performed in concerts, clubs and festivals (including ours) all over North America and Europe. They have issued nine recordings as a duo, and have for another eleven recordings under their own names. You also may have heard them as frequent guests of the Prairie Home Companion show, NPR's All Things Considered, or on one of the numerous film and television soundtracks they have been featured on.

And like a good marriage, their music has wed together two perfectly suited musical personalities. Their music is based around Guy's innovative finger-style guitar wizardry, and his uncanny ability to play bass lines, chords and melodies all at the same time. With his daring imagination, breathtaking technique, and his wonderful musicality, Guy has become an inspiration for guitarists all over the world.

Novick's ever-inventive and soulful clarinet playing provides the ideal complement to Guy's guitar. With his vast knowledge of the classic jazz era, his dazzling improvising skills, and his entertaining vocals, Novick is able to both add a melodic and dynamic spark to Guy's guitar . Their music sounds fresh and original, yet is also deeply rooted in the rich legacy of the classic jazz age. The duo can play any piece from their huge repertoire- an obscure Ellington tune, a Gershwin classic, a complex Jelly Roll Morton arrangement, or perhaps one of the their originals- and immediately have it sound their own.

And, my, how they swing! The two of them together can create a pulse as driving as any big band. They have a musical telepathy and understanding that has been honed by more than twenty-five years of playing together, a rhythmic drive that doesn't quit and a thorough mastery of their instruments. Add to all of this their relaxed and engaging stage manner, and you will be treated to a joyously entertaining and musically enchanting show that, indeed, has already stood the test of time.

Guitarist/singer Matt Heaton and Irish flute player/singer Shannon Heaton have been making music together since their first meeting in 1992. They met in Chicago via romance, albeit someone else's, when Shannon needed a guitar player to play for a wedding gig that never ended up happening. Despite the loss of the gig, Matt & Shannon gained a musical—and eventually romantic—partnership.

Together, they built up their traditional Irish music skills on Irish flute and guitar in the Chicago sessions. When they began bringing in singing, they focused on their favorite aspects of both Irish and American traditions, ending up with new songs that sound traditional, alongside centuries-old ballads with fresh new melodies.

Tonight’s performer, Scott Alarik, reviewing their March 2006 March release in The Boston Globe called "Blue Skies Above", “masterful and inventive, their arrangements city-smart and spacious.” This, the Heaton’s second CD, contained more singing and tackled a wide range of subjects: lovers lost at sea, a conversation with death, the summer harvest in Nebraska, a twentieth century disaster, and learning to ride a bicycle. The CD’s title comes from Shannon’s self-penned last verse of the traditional song “The Blackbird”, highlighting the Heatons’ style of merging traditional and original lyrics and melodies.

Matt and Shannon Heaton make traditional music relevant to American audiences. They embrace the solid Irish roots in their music, play the heck out of their instruments, and aren't afraid to step out and sing from their American musical and social experiences. "We're out to get everything we can out of two musicians. The more we put into it, the more we get out of it--and so, we think, do our audiences."

The Festival is honored to welcome “The Mozart of Guitar”, Pierre Bensusan, Guitar Player Magazine’s 2008 Reader’s Choice Award Winning “Best World Music Guitar Player” (USA). Born in Oran, French-Algeria, in 1957, when France was decolonizing its Empire, Bensusan's family moved to Paris when he was 4. He began formal studies on piano at the age of 7 and at 11 taught himself guitar. Influenced in those early days by the folk revival blooming in Britain, France and North America, Bensusan began first to explore his own diverse musical heritage and then moved to the horizons beyond. At 17 he signed his first recording contract, and one year later his first album Près de Paris won the Grand Prix du Disque upon his debut at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland. Bensusan’s highly original and orchestral six-string style is marked by deft left-handed hammer-ons, percussive fretboard tapping, a remarkably nuanced touch and an uncanny sense of melodic ingenuity on the steel string acoustic guitar. One look at Bensusan on-stage, barring chords while stretching five, sometimes six frets, is usually enough to make even the most well-versed jazz aficionado stop in their tracks. As technically impressive as is the simultaneous execution of a colorful melody, an active bass line, unique harmonic choices, and eclectic rhythms, it is the music that Bensusan hears that drives the mechanics of his body. Listen to his album Altiplanos and hear why Pierre Bensusan's name has become synonymous with contemporary acoustic guitar genius, long before the terms New Age or World Music were invented. There is a sense of something both playful and serious in his work, an unparalleled sense of freedom in his compositions and his improvisations. While it is true that his name has been synonymous with the guitar, Bensusan is more than what any musician or music lover expects from a guitarist. He is a composer. He is a bilingual and a brave improvisational vocalist, melding whistles and resonant low notes with something like his own scat technique. Of all the guitarists in the world, Bensusan is considered to be one of the greatest we have ever known! Learn more at www.pierrebensusan.com

Performing Arts would like to thank Steve & Jennifer Spungin from the Marblehead School of Music for bringing Mr. Bensusan to our stage. We invite you to learn more about our friends of the Festival to enroll your student at www.marbleheadmusic.net