Bill Staines AND David Roth in Marblehead on May 6

On May 6th, the me&thee has the honor to present Bill Staines and David Roth. A season at the me&thee would not be complete without a visit from Bill Staines. Bill has appeared on our stage during every one of our 46 years of existence and we could not be happier to invite him back. Together with Bill, we proudly present noted songwriter, recording artists, keynote speaker, workshop leader and instructor David Roth. Doors open at 7:30 PM for this 8:00 PM show at the me&thee coffeehouse which is located at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead at 28 Mugford Street.

For more than forty-five years, Bill Staines has traveled back and forth across North America, singing his songs and delighting audiences at festivals, folksong societies, colleges, concerts, clubs, and coffeehouses. Bill became involved with the Boston-Cambridge folk scene in the early 1960's and for a time, emceed the Sunday Hootenanny at the legendary Club 47 in Cambridge. From the time in 1971 when a reviewer from the Boston Phoenix stated that he was "simply Boston's best performer.” Bill has continually appeared on folk music radio listener polls as one of the top ­­­ time favorite folk artists. Now, well into his fifth decade as a folk performer, he has gained an international reputation as a gifted songwriter and performer. He performs nearly 200 cgoncerts a year and drives over 65,000 miles annually. Bill has recorded 26 albums much to the joy of his loyal fans. "Folk music is rich in the human spirit and experience. I've always wanted to bring something of value to people through my songs." With these thoughts, Bill continues to drive the highways and back roads of the country year after year, bringing his music to listeners, young and old.

David Roth strikes many chords, hearts, and minds with his unique songs, offbeat observations, moving stories sense of the hilarious, and power singing and subject matter. David has earned top honors at premier songwriter competitions – Kerrville (TX) and Falcon Ridge (NY) – and taken his music experience, and expertise to a wide variety of venues in this and other countries full-time for more than two decades. David’s songs (“Rising in Love,” “Manuel Garcia,” “Nine Gold Medals,” “That Kind of Grace” and many more) have found their way to Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, the Kennedy Center, Peter, Paul and Mary’s Discovered, the Kingston Trio’s Born at the Right Time, NASA’s Goddard Space Center (“Rocket Science” went up in the Space Shuttle Atlantis’s May 2009 mission to repair the Hubble Telescope), the classic folk song books Rise Up Singing and its sequel Rise Again and 13 CDs on the Wind River and Stockfisch labels. David has also taught singing, songwriting, and performance at the August Heritage workshops, SummerSongs and WinterSongs, Rowe Center, Swannanoa Gathering in North Carolina and WUMB’s Summer Acoustic Music Week. David is also the founder / director of the Cape Cod Songwriters Retreat and creator / host of Cape Cod’s “Full Moon Open Mic” which, for the past 10 years has provided a forum for musicians to connect and be heard while at the same time collecting donations for local non-profits to help neighbors in need.

Tickets for the performance by Bill Staines and David Roth are $20 in advance and $23 at the door. Tickets are available online at www.meanthee.org and can be purchased in person in Marblehead at either the Spirit of ’76 Bookstore or the Arnould Gallery As at all me & thee coffeehouse events, refreshments are available, including homemade pastries, coffee, and teas. The me & thee has a handicapped-accessible entrance and an accessible bathroom, is a smoke-free environment, and is easily reached by MBTA bus. The me & thee is the oldest continually running acoustic coffeehouse in New England, and probably the country. The me & thee has been and will always be a volunteer, non-profit organization sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead. For information and directions, call 781-631-8987 or check the website www.meandthee.org.

Next concert: May 13th Two of the best young award-winning songwriters around: Rachael Kilgour and Matt Nakoa.