Energetic Americana Band, Spuyten Duyvil, at the me&thee on April 11

On Friday, April 11, the me & thee will present Hudson Valley Americana band Spuyten Duyvil (“spitting devil” in Dutch). The six-member band plays an exuberantly original take on classic Americana that draws on influences from the 70s on forward, from outlaw country to newgrass to folk-pop. They’ve got a sense of humor, sizzling instrumental chops and catchy tunes. Opening is Greg Klyma, Buffalo’s own Woody Guthrie, who writes socially conscious ballads and acoustic-guitar ditties thick with hippie happiness that assume audiences are both smart and able to laugh. Doors open at 7:30 PM for this 8:00 PM show. The me & thee coffeehouse is located at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead at 28 Mugford Street. 

Hailing from the Hudson Valley, Spuyten Duyvil's (pronounced "SPITE-en DIE-vil") soaring vocals, traditional jug-band energy, slide guitar and Chicago-style blues harp propel the listener on a barn-burning romp through the last 100 years of American Roots music. "They are the hottest new band in folk music ... and one of the best", says legendary WXPN Folk DJ, Gene Shay. According to WFMT-Chicago's Rich Warren, listening to this joyous band for the first time is like "throwing a cherry bomb into a lake.” It wakes you up. Since its release in October of 2013, Spuyten Duyvil's third CD Temptation has reached the #7 position on the International Folk DJ Chart with "I'll Fly Away" clocking in at the #2 song. Their 2011 release New Amsterdam landed on a dozen DJ Top 10 lists and received a nomination for the Alternate Root TV's "2011 Top American Roots Album".Recent stops on the journey that began on a front porch with a Bouzouki and copy of Rise Up Singing include The Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival, Caramoor's American Roots Music Festival, Levitt Pavilion's SteelStacks, the Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts, Circle of Friends, Caffe Lena and CD release shows at NYC's Rockwood Music Hall Stage II and the Ardmore Music Hall in Philadelphia.

Fifteen years into a career that has yielded seven albums, dozens of national tours, and the acclaim of folk's most prestigious reviewers, Greg Klyma's eager fans paid for his new album. Completing the online fundraising well ahead of schedule, Klyma delivers an emotionally charged blend of fanfavorites from recent tours, and never-before-heard material on his eighth album, Another Man's Treasure. Long known as a passionate and largely positive populist, Klyma's new album showcases an impressively matured song-writing talent. Travelling the perilous landscape of love, Another Man's Treasure admits sadness, anger, regret and profound tenderness. Going beyond the Woody Guthrie/Mark Twain sass of recent years, Klyma shows himself navigating intimacy as a thoroughly modern man. But this blue-collar boy knows when to swallow the heartbreak, and so thealbum rallies with an equal measure of punky sing-alongs and bootstrap lifters. Solo songs feature Klyma's adroit guitar and banjo picking, while the band numbers rollick with great energy and achorus of harmony singing, thus welcoming the listener to Klyma's universe: long drives alone full of solitary contemplation, landing somewhere in America to shake the rafters and remind everyone of the love and dedication that keeps us going.


Tickets for the performance by Spuyten Duvyil with Greg Klyma opening are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Tickets are available online at www.meandthee.org and can be purchased in person at the Spirit of ’76 Bookstore or the Arnould Gallery in Marblehead. The Landing Restaurant at 81 Front Street, Marblehead offers a 10% discount on dinner if you show your ticket or receipt.  Enjoy a meal before the show! 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 one of the oldest continually running acoustic coffeehouses in New England, and probably the country. It 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 at www.meandthee.org.