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Community Corner

Miss Tess and The Talkbacks with special guest Emily Elbert at me&thee on April 25

MARBLEHEAD]. On Friday, April 25, the me & thee will present Miss Tess and the Talkbacks. This Brooklyn-based singer and her band make grooving modern vintage music that nods to the traditions of saloon jazz, country swing, early rockabilly, and New Orleans second line, yet somehow maintains a unique and personal sound. Special Guest Emily Elbert, in her mid-20s, has already traveled the world to perform and has won a slew of awards for her music. 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.

Miss Tess grew up in Maryland and went to college in Baltimore intending to be a graphic artist. She took piano lessons at an early age and dabbled in guitar, though she didn't start learning it seriously until she was almost out of college. Her parents played music in a variety of styles including big bands, swing, folk, jug band, and blues groups. She listened to punk, grunge, and alternate rock, and then got into rockabilly, old country, and early blues after she moved to Boston. It all fits. She was always traveling, taking road trips for months at a time and one day driving away from the mountains after a Colorado bluegrass festival and having written a few songs during her sojourns, she decided music was her art. She went back to Baltimore and put together a band. Eventually, she moved to Boston, took a few classes at Berklee, and won many local music awards. Later, came the move to Brooklyn where she has been for almost four years.

Miss Tess & The Talkbacks have just released The Love I Have For You, their second on rootsy record label, Signature Sounds. The 7-song album features six covers and one new original and pays homage to some of Tess’s favorite singers and songwriters including Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Ted Hawkins, Randy Newman, and Hank Williams. Miss Tess explains how the band chose the 6 songs to cover: “Each artist we covered has held a special place in the history of our lives, as well as in the history of American music. These folks are all musical giants who dedicated their lives to music, and for that I hold them in the highest esteem.”

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In their earlier incarnation, they were known as Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade and that, says Miss Tess, proved both too small of a box and too confusing. They were consistently confused for a zydeco band or a New Orleans band. "When I conceived of the band in Boston back in 2006 or so, we had a horn player and we were a little more jazz influenced," she says. “In the last couple of years the sound has evolved, something that naturally happens when you spend so much time on the road with a band. We’ve become slightly edgier and there is some more country and early rock n’ roll coming through. We now have two electric guitars. I'd been thinking about a change for a while and we finally settled on a name. With a name like the Talkbacks, it is what it is."

Steeped in jazz, James Taylor, and Jimi Hendrix, Emily Elbert has carved out her sound on the road. Full of love, wanderlust, and do-it-yourself determination, she has performed on self-booked tours throughout the U.S. and in 15 different countries – from Turkey to Thailand, and from Spain to Saint-Barthélemy. Born and raised in Texas, Emily first fell in love with guitar at 14. She quickly dove into writing, singing, performing, and recording, and set her sights on attending the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she was awarded a four-year, full-tuition scholarship. Now, the 2011 Berklee graduate has played over 700 shows, won awards on both sides of the Atlantic, and released four independent albums of original material. Known for her strong melodies, straight-to-the-heart vocals, and intricate guitar work, Emily’s music fuses old-school R & B styles with progressive influence and insight. She has also worked for the U.S. Embassy, leading cultural outreach workshops and performing music in Thailand, Indonesia, Scotland, Palestine, and Israel. Recent awards include being selected by Don Was for the Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter Top Ten, as the first recipient of the Chairman’s Young Artist Scholarship Award; First Place Winner of the 2012 B.W. Stevenson Memorial Songwriting Contest; as well as a 2012 Timberland Community Eco-Friendly Artist. In 2010, Emily was named to the top five of the Mountain Stage/NewSong contest and Glamour Magazine selected her as one of their Top Ten College Women.

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Tickets for the performance by Miss Tess and the Talkbacks with special guest Emily Elbert are $16 in advance and $19 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.

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