February 18th - Magpie   Tickets $18.00 Showtime 8:pm   From the beginning Terry Leonino and Greg Artzner’s (Magpie) interests in various musical styles have led them to be eclectic in their repertoire. Rather than confine themselves to a single style, Magpie has always embraced a musical rainbow, and with impressive proficiency in each different genre. From traditional, classic country, swing, folk and blues of the nineteen twenties and thirties, to contemporary songs written by themselves and others, Terry and Greg cover a lot of musical ground. Terry's voice is a truly impressive instrument, not only because of its natural power, but also because of her versatility. She is a gifted singer of jazz and blues in the tradition of Connie Boswell and Billie Holiday, but is equally comfortable with the subtle beauty of traditional folk and contemporary songs. Add to this her uncanny ability to find the perfect harmony line, and, in a powerful blend of their two voices, you have a real treat for the ear. As if this weren't enough, Terry is also an excellent player of the harmonica, mandolin, fretted dulcimer, and rhythm guitar. Greg is an outstanding guitarist whose fingerstyle approach owes a lot to his heroes, guitar legends such as Reverend Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, Nick Lucas, Phil Ochs, and Rolly Brown. His playing is the solid basis of Magpie's sound, providing whatever is called for, whether it be a hard-driving rhythm, or a ringing lyrical beauty. From a slow Scots air or a plaintive ballad to a rollicking ragtime blues or infectious swing, Greg covers it all. His high baritone voice has equal range and his captivating interpretation gives power and beauty to the full spectrum, from growling blues, to a Chilean lament, to a sweet croon. With the power of their delivery, Magpie is well known for their performances of hard-hitting topical songs. They are well-known as regular performers on Phil Ochs Song Nights, organized by Phil's sister, Sonny Ochs, since 1984. Politically, their viewpoint has been shaped by their life experiences. Greg began to play music in the early sixties as a direct result of the Civil Rights Movement. His father worked for the National Urban League, and members of the family became involved in local action in the Movement. Terry also began singing at that time, and spent many of her childhood summers with her mother's family in the deep south where she witnessed the cruelty of racism and the power of the Movement. She also was a witness to the shootings at Kent State on May 4th, 1970 when National Guard troops fired into a group of students protesting the war in Vietnam. Terry and Greg continue to reflect these experiences in their own work as they frequently raise their voices in support of the ongoing struggles for civil rights, freedom, justice, and peace. "Greg and Terry can show us all what a wonderful thing it can be for two voices to harmonize together. How lucky I am to have lived to see and hear more links in the chain." ~ Pete Seeger. Magpie presents a splendid musical journey. Their sound is outstanding! They are one of my very favorites. ~ Joyce Sica, Uptown Concerts Inc.
	Thursday, February 25th - Maura Kennedy   Debut Solo CD Release Concert - PARADE OF ECHOES Tickets $16.00  Showtime: 8:00 pm The daughter of a professor of English, and the ”musical one” of seven children Maura Kennedy carved out her moments of teenage creative solitude sequestered in a closet, blasting Queen and Kate Bush on headphones, while she read C.S. Lewis and Stephen R. Donaldson. Not given to the hermitic life, she made nocturnal escapes, crawling out of her bedroom window and across the roof of her family’s suburban split-level home, to hit the streets of post-industrial Syracuse, New York, in search of crunching power chords and soaring pop hooks. She found them - and was always the firstt on the dance floor - in small clubs where R.E.M. and Squeeze were scrounging gas money for the road, and especially at a dusty used record shop, where she got a job just to spin vinyl all day. She soaked up the Kinks, the Hollies, the Raspberries, and leavened the sweetness with a strong dose of Thompson/Denny era Fairport Convention. In the stainless steel splendor of the Little Gem Diner, the Ramones autographed her Social Security Card. At college, Maura pawned her meal tickets to buy an amp and lived off of her bandmate’s doggie bags. She cracked a couple of ribs in the mosh pit at a Clash show and finally got the music degree. After spending the night in an upstate Greyhound station when she missed the last bus following a Cheap Trick concert, she and some like-minded friends formed a combo and blazed a trail through the Syracuse club scene. And with the breeze off Onondaga Lake at her back, she took off for Austin. It was in Austin that Maura made her bones, and it was there that her stage persona came together: always rocking, always “in the zone,” and always full-on energy. It was also in Austin that she hooked up with Nanci Griffith, and toured the US and the British Isles behind Nanci’s Grammy-winning Other Voices, Other Rooms. Working the road in the acoustic format of roots-pop mavens The Kennedys, her songwriting blossomed, as she began drawing from novels, poetry, and especially from her own dreams.  From Largo in L.A. to the Borderline in London, it’s always come back to pop music, with an ever-maturing darker underlay, and for Maura, the road has always led back to New York City. She’s lived in a number of tenements around St. Mark’s Place, many of them hastily converted into makeshift recording studios, and it was in that neighborhood that she conceived the idea of writing a song, and making a master-quality recording, every month for thirteen months. The resultant compilation would be a sort of melodic journal of her emotional seasons. While keeping up a busy schedule of shows and acting gigs, she finished the project in the autumn of 2009. PARADE OF ECHOES delivers on the power chords and the hooks, but it’s no concoction of pop cotton candy. You may hear traces of her love of Brill Building sheen, but lyrically, Maura doesn’t shrink from the heavy stuff; she deals with depression and obsession, and she doesn’t pray for divine intervention. Shadowy dreamscapes evoke Emily Dickinson, the ’50’s noir of Patsy Cline, and even Shakespeare’s cursed Thane of Cawdor, by way of Don and Phil Everly. “The Thing with Feathers” is dark, almost Gothic in the Victorian sense, but it ultimately powers its way through the shadow to a kind of dark hope, stronger for its admissions of weakness and doubt. “New Way to Live,” like “Some Kind of Life,” expresses a shared secret wish, the longing we all feel sometimes for what might have been, with a chorus that rolls in and out like the surf at Rockaway Beach. “Sun Burns Gold” and “October” play like intimate diary entries. “Chains” and “Just the Rain” deal with love as an uncontrollable force, drawing their pulsating energy from that deep well of power.
	Thursday, March 18th - Seamus Kennedy   Tickets $17.00 - Showtime 8:00 PM   Long before there was a computer on every desk, Seamus Kennedy was providing "interactive entertainment" to delighted audiences from one end of the country to another. He is quick with a quip and likes nothing better than to discover someone in the audience who is similarly inclined. He makes it all seem so effortless that it is easy to miss that he is a superb instrumentalist with an apparently infinite repertoire. The depth of his musicality allows him to tailor his show to the audience before him, whether it be children, families or adults. Originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland, Seamus sings the music of his native land with emotion born of knowing its history firsthand. But he is far from simply a singer of Celtic songs. Fast-paced humor is very much a part of what Seamus does, whether he's telling a series of rapid-fire jokes or launching into a lyrical parody. He will segue seamlessly from an Irish ballad about a dying town to a rollicking reel and then move into American music, equally at home with folk, pop, country or traditional. Throughout it all, he is having such a grand time that you can't help but want to join in. (...a wonderfully entertaining Irishman with a happy-to-see-you smile that could light up the sky...a captivating performance." ~ Anchorage Times.
	Thursday, March 25th - IONA   Tickets $20.00 - Showtime 8:00 PM   IONA's latest CD – Mid-Winter Light. The first IONA album to include fiddler Jim Queen and dancer Kathleen Larrick (who both also sing) joining Barbara Ryan (vocals, bouzouki & bodhran), Bernard Argent (flute, whistles, doumbek & vocals), and Chuck Lawhorn (bass guitars & vocals). Mid-Winter Light is an EP of Celtic seasonal music, from Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and even England! IONA's music is a unique, acoustic weave of the traditional music of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany (France), the Isle of Man, Asturies and Galicia (Spain), as well as their transplants in America. Blending songs, dance tunes, and Aires into a rich and stunning tapestry, their style is outstanding in an arena where these traditions are seldom intertwined. Conceived in 1986, IONA was the musical offspring of lead singer, bouzouki, guitar and bodhrán player Barbara Ryan and wind section, Bernard Argent. With fiddlers Jim Queen (banjo and vocals as well) and bass guitar player Chuck Lawhorn, IONA has become the leading Celtic group in the Mid-Atlantic region. An IONA show is known for Traditional Celtic Material, The haunting songs, toe tapping dances and the humor of the Celtic peoples from Scotland to Brittany provide IONA with an incredibly varied repertoire including original acoustic arrangements. All the members of the band play several instruments, often switching within a piece to achieve their unique sound. They weave tunes from different countries around their songs, pursuing complex rhythms with deft professionalism. A lively entertaining presentation above all, IONA's performances are FUN! Barbara's vocals have been described as "smooth and sweet as dark honey." Bernard Argent is IONA's charming historian and yarn spinner. Chuck Lawhorn (bass guitar) not only owns just about every bass guitar conceived by mankind, but plays them all expertly. Jim Queen comes to IONA as a veteran of 30 years performing with the Air Force Band.
	Thursday, April 1st - Mama's Black Sheep   Tickets $15.00 -- Showtime 8:00 pm Mama's Black Sheep is a power pop duo full of life, love, fun & energy. This musical collision of singer-songwriters Ashland Miller (guitar/vocals) & Laura Cerulli (drums/vocals) effortlessly erases boundaries between the genres of pop, rock, country & blues creating an atmosphere of hand-clappin, foot-stompin congregational good times. With a casual demeanor onstage, these ladies will make you feel like you’ve known them and their music for years, and perhaps you have, as they are both veterans of the singer-songwriter circuit. They will make you laugh, cry, and sometimes even watch in disbelief wondering how two musicians can create a sound rich enough to make you think you’re listening to a full band. When Southern-born Ashland Miller puts a pen to paper, and an acoustic guitar on her knee, her passionate voice unleashes songs that leave listeners begging for more. Ashland toured for thirteen years as part of the award-winning acoustic duo Commonbond, releasing six CD's and performing in over forty American states and overseas. Using her experiences on the road to pen a catalog of songs that saw fans singing along from city to city, Ashland's songwriting, harmonies, and creative musical arrangements have been shared on stages with talent such as John Mayer, Kyler England, Ritchie Havens, Catie Curtis, and Sophie B. Hawkins. Laura Cerulli is a true professional in every sense of the word. With over fifteen years of experience in the music business she is a seasoned player both live and in the studio. From 2000-2005 Laura fronted her own band, Cerulean Groove, playing mainly in MD, DC and VA. Since 2005 Laura has been touring nationally and internationally as a member of SONiA & disappear fear. Laura’s distinctive style has been seen on stages from The Kerrville Folk Festival (TX), to The Barns at Wolftrap (VA), to High Sierra Music Festival (CA), to The Red Roof Women’s Festival (Ontario), and even ‘down under’ at Woodford Folk Festival (AUS). Laura also keeps busy doing session work and gigs with other artists. Eager to keep her own music alive, Mama’s Black Sheep provides Laura the perfect outlet for her introspective writing, bluesy voice, inventive harmonies, and groove driven drumming. If you take one guitar, a bunch of drums, two amazing voices, a dash of humor, a touch of love, and some outrageously strong musicianship…mix ‘em all together…and stir well….you’ve got the recipe for a great time. From festivals, to clubs, to the most intimate private parties, Mama’s Black Sheep is sure to deliver absolute entertainment for any crowd.
	Thursday, April 15 - Fitzmaurice Band   Tickets $15.00 – Showtime 8:00 pm With influences spanning international folk, bluegrass and country to jazz, classical, and classic rock, the Fitzmaurice Band has developed a sound truly its own. Having formed in late 2006 as an outlet for twin sisters Maria and Sarah, along with Brandon Snellings and Mike Simms, to express themselves musically and play shows locally, the band began growing in popularity and in March of 2009, Aaron Malone was added on fiddle to complete the lineup. By the late summer of '09 they released an EP which instantly triggered radio play across the country and which has led to an expanded performing area in which they have been wowing audiences throughout Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Twenty year old identical twin sisters, Maria (vocals & guitar) and Sarah (vocals & bass) Fitzmaurice, founded the Fitzmaurice Band in late 2006. Their combined voices blend together in sibling harmony has been know to whelm the listener. The power with which Maria sings conveys emotion at a level unheard of among even the most seasoned of pros, and Sarah's soaring soprano speaks directly to one's heart. Virginia born Brandon Snellings, (vocals, guitar, banjo & mandolin) unique approach in this Band is a direct result of his musical tastes, ranging from George Jones to Nickel Creek to the Fray. His phenomenal speed and agility, combined with the wonder of string bending, makes his playing reminiscent of a rock guitarist. Mike Simms (banjo) is also a Virginia native and the great nephew of bluegrass giant Bill Yates. Having grown up with bluegrass music running through his blood, he began playing guitar and banjo in his early teens and quickly assimilated the traditional Appalachian sounds. His traditional approach to the banjo has since become infused with the modern use of melodic playing, creating a sound unique to himself. Aaron Malone (violin) was born in Los Angeles, CA. At the age of 7 his father noticed that he had a propensity towards music and arranged for him to receive private instruction. It wasn't long before it was discovered that he had a natural ability on the violin, and by the age of 11 he was composing and playing the viola as well. Through the course of his musical explorations, Aaron has been fortunate enough to work and study with such musical greats as Grammy winning jazz pianist and composer Billy Childs, legendary percussist Alex Acuna, Red Hot Chili Peppers rock superstars Flea and John Frusciante, and has even played under the baton of Henri Mancini. In March of 2009 he joined forces with the Fitzmaurice Band.
	Thursday, June 24th - Robin Bullock   http://www.robinbullock.com/