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The Me&Thee is happy to invite all music lovers to a free concert featuring fresh local talent.
The links below will bring up more info on the artists.
Rebecca Hart Project
About the Artists
The Me&Thee prides itself in being a showplace for up-and-coming artists as well as a favorite venue for established ones. Our performers tonight — all fairly new voices on the music scene — snuck in “under the radar,” so to speak. It’s this wonderful mixture of new and old that makes the Me&Thee coffeehouse one of the most special places to hear and play music in New England.The Rebecca Hart Project is a bicoastal, multiple-personality “folk-jazz-rock” constellation that’s put out three albums and has been performing for four years. They put as much emphasis on songwriting as they do on improvising, and this makes for a magnificent mix. The group began at Brown University and played many gigs on the East Coast before moving to Los Angeles.
Neptune Bay as a group is new to the folk scene, but its members are not. This new band is fast becoming popular because of its spirit, enthusiasm and repertory. On any given night the audience will hear dobros, guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, bass and percussion. They perform a mix of Delta and Piedmont blues, traditional songs, arrangements of popular songs, and delightful originals.
Jeff Murray’s music has been called “unpretentious” and “unblemished.” His musical background is richly diverse, with influences such as John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, Muddy Waters, Phish, and Leo Kotke. Jeff’s CD “Grimace” has received airplay on many radio stations and his gigs throughout New England are always first-rate. His raw, passionate style enlivens songs that blend contemporary acoustic music with traditional folk and blues.
Bad Accent is based in Salem and Marblehead. Their colorful music is a mix of rock, folk, jazz, blues, and pop, spiced by a wonderful touch of eastern European Gypsy, Latin and Caribbean influences. The lyrics of their original tunes are memorable and touch on social and political themes as well as just plain sarcastic and nonsensical fun.
Rebecca Hart Project
The Rebecca Hart Project is (currently) a three-piece folk-rock outfit with equal emphasis placed on songwriting and improvisation. They have two cds to their credit, “Swallow The Moon” and “The Rebecca Hart Project,” and a four-year performance history on both coasts.
The Project began as an experiment in Rhode Island, 1996: What happens when you take one shy, closet songwriter with folk and celtic roots and throw her at some Berklee musicians (in separate bands, no less) steeped in varying degrees of rock, funk, jazz and years of playing out? Anything? Do they actually take to each other, blend and create a new kind of sound?... or do they bounce off, giving each other weird looks, and wander away muttering, “that was weird, let’s not try it again?” The results might have been dismal but for the simple fact that once Rebecca and her songs met bass player Carson Cohen and drummer Adam Marcello and the “puree” button was pushed, a resounding “YES” was heard throughout the land. Or at least throughout Brown University, which was where the whole thing started. It was a case of putting a more or less finished product together with another finished product and realizing that there were still miles to go before we sleep. (As I [Rebecca] write this four years later, I am still waiting to get some sleep.)
In the years since the first “Rebecca Hart and Carson Cohen” acoustic gigs, the music has grown, expanded, contracted, sparkled, sucked, and changed, in the process of finding itself. The RHP spent three years as a five-piece folk-rock band gigging in New England and New York, and fleeing to Los Angeles two summers in a row to record their CDs. In 1998,the decision to relocate to L.A. triggered various personnel changes. The RHP began life in California as a trio (bass, drums, and acoustic guitar). At present, though the Rebecca Hart Project has claimed their identity and carved out their sound, the experiment still goes on.
Neptune Bay
Neptune Bay will be going into the recording studio soon, bringing along some of their friends to help out, including possibly Geoff bartley, Larry Flint and other local performers. Currently the group is one of the regular hosts of the open mic at Borders Books in Peabody, where they create a friendly and warm atmosphere for other performers. They also offer themselves as backup to any performers, giving them an opportunity to play with a group live. The members of Neptune Bay have performed throughout the Boston area, including the Essex Music Festival and the featured performers at the Cantab Lounge with Geoff Bartley.
Jeff Murray
Weaving intricate guitar playing with introspective lyrics that touch on wit as much as they tug on your soul, singer/songwriter Jeff Murray blends thoughtful contemporary acoustic music with traditional folk and blues. In the mid-1990s Jeff started up Fearless Folk Records and released “No Fear Here!” in 1995. That summer he took to the streets of Cambridge, Mass., where he performed, along with gigging in local clubs and open mics. By the end of ’95 Jeff had played over 30 shows from Vermont to New York City’s “anti-folk” scene. He continued performing across New England in 1996. Though he went back to playing with a band for a short stint, he returned to his folk roots and in 1999 released “In the Bag.” Between “In the Bag” and his latest CD, “Grimace,” Jeff has played regularly at the Plough & Stars in Cambridge and Tir Na Nog in Somerville, as well as at the Charles Playhouse in Boston.