Me&Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead, Mass. | Friday night concerts from September to June

We are pleased to welcome back two acts who took our stage by storm. Caravan of Thieves brings a touch of vaudeville, over-the-top theatricality, performance art and an all-but-the-kitchen sink collection of percussion utensils (and a hubcap) to their brand of gypsy swing music. Think Three Stooges with a sexy sidekick and musical skills.  ¶  Heather Maloney opens the show. She is touring in support of her second album, Time & Pocket Change. As a new songwriter, there is already an abundance of press response, calling her lyrics “terrific,” “poignant,” and “powerful.”

For the past three years, this Caravan of Thieves has roamed the North American continent recruiting a family of avid thrill seekers at their high energy shows. Driving gypsy jazz rhythms, acoustic guitars, upright bass and violin lay the foundation for mesmerizing vocal harmonies and fantastic stories. They are theatrical, humorous, musical and intense. Their show entertains, dazzles and defies classification while welcoming the spectator to join the band throughout the performance in momentary fits of claps, snaps and sing-alongs.

In the spring of 2008, vocal harmonizing, acoustic guitar-spanking husband and wife songwriting duo Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni extended their family to include fiery violinist Ben Dean and double bass madman, Brian Anderson completing their colorful vision. Since then, the four of them ran away from home and never looked back. Within that first year, the Caravan of Thieves began to win immediate praise for their unique blend of gypsy swing and popular music, inspiring them to record and release the debut full length album, Bouquet, (2009). To accompany this collection of dramatic and satirical tales, they built an interactive stage set of percussive junk and the ragtag quartet took their newly animated show on the road. The Caravan successfully connected with audiences on each of these diverse bills, proving their act to be understood and appreciated by folk, pop, rock and jazz audiences of all ages.

For Caravan of Thieves’ next release, Mischief Night (2010), the band felt their sophomore effort would best be suited as a live recording due to their continuously evolving show and the response and energy they had been receiving from audiences far and wide. Captured from one sold-out show in Fairfield, CT on May 1, 2010, Mischief Night highlights the first two years of their most outrageous and engaging on-stage antics, original composition favorites and a few selections from their list of unexpected cover song reconstructions. In between their 2011 spring tour legs and stockpiling an ever growing collection of sonic scrap metal, Fuzz, Carrie, Ben and Brian have been residing in the highly innovative and sought after Tarquin Recording Studios. Their latest CD, Funhouse, is sure to break new ground for the band while continuing to satisfy the core family of “Freaks” they have been cultivating for the past three years.

. . .

Heather Maloney had one of her first public shows at a small coffee shop in Northampton Massachusetts in September of 2009. She was so nervous and timid that she had to be prodded onto the stage. In July of 2011 she walked out onto the stage at the Calvin Theater in front of 1,500 fans of the Grammy Award winning artist Jonny Lang, and brought them to their feet in applause. Jonny immediately asked her to open three more shows and called her “an extremely talented songwriter and incredibly great singer.” Heather has fallen in love with performing, having played over 225 shows in 20 states in 20 months, sharing the stage with such celebrated acts as Jonny Lang, Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriquez, Mike & Ruthy, Vance Gilbert, Dala, David Wax Museum, Devil Makes Three, Caravan of Thieves, Jeffrey Gaines, Jill Sobule, Meg Hutchinson, Cliff Eberhardt and many others.