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

Ellis Paul stands at the head of the traditional folk revival coming out of Boston. His charismatic performances, approachable style and beautifully rendered story-songs have brought him respect and acclaim on an international scale. Paul has won 14 Boston Music Awards, published a book, played thousands of shows and released 16 albums. ¶ Opening the show is Peyton Tochterman, who Ellis Paul says “has an old soul’s gift for writing the ageless, earthy songs that define what is best about American Music. His songs carry the weighty truths that make life less of a burden for those who hear them.”

Born in Aroostook County, Maine, Ellis Paul is a key figure in what has become known as the Boston school of songwriting, a literate, provocative and urbanely romantic folk-pop style that helped ignite the folk revival of the 1990s. His pop music songs have appeared in movies and on television, bridging the gap between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

Paul attended Boston College on a track scholarship where he majored in English. An athletic injury sustained during his junior year changed the course of his professional career. Paul picked up a guitar to pass the time while sidelined, and discovered that playing guitar and writing songs was the creative outlet he had been looking for. After graduating from college he began playing at open mic nights in the Boston area while working with inner-city school children. Paul’s growing popularity at Boston coffeehouses, coupled with winning a Boston Acoustic Underground songwriter competition and national exposure on a Windham Hill Records compilation combined to give him the confidence to resign his day-job and pursue a career as a professional musician.

To date, Paul has released 17 albums and is considered by some to be at the pinnacle of contemporary acoustic music success. He has published a book of original lyrics, poems, and drawings and released a DVD that includes a live performance, guitar instruction, and a road-trip documentary. As a touring musician, Paul plays close to 200 dates each year and his extensive club and coffeehouse touring, together with radio airplay, has brought him a solid national following.

. . .

Peyton Tochterman was putting one foot in front of the other by playing local Charlottesville bars, trying to bring his music to the world. One night, in walked renowned songwriter Ellis Paul. A friend had brought him in to hear Peyton. Ellis introduced himself and explained that he was immediately taken by the songs that he was playing. Over the course of a few months, Ellis convinced Peyton to record a full length CD, and upon its completion, Ellis invited Peyton to take the opening slot on his national tour and stay on for the next year.

Born in Virginia, living in the musical hotbed of Charlottesville, Peyton Tochterman has just recorded his debut national release, A New World. Produced by Sam Wilson (Sons of Bill) in the Haunted Hollow studio, the project features songstress Stacey Earle and his now friend, Ellis Paul. Peyton has the privilege of being the first to step foot on stage and perform at the illustrious Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville, VA, and has shared the stage with Levon Helm, Darrell Scott, Mark Erelli, Cheryl Wheeler, Robert Earl Keen, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Richard Buckner, Sons of Bill, and Old School Freight Train among others.