For more than 25 years Guy Van Duser and Billy Novick have been delighting audiences with their two-man arrangements of the favorites and rarities of the great American songbook. These guys can do just about anything they want with their instruments — Van Duser’s finger-style “stride” guitar and Novick’s clarinet and alto sax (or pennywhistle) can play it straight or go places they aren’t usually found (such as Van Duser’s solo guitar version of “Stars and Stripes Forever” or Novick’s pennywhistle rendition of “Rhapsody in Blue,” which has to be heard to be believed). Nothing is off-limits to Guy and Billy — Irish folk music, blues, New Orleans jazz, swing (for which they are renowned), and one or two novelties that they keep up their sleeves. They have been featured on Mason Daring’s soundtracks to John Sayles’s movies, and the theme song of PBS’s “This Old House” (which they composed).
       Van Duser and Novick have performed on “Prairie Home Companion” and have been highlighted on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” They were honored to play the Country Music Hall of Fame in January 2002. One of their latest collaborations, “New Pennywhistle Album,” won the National Association of Independent Record Dealers award for “Best Instrumental Album of the Year” — just one of their eight duo recordings and nine albums recorded under their own names. This duo is tremendous fun for anyone who likes American popular music (and all the other kinds). The me&thee coffeehouse is the perfect place to catch them.