Maine native, Milwaukee based Julie Thompson will be presenting songs by Maine writers.  Come enjoy the Yankee spirit, and the landscape of New England deep in the lyrics. Julie's career has spanned the styles but her love for folk music has given her opportunities such as opening for The Kingston Trio in New Hampshire and in Wisconsin, and singing with The Dangerous Folk at Summerfest.   (www.JulieVoice.com).

Joining Julie is meteorologist by day, musician by night, Allen Becker. Allen has played classical and folk guitar since his early teens. And his recent study of the slide guitar brought his musical journey to the resonator guitar, the dobro.

Tony Linz will be opening with a program called “Maine Songs and Stories”. It includes a set of songs about Maine by Mainers as well as stories by a Maine humorist. A proud graduate of Bangor High School and the University of Maine, he is excited to share his love for his home state. Tony is a longtime member and jam leader for Make Our Own Music Gathering. This is his second appearance on the Coffee House stage.

Barb Webber is a natural storyteller, a talent honed by years of listening. She writes a Capella, letting the words choose their own notes, without constraints. It is in singing the songs over and over that the story finds its own rhythm and melody. Off stage, she is a great audience, listening to other people share their life's happenings.

Tom Webber was born and raised in Borger, Texas, just north of Amarillo in the dry dusty Texas Panhandle. His early memories include playing with horny toads and ants. It is clear to all outsiders why music becomes such an important part of a young person's social life in the Texas Panhandle: there is, quite simply, nothing else to do. Tom began jamming in grade school and hasn't stopped. He has developed an interesting 2-finger picking style for the tender love ballads which contrasts dramatically with his country-rock strum. Tom is persistent in finding arrangements that give voice to the personality of each song.

https://fairwebberfolkmusic.com/

Tonight’s show will be a Coffee House benefit featuring three acts performing songs with the theme “Naughty or Nice”: songs about good people and not-so-good people, and, well, some really rotten people. The show will benefit the genuinely good people at Nourish MKE (formerly Friedens Food Pantry).

The not-so-rotten people performing at this show will be Martin Levson, John Jansen, and Pam Kennedy with Mark Peterson,

Pam Kennedy is a former kindergarten teacher, former member of the Redundants, now turned dangerous ukulele diva. Mark Peterson is a long time ukulele-cult member, autoharp player, and social gadfly. 

Martin Levson grew up in San Jose, CA; the child of two hard-core early '60s folkies.  His secular musical influences include Theo Bikel, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Suzanne Vega, but he also has a great fondness for Jefferson Airplane, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, and The Decemberists.  IRL, he serves as the Cantor and Sole/Soul Spiritual Leader of Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha.

John Jansen is a lifelong guitarist and vocalist whose catalogue includes hundreds of covers from the world of rock, folk and Irish music along with an expanding number of original songs. Located in Cedarburg, he has performed at its many annual festivals and in area nightclubs. When not performing as a solo artist, he plays in a popular duo called “Cream City Folk” (www.CreamCityFolk.com), which won the silver medal at this year’s “Best of Blueburg” competition at Gathering on the Green. He can be reached at jfjansen26@gmail.com.

Steve Smith is a Milwaukee born and raised singer/songwriter who has performed a variety of musical styles ranging from folk/rock to choral music to jazz and pop standards. His smooth and resonant vocal style is ideal for performing classic jazz tunes made popular by great singers, such as Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Joe Williams. As a guitarist, Steve has lately been working on perfecting his technique as a swing rhythm guitarist to accompany his vocals. He is particularly interested in learning and performing the music of gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt.

Linda Binder performs actively in Milwaukee and Chicago on both violin and mandolin. After working as a violinist with the Omaha Symphony, and continuing to pursue orchestral and chamber music work and study in NYC, she took a left turn into the world of improvisation. These days she's enjoying playing jazz, free improvisation, and other contemporary styles as well as indulging her interest in Brazilian Choro music.

Opener Don Pardee is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and long-time friend of and performer at The Coffee House. Don’s own songs are a joy, as are his fine renditions of James Taylor, Richard Shindell, Cheryl Wheeler and other great folk artists.