Rick Fitzgerald, a veteran of the Portage Road Guild, has delighted Coffee House audiences with his pure vocals, and masterful guitar and autoharp playing, with influences that include Brian Bowers, John Denver, and Bill Staines. Rick was the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Champion, and runner-up in the International Autoharp Championship at Winfield. He is currently on the board of directors for the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering and chairman of the Make Our Own (MOO) Music Gathering.
Opener Kevin “Hardwood” Reger has been writing and performing songs for over thirty years in local churches and other organizations he attends. He is a regular at the Coffee House benefits for Casa Maria. His songs reflect his outlook on life with humor, a gentle wit and occasional genuine insight. Topics include politics, love, aging, spirituality, the social contract, golf, the Green Bay Packers and anything else that happens to cross his mind. Good to have Kevin back on our stage!
Lil Rev is a storyteller, poet, author, folklorist and joke-lorist; a performer on multiple instruments at festivals, camps, and clubs; a teacher and instructional book writer; a composer of original music and a torch bearer for old tunes. And he has delighted audiences at The Coffee House for decades!
Be part of a long-running CoffeeHouse tradition and bring your voice, instrument, a poem or story, or simply come to listen share, and contribute. Your donations will help Casa Maria, an intentional community, dedicated to following the tradition of the Catholic Worker movement.
Casa Maria currently runs four houses. They perform such services as: taking in single mothers and their children who are in need of housing; providing longer-term housing to families and women who need more support; and giving temporary living space for workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and others facing difficulties within the immigration system.
Gary Kitchin (guitar, vocals, mandolin, harmonica) and John Granzow (guitar and vocals). Gary and John have performed together for years, including as founding members of the wonderful folk/rock/ and blues group aptly named the Dirty Dishes that graced our stage in previous years! They will be joined by JP Spencer (“JP”) a guitar player, singer and songwriter from Milwaukee who has graced the Coffee House stage a number of times in the past in our songwriter shows and various tribute benefits. Their devotion to the music and high energy will warm our audience on this mid-April show!
