New England favorites, Bob Franke and Lui Collins, at the me&thee

The me&thee coffeehouse welcomes longtime friends and New England favorites Bob Franke and Lui Collins to its stage on February 7 at 8 pm. Bob Franke is a Boston-area favorite who has been contributing his poignant songs to the American folk music songbook for several decades. Lui Collins has been described as“one of New England’s clearest and most distinctive folk voices, with unusually piercing lyrical insight." As part of this season opener, the me&thee welcomes Bob Simons as a special guest. Bob is the very first musician to play in 1970. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the me&thee is located at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead at 28 Mugford Street.

Bob Franke is among the most prolific and important folk songwriters we know. Many of his songs, like “Hard Love,” “For Real,” “Thanksgiving Eve,” and “The Great Storm Is Over,” have entered the American folk canon, frequently sung by major stars as well as open-mikers, church choirs and summer campers, recovering addicts at treatment centers and spiritual seekers at religious retreats. He is a songwriter’s songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Peter, Paul, and Mary, Kathy Mattea, John McCutcheon, Garnet Rogers, and David Wilcox. When ABC’s Nightline asked Alison Krauss to name her favorite songs, she cited Franke’s “Hard Love,” calling it “probably my favorite tune.”With a career spanning over 40 years, Bob remains a popular concert headliner, teaches songwriting, and runs a monthly coffeehouse, Saturday Night in Marblehead, at Saint Andrew’s church. In concert, his intimate songs and potent ballads are interspersed with revealing anecdotes – sly blues about bicycles, computers, and cagey catfish; daffy ditties about manic monkeys, psychedelic polkas, and adjusting to our loved ones’ foibles. His voice is warm, soft and familiar, like your favorite winter gloves. He is a superb guitarist but never a show-off; his style suggests an honest intention to meet and befriend his audience, neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend.

The Boston Globe calls Lui Collins “one of New England’s first and brightest stars” and the Boston Herald calls her a “folksinger for our times.” Lui will be joined by guitarist/Grammy-nominated producer and longtime collaborator, Anand Nayak, accompanying her in a wide range of styles and languages. Their decade plus of creative collaboration is evident in the fluid musical dialogue of their live performance. Lui has been performing, writing and recording for over 40 years, her early Philo and Green Linnet recordings earning international acclaim and establishing her as a respected voice in the folk world. Lui has shared the stage with such notables as Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt, Stan Rogers, Dar Williams, and John Gorka. Renowned guitarist Dave van Ronk called her “one of the best guitarist-arrangers I have heard in years.”From playful 4-string arrangements of some favorite original songs, to the fabulous jazz chords in American standards and bossa nova, Lui translates her rich and complex guitar arrangements onto her tenor ukulele to create something unexpected and delightful. The Champlain Valley Folk Festival says "Lui has a gentle way of capturing the hearts of her audience and having what amounts to a musical conversation with them during her performances… No one weaves a spell quite like she can."

Special guest Bob Simons started performing solo in the 60's and played venues like the King's Rook in Ipswich, MA, the New World Gallery in Portsmouth, NH, the Sword and the Stone and Turk's Head in Boston as well as at the me&thee. In the 70's he joined his long-time friend Jim King and formed the duo called the Watkins Marsh Bumppe Shoppe. Bob has written over 50 songs and most recently has played with Renee Goodwin as a duo.

Tickets for Bob Franke and Lui Collins are $20 in advance and $23 at the door. Student tickets are $10. Tickets are available online at www.meandthee.org and can be purchased in person at The Digital Docs at 157 Elm Street or the Arnould Gallery at 111 Washington Street in Marblehead. As at all me & thee events, refreshments are available, including homemade pastries, coffee, and teas. The me & thee has a handicapped-accessible entrance and an accessible bathroom, is a smoke-free environment, and is easily reached by MBTA bus.

The me & thee is one of the oldest continually running acoustic listening rooms in New England, and probably the country. It has been and will always be a volunteer, non-profit organization sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead. For information and directions, call 781-631-8987 or check the website at www.meandthee.org

Next concert: February 14 – New Black Eagle Jazz Band