By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Weekend Editor

Many successful musical acts and poets got their starts in coffee houses.

Bob Dylan played before a caffeinated crowd when he was still known as Robert Zimmerman, and Allen Ginsburg howled in smoky rooms all across the country. If it was hard to find a venue for your talent, you were always welcome at a coffee house. The scene faded for a while but has resurged in the latter part of this decade. People were yearning for a mellow evening where they could witness a variety of acts in an affordable and relaxing atmosphere.

That atmosphere has been created in Fayette County by Offshoot Productions. The Stars on the Southern Crescent coffee house has been going strong for a number of years, featuring musicians, storytellers, poets and comics. The eclectic revues are performed several times a year. Old favorites come back frequently and new acts soon become old favorites.

When the coffee house opens its doors this Saturday night, both the new and the tested will take the stage, offering their talents to a very encouraging audience.

Ray Chesna, a composer and performer, will bring his original songs, written in a variety of American genres, to National Heights Baptist Church. Chesna has performed at Lena's Cafe, the Gray Eagle, and The Town Crier Cafe. His music falls mainly under acoustic swing and blues, which remains some of the more timeless music of the century. It will be Chesna's first time at Stars on the Southern Crescent coffee house.

Following Chesna will be accomplished storyteller Neville Carson. Carson has appeared at the coffee house once before and also will be one of the four featured regional storytellers at the Atlanta Storytelling Festival in January. Carson's stories rely on Southern styles as well as comedy. His style is very animated and he is very well-respected in the storytelling community.

Headlining the show will be Tad and Judy Burden, folk singers who play all forms of folk music, including Celtic, English and American. They have been playing in the Atlanta area since the mid 1970s and have appeared at the Stone Mountain Highland Games, Saint Bartholomew's Old English Festival, the Charleston Spoleto festival, the Atlanta Celtic Festival, and a number of coffee houses. The Burdens also were members of the local folk trio Sothernwood.

Performing solo, the Burdens also are very accomplished. Tad performed at the Atlanta Arts Festival and the Chattahoochee Folk Festival, while Judy appeared in an Emmy award-winning episode of the nationally syndicated PBS series “Tonight at Ferlinghetti's.”

The coffee house will be Saturday, Oct. 23 at National Heights Baptist Church, at the intersection of Ga. Highway 54 and Old Norton Road. Doors open at 7:45 p.m. and the show will begin at 8:15.

Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for seniors and children under 12. Homemade deserts, gourmet coffee and tea, hot apple cider and cold drinks will be available. Patrons also are encouraged to bring their most unusual mugs to the coffee house, to get discounts on hot beverages and to enter the “Most unusual Mug” contest. For information, phone 770-631-2362.

Back to the Top of the PageBack to the Weekend Home Page