Me&Thee to close season with the Squeezebox Stompers

Marblehead’s Me&Thee Music caps off its 53rd season on Friday, May 19 with Cajun-Zydeco band Squeezebox Stompers in a “Mardi Gras in May” concert-dance. The evening will also mark the official release of the Stompers latest recording, “What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?”

The Squeezebox Stompers  are well known for their high energy performances which always get folks up and moving with their engaging step-lively up-beat music. Their instrumentation includes accordion, keyboards, fiddle, saxophone, harmonica, penny whistle, guitars, bass, drums and scrub board that they may ask you play. The adjacent Stetson Hall will be party lit and renamed Stetson (Dance) Hall for the evening.

The Stompers feature Ralph Tufo on cajun accordion and anglo concertina. He was a founding member of four-time Boston Music Award winning band, The Boogaloo Swamis. Guitarist Larry Pitt, whose playing style is rooted in the Piedmont and Delta blues styles and peppered with Cajun, Zydeco, Celtic and classical influences.

Drummer Bert Syms played with the group Tavares and he’s shared the stage with the Jackson 5, the BeeGees, Chaka Kahn, Lou Rawls and many others. He’s worked locally with James Montgomery, Taylor Made and the Walker Band. Geoff Wadsworth has been a professional musician and recording engineer for over 30 years. He has performed with Chuck Berry, The Drifters, The Coasters and others. Jeff O’Neil is a bassist, cellist and vocalist who’s been gracing stages in the Boston area for the last 40 years with a variety of styles including Old Time string music, Afro Pop and Funk. Art Schatz has been a mainstay fiddler on the Boston country and bluegrass scene for over 30 years. He also plays with the Beantown Buckaroos and the Foggy Mountain Consort.

This event is supported, in part, by a grant from the Marblehead Cultural Council, a local agency, which is funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Tickets are $25.  Students and children are always $10.  Locally, tickets are available at Arnould’s Gallery, Washington Street, Marblehead. Online Info and No-Fee Tickets at available at  meandthee.org.  No phone orders are accepted and no other ticket websites are authorized.

The Me&Thee will re-open for its 54th season on September 8th with Christine Lavin.

Doors open at 7:15pm, and the music begins shortly after 8pm.  Me&Thee Music is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization now in its 53rd season at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 28 Mugford Street in Marblehead.  Refreshments and desserts are served.