MARBLEHEAD — Folk artists Don White and Hayley Reardon will be joining forces March 21 at 8 p.m. for a “special night” commemorating the Me&Thee’s 55th anniversary.
“It’s very meaningful because I’m from Marblehead. I grew up in Marblehead. I had a young start in music, and the Me&Thee was an early embracer of me and also a link to this whole folk music world that nurtured me in many ways,” Reardon said.
She added, “It’s very meaningful on many fronts because it’s the Me&Thee, and it’s 55 years, which is a big, big accomplishment to have any volunteer-run community, independent art operation happening for 55 years — and it’s with Don White, who was a personal mentor.”
The duo has known each other for quite some time now. According to White, they first met when Reardon’s dad started bringing her to White’s house in Lynn for private lessons.
“Her dad brought her to my house in Lynn when she was 12 to study performance skills, but right away, I just knew how smart she was,” White said. “Her dad was bragging about her, and I’m like, ‘All dads think their daughters are geniuses.’ But when I met her, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s right. She really is something.’”
He added, “She wound up coming to my house every Wednesday until she was 18.”
Reardon was drawn into folk music because of the singer-songwriter format that feels “very singular.” She added, “It’s a person and a guitar and a perspective.”
“I remember getting introduced to this world of folk music and being really, really captivated by the rawness and by the songs being a doorway into somebody’s psyche, and there being this singular perspective behind them,” she said. “I’ve always been fascinated by that.”
She called White’s music “healing.”
“People will see if they come to the show that Don is a masterful storyteller and performer in the way of crafting these magnificent arcs and emotional journeys,” Reardon said. “You’re laughing, and you’re crying, and it’s so beautifully done. I learned a lot from him about storytelling, which became a big part of my stage performance, too, in my own way.”
White said he tries to write “from a place of hope.”
“I try not to write from the dark place. I try to get through the dark place in my life and then write from a place where the difficulty is resolved,” White said. “In that way, I’m thinking about the audience when I’m writing, trying to not leave them in a dark place, not to write from a dark place, to write on the other side of that.”
This will be Reardon and White’s first time performing together. White said he thinks “it’s very sweet of Marblehead to think of putting us together.”
Reardon is calling this performance a “co-bill” since there is no opener or headliner. The pair will each do their own sets and then come together for a set, going back and forth, playing their songs.
“They’ll present the best of what this club has been since it’s founding: a community,” said Me&Thee founder Anthony Silva.
Tickets are available at meandthee.org for $35. Student tickets are $10. Doors open at 7:15 p.m., and freshly baked desserts, mulled cider, coffee, tea and seltzers will be available before the show and during intermission.
