Stay warm with winter bluegrass, rock, folk

January is the cruelest month, waking us at 4 a.m. with rumbling plow trucks, mixing rock salt and melting snow. Winter keeps us frozen, covering us in long underwear, hardly seeing the sun for days at a time.

Forgive me for waxing a bit poetic. T.S. Eliot probably would not be amused, but it is no coincidence that I’m cribbing from “The Wasteland” and writing about what a drag January is – especially with the schizophrenic weather we’ve had this past week. That’s why this month is a great time to check out some of the acoustic evenings and open mike coffeehouses around the area. It’s informal, it’s intimate, and it’s the kind of low-key fun that can warm up a chilly winter night.

Let’s start with the midcoast region. Shane Donnelly, purveyor of fine instruments at Belfast Music on Main Street, kicked off his first ever Cabin Fever Concert Series last week, with the singer-songwriter Shawn Mercer. Donnelly plans to offer live acoustic music every other Friday through April at his shop, with musicians playing in the storefront window, so passers-by can take a peek inside.

For Jan. 27, George Skala, front man for local rockers Pushing Zero, will play stripped-down versions of his band’s songs; for Feb. 10, check out Dave Wooley’s acoustic country; on Feb. 24, Orson and Andrew Luckless will perform eclectic folk rock; and on March 10 Garrett Soucy, of the midcoast folk group Tree by Leaf, will play original solo material. For the rest of the schedule, give Belfast Music a call at 338-4250.

The Unitarian Universalist Church on Miller Street in Belfast also hosts an acoustic night – and fortunately it falls on the alternate Friday from the Cabin Fever series. The UU Coffeehouse got started a few years ago, when Jeff Maybee, a Belfast resident, watched the Slack Factory, a legendary (at least, in Belfast) artist’s commune of sorts, get torn down after the building was condemned. He didn’t want the regular jam sessions, poetry slams and performance art spectacles to end, so he helped move the good parts of the Slack Factory over to the church. Now there are up to 30 performers on any given night. It starts at 7:30 p.m. on the first, third, and fifth (if there is a fifth) Friday of each month. For more information, call Maybee at 338-4408.

Going Down East a bit, the Last Friday Coffeehouse at Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor has been going strong for about six years, offering tasty homemade desserts and tasty homemade music. Jeremy Strater organizes the monthly affair, which features local, regional and national folk, blues, and bluegrass artists at the recently renovated venue, which Strater describes as a “grange hall on steroids.”

This month’s performer is Orono’s acoustic warrior Larry Latour, with opener Judd Estey-Kimble, and is a benefit for Schoodic Arts for All, one of sponsors of the series. As its namesake suggest, the performances are on the last Friday of each month. Latour and Estey-Kimble will play at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27. Tickets are $6, so to reserve a seat call 963-7670, or visit www.schoodicarts.org.

The venerable DADGAD Coffeehouse, held the fourth Saturday of each month at the Keith Anderson Community Center on the Bennoch Road in Orono, is always a sure bet for live music, whether you want to perform, or just want to sit back and take it all in. If you weren’t aware already, DADGAD isn’t technically an acronym – it’s an alternate Celtic guitar tuning, instead of the traditional EADGBE.

The coffeehouse attracts both longtime Orono musicians, ranging from the aforementioned Latour and folksinger Paul Riechmann, to first timers and University of Maine students. A jam session starts at 6 p.m., following by individual performances at 7:30 by musicians, poets and storytellers. A $3 admission helps pay for the food and the equipment. For more information, visit www.dadgadcoffeehouse.org.

Is your band playing somewhere? Do you know about a cool venue that’s opening up? Did you see an awesome new group the other night and can’t wait to tell people about it? Let Emily know about any musical happenings in the area by emailing her at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.