HOOT 2! - Returns to "Coffeehouse at the Wheeler's"

Suzanne Sheridan’s hootenanny-style evening of folk and contemporary music returns to the Westport Historical Society on April 8 from 6 to 8 pm with two new guest performers: recording artist Griffin Anthony, singer-humorist Bob Stanhope, and Sheridan’s singer-songwriter sister, Patricia Field (a double for Cyndi Lauper).

“Hoot 2” will be reminiscent of the show the Westport singer-songwriter introduced here last October. It follows in the tradition of the ’50s and ’60s, she says, when musicians got together in their homes to share songs and jam. And the audience is welcome to sing along.

Sheridan is best known for her concert of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen songs, which she has performed locally and on the road as far away as Canada and Australia. In addition to last year’s hootenanny, Sheridan has entertained at the WHS in “Coffeehouse at the Wheeler,” a show named for the Society’s headquarters, Bradley-Wheeler House. A professional photographer as well as musician, Sheridan got her start singing jingles for the Pepsi Cola Company. She plans to perform some of her own compositions at the upcoming show, including the satiric “90 Pound Suburban Housewife Driving in Her SUV,” written with her partner Rozanne Gates.

Dark-eyed, handsome, and standing 6-foot-5, Anthony has been described as “a stunningly persuasive and soulful voice.” Sheridan says the ‘sensitive” 32-year-old New York native reminds her of “the best of Jim Croce,” the folk-rock artist who was just 30 when he was killed in a plane crash in 1973. Stanhope, on the other hand, “is probably the funniest songwriter I ever heard. He’s hysterical,” she says.

Anthony has two full-length albums to his credit, “Crazy Ways,” released independently in 2010, and “The Making of a Man,” released last August. He also has several EPs, including “Live at 305,” recorded on New Year’s Eve 2010 at a Miami club, and “The Canyon. ” He was named “Best Vocalist” at the 2011 International Music Festival and nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the 2013 International Music & Entertainment Awards.

Singer-songwriter Stanhope has been performing in clubs and coffeehouses for over four decades. He says his more serious material is in the style of Billy Joel, Harry Chapin and Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary, while his comic-satirical work, nurtured in the ’80s and ’90s during his years as a morning personality on suburban radio stations, could be likened to that of Weird Al Yankovic or Tom Lehrer. A 13-time winner in the Billboard Magazine Songwriter Contest, the multi-faceted Stanhope has also performed lead roles in musicals such as “1776” and “Born Yesterday” and penned 10 detective novels and two memoirs.

A $20 donation is requested, and reservations are suggested: (203) 222-1424.