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.

<!--##############