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Folk duo Burke & Surette at this week's Friday concert

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David Surette and Susie Burke. (Courtesy photo)

Singer, songwriters, and guitarists David Surette and Susie Burke will be the feature at this Friday's Music On The Square Concert in downtown Rochester.

The Music On The Square Concerts are held on Fridays from 11:45 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. through August. Concertgoers are asked to bring a chair and buy or bring a lunch while enjoying a musical performance in the heart of downtown Rochester.

Burke and Surette have made a name for themselves as one of the finest acts on the lively New England folk scene. Together since 1988, they have built a steady following for their own blend of contemporary, traditional, and original folk and acoustic music.

Burke's vocal style is at once stunning and heartfelt, and is matched by Surette's fluid fretwork. Both are well-respected within the folk music community, as is demonstrated by the fact that they have appeared as backing musicians on numerous recordings. Many of these have come out of the New Hampshire Seacoast area, which has a well-deserved reputation as a haven for folk and acoustic music.

Burke has been singing on Seacoast stages since the early 80s as a soloist, a member of several local bands, and in several duos, including one with guitar whiz Harvey Reid. Her musical tastes and influences are varied and many, encompassing contemporary and traditional folk, swing, country, topical songs, and acapella singing, with detours along the way for Broadway showtunes and classic ballads.

"She posesses one of the finest, purest ballad sopranos heard in folk music today" writes Scott Alarik in the Boston Globe, noting that "her phrasing is unerringly devoted to the lyric" and that "Burke displays a gift for pulling honest emotional chords - all too rare in these clever and cynical times."

Before devoting her energies to music full-time, Burke worked as a day-care teacher, and her love of kids is evident in her wonderful participatory children's concerts. Surette has been performing in the Seacoast area since the mid-80s, both with Burke and with a number of other groups and musicians. He is well-known as a top-notch accompanist in New England's contra dance and Celtic music circles, and is also in demand as a studio musician. As a multi-instrumentalist, David brings a variety of stringed sounds to the duo; Folk Roots magazine notes that his "bouzouki, guitar, and mandolin playing is exemplary." In addition to performing and recording, Surette maintains an active teaching schedule. He is head of the folk department at the Concord (NH) Community Music School, and artistic director of their March Mandolin Festival. He was awarded an NEA travel grant in 1994 to study the traditional music of Brittany, France, and has written a book of Celtic guitar arrangements for Mel Bay Music. Recipients of Individual Artist Fellowship awards from the NH State Council on the Arts in 1993, Burke and Surette are also on the Council's Touring Arts roster. They have released six albums since 1990 on the Madrina Music label, to positive response from both critics and audiences.

In case of inclement weather the concerts are canceled at 10 a.m. Free parking nearby is available at the North Main, Union, and Congress Street Parking lots.

The concerts are underwritten by Federal Savings Bank and a grant from the NH State Council On The Arts/National Endowment For The Arts. For more information please contact the Rochester Main Street office by calling 603-330-3208 or email director@rochestermainstreet.org. Appearing on Friday, July 15 will be blues with Ben Knight. Don't forget our Teddy Picnic at noon on Wednesday, July 27 in Central Square. There will be activities and games for all.

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