Many happy returns

This week, the Coppertop welcomes back a mix of fresh and seasoned audience favorites, starting Thursday with  Jason Graham.

I first came across Jason Graham when he was playing guitar in the Arthur Dent Foundation, one of the wildly creative bands playing around Worcester in the late '90s. Graham tossed off funky and jazzy riffs amid ADF’s frenetic jams. I next saw him in Soulstice, a big, R&B outfit playing mostly classics.

Jason Graham

But when he comes to the Coppertop Thursday, Graham will be solo and hopefully airing some of the original, contemplative work he has been crafting. In his acoustic act, Graham has tapped into a modern singer/songwriter vein, and you can hear his take on it (plus a couple of covers) here http://www.reverbnation.com/jgrahammusic. Definitely for fans of Ray LaMontagne, which is a direction I wouldn’t have predicted back in the days when Graham was funking up Tammany Hall.

Dr. Harp’s Blues Band is a perennial fave at the mountain and swings into the Coppertop Friday night. Dennis Martin_ a/k/a the Doctor_ plays a classic brand of harmonica-driven blues and is as comfortable with the acoustic material as he is with the electric jams.

Dennis "Dr. Harp" Martin

Five Hole is known for rocking whatever joint it’s in. Last year when the band came to the Coppertop it tried something different and crafted an acoustic repertoire of rock  staples. It worked so well that Five Hole is doing again Saturday. That's a couple of the Five Hole guys in the video up top putting an acoustic spin on the MJ classic.

The shows on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday start at 8 p.m.

Heidi-Jo Hanson, one of the busier singers around the North County makes an overdue trip back to the Wah Sunday afternoon with a set that begins at 4 p.m. Check back here for chat with this veteran performer.