In a remarkably short period of time, Pat Wictor has become the name that is being chatted about on the acoustic, blues, folk and Americana circuits. Steeped in American “roots” music, Pat is a contemporary songwriter and interpreter drawing on the rural country, gospel, and blues traditions of our nation. Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who’s been turning heads for years with his words, his fiery acoustic guitar work, and his evolved musical style — combining improvised Piedmont blues with bluegrass, swing, and ragtime.

An American by birth, Pat Wictor was raised outside of the United States until his teenage years, living in Venezuela, Holland, Norway, and England as his father was an oil-industry worker. This time abroad gave him an unusually deep awareness of being a resident of a country while also a world citizen. Through these early experiences, he gained an appreciation for taking different paths to arrive at the same destination. Indeed, Pat took a convoluted path to folk music, winding his way through rock, heavy metal, and jazz. He started with guitar, shifted to bass, moved to saxophone, and then quit music entirely before a return in 1993, a time when he also began composing songs. By 2001, he left a teaching career to pursue music full time and does so in the broadest way possible. An adept improviser and accompanist, he is sought after as a collaborator, sideman and session musician, with numerous recording credits to date. His monthly e-mail column, “A Few Choice Words,” is read by thousands of subscribers. He is a music educator of note, teaching workshops on writing, interpreting, and rearranging songs, on slide guitar and other guitar techniques, and various topics of music history. His performances — part fireside chat, part meditation on matters earthly and transcendent — feature his originals. In addition to his own tunes, he is quick to offer up a newly-discovered lyric from another performer, or a fresh arrangement of a traditional song, delighting in introducing his audience to innovative material. With flowing red hair and zen-like calm, Pat embraces his audience with the sincerity of his music and the clarity of his voice, inviting them in. Pat views his life and his music as a journey, populated with an ever-shifting landscape of people, places and emotions. It is a journey he is eager to share with others, knowing that it is the experiences along the way, not the arrival, that initiate the most profound changes. Pat recently released his 6th CD, Sunset Waltz, which has received excellent reviews and follows his highly praised CD Heaven is so High.

Jon Shain grew up in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a Merrimack River mill-town that had already seen its better days by the time he was a child in the 1970s. His family’s business was a small textile dyeing company, and he worked in the factory during the summers throughout his teens. At the same time, Shain began to discover his love of American roots music and songwriting, specifically drawn to the narratives about regular people and themes of social justice. Attending Duke University in the late 80s, Shain was a student of American history with a dedicated interest in southern musical traditions. This led him to a gig with Piedmont blues legend Richard “Big Boy” Henry. He has shared stages with luminaries such as David Grisman, Tony Rice Unit, Hot Tuna, Leon Russell, Dave Matthews Band, and the Dixie Dregs. Shain released several albums that have garnered praise from all over. In addition to festival slots and headlining club dates, the last few years has seen Shain playing esteemed listening rooms and opening sold out theatre shows for John Hiatt, Keb’ Mo’, and Little Feat. When Shain is not recording or performing, he stays busy giving private instruction in Piedmont blues finger style guitar, and teaching group workshops in songwriting, blues guitar, and “jamming.” Whether in the one-on-one atmosphere of the teaching studio or onstage sharing a song with a roomful of strangers, Jon Shain is a natural communicator, keeping students and fans coming back for more. Shain’s me&thee show will be a CD release party for his newest CD, Times Right Now.

Jon will also be leading a workshop at Julie Dougherty’s Cellar Studio in Salem on November 7.

If you can make it to only one concert this year, let it be a show by Brooklyn’s own Pat Wictor, who plays heart-felt blues-based roots music like the only begotten son of Bonnie Raitt (same red hair!) and Chris Smither. And unlike blues interpreters who have seen too many stormy Mondays with hellhounds on their trail, Pat is also an excellent songwriter whose new/old compositions will send you on a journey through the old Dock Boggs and Son House 78s. But these aren’t old songs, they’re originals that, to paraphrase Mr. Smither, are “still flopping around on the deck.” Jim Motavalli, WPKN, Bridgeport, CT

Soft-spoken and articulate, in the 1930’s he could have been a dust bowl preacher. The sermons, accompanied by the choir of his slide guitar, would have brought comfort to many a soul. Richard Cuccaro, Acoustic Live

His performances are delicate, nearly evanescenta daring and unusual approach for a blues singer who give listeners fresh perspectives on such familiar material as Son House’s “Death Letter” and Skip James’ “Hard Time Killing Floor.” Wictor’s compositionsare especially memorable. Blues Revue

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Jon Shain is proof that singer/songwriters with brilliant acoustic fingerstylings and insightful lyrics are still around and going strong. Shain’s Army Jacket Winter is an array of stories about love and restlessness, backed by acoustic/electric guitars, accordion and dobro. Fans of Keb Mo, Jimmy Buffett and Randy Newman will dig Shain’s mood on this album. Kathleen Wehle, Southeast Performer Magazine, Atlanta, GA (July 2007)

The first song on Jon Shain’s new disc, a cover of Tom Petty’s “Time to Move On,” is a pretty fair indicator of what you get with Shain. Which is not to say Tom Petty, mind you, but a Wildflowers-era mix of fingerpick blues, gentle-yet-wry lyricism, and more than a little bit of warmth—in other words, comfy as the old G.I. castoff and thrift-store favorite referenced in the title. The sixth release on his own Flyin’ Records (named after Shain’s old duo Flyin’ Mice), Winter sees the North Carolinian moving in more of a Randy Newman direction, and frankly, it looks rather good on him. Subtle accordion, nylon-string guitar, dobro and grand piano all share in the mix with Shain’s trusty (if rusty) Silvertone acoustic here, and the result, more often than not, is golden. Timothy Davis, Harp magazine (July 2007)

Jon Shain has done it again. His latest album, “Army Jacket Winter,” is superb. The disc is the latest chapter in this pilgrim’s progress and, yet again, his latest is his best to date…Shain’s songwriting is stellar, as is his guitar work. He really has reached a level of creative excellence that guarantees his songs are consistently literate, intriguing and musically nuanced. The arrangements that underpin the tracks are uncluttered yet rich in sonic ideas that elevate the album well beyond the scope of commonplace singer-songwriter discs. Philip Van Vleck, Herald-Sun, Durham, NC (May 2007)