Hard Luck Café Features Jerry DeMeo and Naomi Margolin & Mark Newman

By Michael Kornfeld

Long Island’s own Jerry DeMeo and Naomi Margolin & Mark Newman are the featured artists when the Folk Music Society of Huntington’s monthly Hard Luck Café series resumes at the Cinema Arts Centre on Thursday, Sept. 19. The 8:30 p.m. concert in the Cinema’s Sky Room will be preceded by an open mic at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for Cinema Arts Centre and FMSH members; $12 for non-members. The Cinema Arts Centre is at 423 Park Avenue in Huntington. For more information, visit www.fmsh.org or call (631) 425-2925.

Jerry DeMeo is a Huntington-based singer-songwriter and guitarist with an expressive singing voice, engaging guitar work and ebullient stage presence. Drawing his guitar-playing influences from artists such as Leo Kottke, Stephen Stills and Jorma Kaukonen, Jerry performs original material along with an impressive array of covers — all marked with his own individual imprint.

Says former My Father’s Place owner Michael “Eppy” Epstein: “Jerry DeMeo, with his multifaceted personality, brings … not only great singing and original songs….  He’s both witty and funny and brings a friend-and-family milieu to any venue [where] he performs.”

DeMeo released his first album of original songs earlier this year. Entitled Headin’ East, Headin’ West, the CD features an acoustic sound highlighted by electric guitar and a combination of country sensibility, rhythm and blues feel, and bossa nova accents.

Naomi Margolin and Mark Newman are a singing and songwriting duo from Long Island whose all-too-infrequent musical appearances together are a rare treat for their audiences.

Naomi is an accomplished vocalist and songwriter who, along with Mark, hosts the monthly Music from the Hive songwriter series in Westbury. Mark is an acclaimed guitar, mandolin, lap steel and dobro player whose career has taken him around the world several times as a sideman to the stars. He is part of The John Oates Band and also has toured with artists such as Sam Moore, Sam the Sham and the late Willy DeVille. Also a singer-songwriter in his own right, Mark’s most recent solo album is Walls of Jericho (2010).

Naomi Margolin and Mark Newman were among the artists who performed at this summer’s Huntington Folk Festival and also were part of the Folk Music Society of Huntington’s tribute to Harry Chapin and benefit concert for WhyHunger last December.

Established in 1973, the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington (www.cinemaartscentre.org) seeks to bring the best of cinematic artistry to Long Island and use the power of film to expand the awareness and consciousness of our community. Long Island’s only not-for-profit, viewer-supported, independent cinema presents a wide array of films that are often accompanied by discussions and guest speakers.

Now in its 45th year, the Folk Music Society of Huntington presents two monthly concert series, a monthly folk jam and sing-along, and an annual folk festival in conjunction with the Huntington Arts Council. Its First Saturday Concerts at the Congregational Church of Huntington (30 Washington Drive, Centerport) will feature James Maddock, a popular British singer-songwriter now based in New York, on Saturday, Oct. 5. Popular folk-rock duo The Kennedys will be the featured performers during the Oct. 17 Hard Luck Café.