Newtown Cultural Arts Commission will welcome the acclaimed blues musician, composer and actor Guy Davis as the guest artist for the May 21 edition of The Flagpole Radio Café. Showtime is 7 pm.

In addition, it was announced this week that Grammy Award winning dobro player Stacy Phillips will return to Newtown to perform during this weekend’s performance. Mr Phillips first graced the stage of Flagpole Radio Café in February 2009.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students and senior citizens, and are available through www.FlagpoleProductions.org.

“Since we began the show we’ve wanted to have an authentic blues artist,” said Flagpole Café Producer Martin Blanco. “We’re so fortunate to have someone as gifted and celebrated as Guy Davis appear on the program. I had the pleasure of meeting his parents when I was in graduate school where they were giving a lecture. They were extremely engaging and obviously very talented actors and writers. I look forward to meeting their son now and can’t wait to hear how he invigorates Newtown with his passionate and arresting interpretation of the blues. He’ll have great music and great stories for us.”

Whether Guy Davis is appearing on Late Night With Conan O’Brien or nationally syndicated radio programs such as Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” on a main stage at a major festival or teaching an intimate gathering of students at a music camp, Mr Davis feels the instinctive desire to give each listener his all.

Throughout his career, Davis has dedicated himself to reviving the traditions of acoustic blues and bringing them to as many ears as possible through the material of the great blues masters, African American stories, and his own original songs, stories and performance pieces.

In 1993 he performed Off-Broadway as the legendary blues player Robert Johnson in Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil, receiving rave reviews and honors. Four years later he collaborated with his parents for Two Hah Hahs and A Homeboy, which combined material written by Davis and his parents, with music, African American Folklore and history, as well as performance pieces by Hurston and Hughes.

He has additionally released sixth solo albums, and contributed songs on a host of tribute and compilation albums.

Flagpole Radio Café is an engaging variety show created by Jim Allyn, Martin Blanco and Barbara Gaines in conjunction with Newtown Cultural Arts Commission. It features music by Jim Allyn and the Radio Café Orchestra, a dynamic ensemble created for the show, and radio style comedy sketches by The Flagpole Shakespeare Repertory Theatre.

Stacy Phillips will be joining The Flagpole Radio Café Orchestra Saturday night. AN accomplished violinist, he is renowned for his skill on the Dobro, a guitar with the single-inverted-cone resonator design. He has three solo albums and is a featured performer on the Grammy Award-winning album The Great Dobro Sessions.

Mr Phillips performs with several ensembles, and has performed with top acoustic musicians all over the world including Bela Fleck, Mark O’Connor, David Bromberg and Andy Statman. He is also the author and producer of more than 25 books and DVDs celebrating various aspects of his chosen instruments.

Flagpole Radio Café is hosted by musician and radio personality Chris Teskey, and each show features a musical guest artist; previous guests have included Tom Chapin, Peter Yarrow, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Roger Ball, and even Yale’s internationally acclaimed male choir The Whiffenpoofs.

For further information, send em5ail to info@FlagpoleProductions.org or call 203-364-0898.