A recent Asheville transplant, Ray Chesna will be at Mountain Spirit Coffeehouse on Sunday, November 14. Local singer songwriter Alan Hayes will open this show.

Ray’s musical background began in the late 1960s when he was part of the “tail end” of the blues revival centered in New York City that produced such current legends as Bonnie Raitt, David Bromberg, Paul Geremia, Rory Block, John Hammond, and Dave Van Ronk.

In the early seventies, Chesna expanded his musical horizons, playing in several bands where the musical focus ranged from rockabilly to bluegrass to an Eastern European show band.

In the 1980s, Ray left New York and moved to Atlanta where he taught guitar for a while and opened a guitar repair shop. As the blues made another comeback, students began asking him to teach them the songs and styles of the old blues masters.

His warm voice and catchy lyrics make him an all around natural performer, and he has also been an instructor at the Swannanoa Gathering for several years.

Mountain Spirit Coffeehouse is located at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville. Donations are $12 for adults and $8 for students. For information, call 828.299.4171 or visit uuasheville.org. Show is at 7 P.M., doors open at 6:30 P.M.