Fri. Feb.. 15 

Sometimes, we'll find an artist we like, contact them, and just throw it open. What makes you tick? What makes you do what you do? And so, we did that with acclaimed folk-blues-rocker Terry Kitchen, who plays the Beacon Coffee House at the First Baptist Church in Newton Friday Feb. 15.  His latest CD is "Heaven Here on Earth." Kitchen e-mailed us this: "I approach my music primarily as a songwriter, not, 'Hey, I need something bluesy that I will sound cool singing,' but, 'Would the person in the world of whatever song I am working on really say that and say it that way? And does the music conjure the mood and feel of the scene?' The artists who interest me most - Warren Zevon, Jules Shear, Kris Kristoffersen, Ian Hunter - explore the gray areas, between 'good' and 'bad', love and hate, anger and resignation, 'funny' and 'sad'. People, life and love are rarely, if ever, all one thing, so I try to acknowledge that tension between the differerent feelings and impulses that we all feel simultaneously. This CD is a little different for me in that we went a little further afield to get sounds to paint the moods of the songs - the string quartet on 'Nothing Works Better,' or the vibes on 'Life is Hard Enough,' the Parisian accordion on 'The Seven Eleven Overture.'" - sung from the point of view of the man behind the counter at a 7-11. "It was fun to break out of the 'man with guitar'  mold...  and now, performing the songs live, even when I'm solo, I still hear that cello or drum fill or whatever in my head, and it helps me stay in the mood of the song, and establish it for the audience."  Tickets: $10 advance and $12 at door. Opening at 8 p.m. is Charley Eastman.

848 Beacon St., Newton, 617-244-2997 x15 www.fbcnewton.org/coffehouse.html