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About Hopeful Romantics

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hopeful adj : having qualities which inspire hope
romantic adj : marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized
      (from Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition)

Ed Stauff and Mary Ellen Wessels are Hopeful Romantics, a musical duo which has delighted audiences across the country. We specialize in uplifting songs in a variety of styles centered around a core of contemporary and traditional folk.

 

Mary Ellen

lead vocals
6-string guitar
recorders
appalachian dulcimer
bodhran
doumbek
percussion
 

Ed

vocals
piano
6- & 12- string guitars
string & electric bass
recorders
clawhammer banjo
hammered dulcimer
 
 


Listen to our Virtual Demo CD!

"Blessing"
Donna Hèbert
3:41 / 3.5mb (mp3)
"Millworker"
James Taylor
4:18 / 4.0mb (mp3)
"A Toast to Unknown Heroes"
Leslie Fish
3:35 / 3.4mb (mp3)

For samples of Ed's solo piano work, check out Champlain Summer.


What people are saying about Hopeful Romantics

  "Big voice, big heart - Mary Ellen Wessels is a pleasure to hear."
-- Fred Small
  "Mew as a singer is both passionate and intimate, her choice of songs eloquent: Ed's musicianship provides the perfect complement. This is a remarkably engaging and talented duo."   "Ed Stauff's performance achieves what most pianists only aspire to: lyrical, lilting, graceful, heartfelt yet elegant..."  

Many more quotes here!


A Few of our Favorite Songwriters

Lou & Peter Berryman
Gordon Bok
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Harry Chapin
Elton John
Bob Franke
Cindy Kallet
Larry Kaplan
James Keelaghan
Christine Lavin
Gordon Lightfoot
Dougie MacLean
Tom Paxton
Sally Rogers
Stan Rogers
Fred Small
Bill Staines
James Taylor
Dar Williams
Kate Wolf


A Sampling of our Repertoire

Across the Great Divide
Acts of Creation
All that is Gold
Babysitter's Here, The
Banana Slug
Bay of Fundy
Blessing
Bows of London
Caledonia
A Chat With Your Mother
Christmas in the Trenches
Cinderella's Song
The Circle Game
City of New Orleans
Come Down in Time
Crazy Man Michael
Don Quixote
Everything Possible
The Faith of Man
Farewell to Tarwathie
The Field Behind the Plow
The Final Trawl
The Fires of Calais
A Folksinger Earns Every Dime
The Fox
Give Yourself to Love
Halley Came to Jackson
Harbors
Harris and the Mare
A Healing in this Night
The Heart
Hearts and Hands
Honky Tonk Train
How Can I Keep From Singing?
I Would I Were
Isle au Haut Lullabye
Jamaica Farewell
Julian of Norwich
A Knock on the Door
Lies
Lock-Keeper
Look to the Stars
May the Light of Love
Mhairi Bhan
Millworker
My Husband's Got No Courage
Pass the Pepper
Puff, the Magic Dragon
Railway Tune
The Return
Right, Said Fred
River
The Roman Centurion's Song
Roseville Fair
Sea for the Shore
She Is Always There
Song for Gail
Star of the County Down
Stars in their Eyes
Their Way
This Shirt
The Touch of the Master's Hand
Turn Around
Turning Toward the Morning
Two Good Arms
Tyrannosaur's Lullabye
Under the Quarter Moon
Waltzing With Bears
The Water Is Wide
When I Was a Boy
When I Was a Fair Maid
White Squall
Windmills
Witch of the West-mere-lands
The World Turned Upside Down


Contact Info

  Ed Stauff
Mary Ellen Wessels
P.O. Box 489
Charlotte, VT
05445
(802) 598-8222 any time
(802) 425-2450 summer only
ed@mewsic.com
mew@mewsic.com

http://www.mewsic.com