PHIPPSBURG — The acclaimed folk-rock duo Mike + Ruthy will perform at the Phippsburg Congregational Church, 10 Church Lane (off Parker Head Road), on Friday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m.

Having logged a decade of international touring and more than a thousand concerts, Mike and Ruthy Merenda define their sound as having been refined down to the very core of acoustic American music,” a news release states.

The New York-based husband-and-wife duo cite influences ranging from Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen to Gillian Welch and Simon and Garfunkel. With an arsenal of fiddle, banjo, guitar, ukulele and vocal harmonies, their performances have included shows at New York’s Carnegie Hall accompanying Arlo Guthrie (with their former band The Mammals) and Madison Square Garden where the duo performed as part of Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration.

This September found them sharing the program with Seeger, Judy Collins, Steve Earle and Billy Bragg in a tribute to Woody Guthrie at Brooklyn College.

As the daughter of fiddle legend Jay Ungar and country singer Lyn Hardy, Ruthy Merenda is no stranger to roots music and harmony singing. Despite her innate knowledge of American folk and country music, she opted to steer clear of the musician’s life and in 1997 moved to New York City to pursue a career in theater. It was in New York that Ruthy was introduced to Michael Merenda, an aspiring playwright and songwriter from New Hampshire who had just recently arrived in the Big Apple to test his mettle.

With this meeting, Ruthy’s interest in music was kindled and the duo began collaborating. A romantic relationship began shortly after the musical partnership was sparked and in 2000 the couple resettled just outside of Northampton, Mass., where they met Tao Rodriguez-Seeger (grandson of Pete Seeger) and formed the The Mammals.

The Mammals toured the world for seven years including trips to Australia, Denmark, and Canada, with a six month stint opening for and backing Arlo Guthrie during his 40th Anniversary of Alice’s Restaurant tour. With the birth of their son, Will, in 2008, Mike + Ruthy announced a departure from The Mammals to focus on their growing family. Now married and settled just outside Woodstock, N.Y., they tour with a full band or as a duo and sometimes even share the stage with their show- stealing 4-year-old son, Will.

This year has seen the duo’s fourth release, “The NYC EP,” featuring the premiere recording of “My New York City,” a revived Woody Guthrie lyric from the Woody Guthrie Archives.

“We have been friends with the Guthries for many years. They are a vastly talented and loving bunch,” Ruthy said in a news release. “Nora Guthrie, daughter of Woody, operates the Guthrie Archives down in the lower Hudson Valley. Last year she sent us a beautiful document: the lyrics and melody to Woody’s ‘My New York City.’ There are thousands of songs in the archive, many with no recording or notated melody, and for various projects Nora has drawn in different artists to collaborate and record some of them. We immediately felt a deep connection to the lyrics, maybe because Mike and I lived in New York City when we first met and made music together.”

The song will also be included on “My Name is New York,” a CD compilation being issued by Woody Guthrie Publications including new recordings by Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Bob Dylan and others.

Mike + Ruthy’s music can be sampled at the duo’s website www.mikeandruthy.com.

Tickets for the concert are $12 for adults and $8 for students and are available at the door.

Doors will open at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, call 389-1770.

BRUNSWICK — Lynn Deeves, Kate Schrock and Trina Hamlin will perform in concert at the Frontier Café theater, 14 Maine St., Mill 3, on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 on the day of the show.

For information, call 725-5222 or visit www.explorefrontier.com.