CAMDEN — Camden Opera House opens a new year of The Blue Café, an occasional series of free performances in its intimate third-floor listening room, with Gordon Thomas Ward, Friday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m.

"Winter Harbor’s award-winning contemporary singer-songwriter Gordon Thomas Ward has been wowing audiences with his adult alternative/folk rock songs for years," said Camden Opera House, in a news release. 

He’s had four GRAMMY-balloted albums and has worked with notable musicians such as Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, and Mary), Eric Troyer and Mik Kaminski (Electric Light Orchestra), and Kevin Barry (Jackson Browne, James Taylor). Ward’s songs are crafted and delivered in the style of acoustic Neil Young, Jackson Browne, and Dan Folgelberg.

The doors will open 7 p.m. to the opera house’s street-level elevator lobby, 29 Elm Street. Attendees will take the elevator to the third floor, whose windows will be outlined with blue rope lights for the evening. The listening room seats around 50, with more room in the adjacent lounge. 

There is no admission charge for The Blue Café; donations for the sponsoring Community Arts Fund are welcomed. For more information on this and other upcoming events, visit camdenoperahouse.com.