Folk explosion
BY SASHA HNATKOVICH
June 2005 - Over the last 15 years, singer-songwriters have grown
in popularity
and influence. Big label acoustic rock bands like Dave Matthews Band and
the Counting Crows and pioneering women like Tracy Chapman and the Indigo
Girls paved the way for contemporary pop powerhouses like John Mayer,
Jack Johnson and Gavin DeGraw. Locally, there are hundreds of singer-songwriters
looking to contribute to and benefit from the renewed mainstream popularity
of acoustic music.
There are opportunities to see fresh talent performing in local coffeehouses,
churches and bars in Central Massachusetts seven days a week. A dedicated
core of presenters, musicians and fans anchor this longtime scene in the
Greater Worcester Area.
Although New England is regarded as the folk mecca of the world, Central
Massachusetts has fallen off the map in the last 10 years. After the 1996
closure of the OVK (Old Vienna Kaffeehaus) in Westborough, the Central
MA folk scene declined, surviving only because of the passion and resources
of a small vanguard. “Central MA has a great community of pickers,”
says Walter Crockett, lead guitarist of Valerie & Walter Crockett
and the Oxymorons. Mike Duffy, musician and founder of the “Folk’n
A” open mic night at the Webster House Restaurant in Worcester,
agrees. “There is a very supportive core of musicians and artists.
They are great people and that’s a plus,” he says. “I
see an amazing amount of support in the folk scene. There’s always
one singer-songwriter promoting another, who’s promoting another.
It’s really nice to see,” says musician Heidi- Jo Hanson,
host of the “Acoustic Singer/Songwriter Showcase” at McNally’s
Grille & Pub in Westminster.
The folk scene in Central MA has remained vibrant and creative through
the enthusiasm, hard work and networking of open mic presenters like Hanson
and Duffy and through coffeehouse producers like Chuck Demers of the Green
Rooster Coffeehouse in Worcester and Gary Kavanagh of the Steeple Coffeehouse
in Southborough.
Despite the support of folk radio station WICN, more than ten weekly acoustic
open mic nights and over 25 folkfriendly/ folk-centric venues, these organizers
have been finding it difficult to bring in audiences. “It’s
getting harder to bring folks in to see a show for the evening,”
says Kavanagh.
Crockett and Duffy agree. “Although you tend to get an audience
that likes to be entertained and is open to a wide variety of music,”
says Crockett, “the audience for the music is aging and not going
out as much.” “It’s hard to get people to come out and
take a chance on new acts,” says Duffy. He also believes that the
scene is oversaturated. With so many open mic nights overlapping, the
small audience is being pulled in different directions on the same nights,
diluting attendance.
The OVK anchored Central MA’s folk scene for years. It was equal
in popularity to Cambridge’s Club Passim. Its demise is a “void
we still face,” Duffy says. “Nothing has replaced the zen
of the place.” He says that he started “Folk’n A”
four years ago at the now closed Gilrein’s in Worcester “just
to keep something going.”
Many of the presenters and hosts of open mic nights are musicians themselves.
Hanson has been entertaining professionally for 11 years and released
her first album of original work, “I’m Still Me,” in
2004. She says, “I enjoy meeting and supporting my fellow singer-songwriters
more than anything. These people have a message that they bring into the
world through the gift of song. They truly inspire me.”
The scene continues to attract new supporters, too. Rob Peterson and his
wife Ania, both in their mid-twenties, opened Acoustic Java on Main Street
near Clark University in Worcester in November 2004. They began hosting
live entertainment in January, initially tapping the university and making
contacts through the web and at other local open mics in order to book
local talent. Peterson says that his small coffee shop, with its living
room atmosphere and respectful “listening crowd” of regulars,
is the perfect place for new acts to hone their songs and stage presence.
“Local icons like Valerie and Walter Crockett, Plainfolk and Chuck
& Mud perfected their songwriting craft and musicianship at local
club and church coffeehouse hoots and open mics,” says Duffy. “These
open mics offer a safe atmosphere for songwriters and musicians. They
know the audience is there to listen.”
Check the listings – many young and emerging songwriters grace local
stages all over Central Massachusetts every day and are always looking
for new supporters.
Thank you to Walter Crockett, Chuck Demers, Mike Duffy, Heidi-Jo Hanson,
Gary Kavanagh, and Rob Peterson.
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