After a long closure, the Village Pump Folk Club in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England will reopen next month. A selection of the club’s best regular performers will play the grand opening. The club will then begin a regular schedule of Friday night shows featuring artists such as the award-winning acoustic folk band Show of Hands.

I’d like to mention just a few events in folk music over the past year. These items will be old news to many of you, but I thought it would be helpful to start off this way and then go on to recent and upcoming events.

On a local scale, some of us witnessed changes in music venues, such as the the closing of Middle Earth Music Hall in Bradford, Vermont last May:

http://www.memh.com/index.php

http://www.middle-earth-music.com/

Happily, you can find their live music videos on:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Folkhero01

On the national front, we mourned the passing of folk music legend Odetta (December 2, 2008):

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1863667,00.html

Last month we saw Grammy awards granted to Pete Seeger (best traditional folk album), The Blind Boys of Alabama (best traditional gospel album), Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (best bluegrass album), B. B. King (best traditional blues album), Ladysmith Black Mambazo (best traditional world music album) and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (best contemporary folk/Americana album, country and pop awards for individual songs, and album of the year). The Blind Boys of Alabama and Tom Paxton were given lifetime achievement awards.

Independent Music Awards winners, also in January, included Tony Trischka for best Americana album and The Paschall Brothers for best gospel album.

http://www.independentmusicawards.com/ima_new/jukebox2009.asp

http://www.folkways.si.edu/about_folkways/news.aspx

And Rolling Stone, the chronicle of rock, honored folk music artists Joan Baez and Pete Seeger in their February 19 issue:

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/02/inside-rolling-stones-afternoon-with-folk-icons-pete-seeger-and-joan-baez/

Feel free to comment on the folk music events that were memorable for you.

An update from Chris Jones of Middle Earth Music Hall on the lawsuit I posted about earlier -Ken

Thanks to all who sent cards, letters, e-mail and cash. The response has been and continues to be amazing. Both the music community and the locals have been solid in their support. The local weekly called to say that there was “no way we can print all these letters but we will do as much as possible.” The letters have had a galvanizing effect on the local public causing everyone to take notice of what is going on. We can’t go anywhere without a word of encouragement, a pat on the back or sometimes even a ten, twenty or check slipped in the handshake. (more…)

Last week the Middle Earth Music Hall in Bradford, Vt. was served with a summons to appear in the Orange County Superior Court in Chelsea, Vt to answer to a motion for an immediate injunction to cease all activity at the music hall immediately

Cindy Harris and F. Richard Heath have filed a Federal civil Rights lawsuit against O’Hara Township (near Pittsburgh PA) in a long running dispute with the Township about hosting house concerts in their home.

Two long running folk and acoustic venues are turning 30 this year.

The WestSide Cafe in Frederick, Maryland, is a new venue for original acoustic music, presenting shows four nights a week.

Jerry Holombe has started a web site dedicated to The Garret Coffee House which existed in West Hollywood California from 1958 to 1971 . He’s collected stories and photos from the Garret which was a popular hang out for west coast musicans in it’s day.

During the folk music revival of the 1960s The Garret was a popular place for musicians to relax and hang out. Terrea was always the main performer on stage, but just about every major folk music act in the business could have been found around the fireplace at some time or other. One night it was remarked that a bomb in the place would have instantly wiped out most of the folk music movement. Reported present at the time were Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Theodore Bikel, Joni Mitchell, Bud and Travis, Hoyt Axton and assorted other greater and lesser lights of the day.

Jerry’s looking for more stories and photos from that era.

thegarret.info