Jack Cooper - Guelph, ON Musician

I received an email from an old friend today whom I served with on committee for Kitchener-Waterloo’s Black Walnut folk club (quick answer Dan- I am actively working on it..)

The Black Walnut folk club is one of those rare initiatives that has made it into its second decade. I believe it has lasted fifteen years or so, at last count. It was a loosely formed and organized attempt to host folk music open stages once a month. At the time, the Brantford Folk club and been running for a decade, and there was also a long running folk club in Hamilton. Guelph had one as well- I fondly recall climbing the stairs of the Army-Navy club club in the early nineties. Caledonia had a club that ran for a while. Oakville launched the White Oaks folk club- I believe it has been resurrected. Anyway, my memory isn’t very good at things like that. If you want the real scoop, just ask Jeremiah.

During the first decade, the Black Walnut club underwent a series of changes of venue and committee members. These things happen. People move on, locations become suddenly unavailable, people stop showing up. There have been a few key members that have kept the club afloat over most of its existence, probably no one more committed than Jakki. But Jakki would probably object to being singled out, and one of the hallmarks of the club has been the behind-the-scenes commitment by a number of folks.

When I first started going out to folk clubs, I was not quite seasoned as a performer. I wanted a place to play where you could actually hear yourself and people actually listened. Most open stages were about appeasing the club owner or manager. Attention to sound quality or enhancing the performer’s experience was definitely down on the list. The folk clubs, particularly Brantford’s, was a new experience to me. I didn’t have a folk music background and didn’t know my ocarinas from my digiredoos. But I knew how welcome I felt and how open the folks listening were to hearing different kinds of performers and music.

What does it take to keep something going at the grassroots level? Many organizations fade within a few years or so after starting. What I recognized, when I hosted a meeting in my living room several years ago to find out how to prolong the life of the fledgling folk club (the original founders, Robin and Annie, had to take leave shortly after starting the club.) What I recognized was that there was a real strong desire among the people in the room to share the same kind of experience I had from folk clubs- a warm and supportive listening environment to foster acoustic music. That desire was shared by other folks who later came out and helped run the club. That desire is an equal partner to the commitment shown by individual members.

Here’s to the grassroots spirit.