The Leo Future

One more week and then the season-ending hootenanny. For information about ArtSong: EdenSong at the Art Museum, click here. 

For a downloadable PDF of the schedule for the complete season click here.

Music Around the Area

Looking for opportunities to join the acoustic jam?

Here are two:

The NKY Unplugged Acoustic Society

Plain Folk Café

Check ‘em out.

Queen City Balladeers Elections

Nominations for Queen City Balladeer officers are now closed. The election process will start May 12 and end May 26 at the end of the year Hootenanny. We will announce the results at the Hootenanny.

Ballots for Queen City Balladeer members will be available at the club, starting May 12. We will also send out a link to a ballot using Survey Monkey via email.

Nominees are:

• President – Pete Armstrong
• Vice President – Chris Beiri
• Treasurer – Bev Hansen
• Secretary – Miriam Stenson
• Historian – Chuck Black

Ballots will provide space for write-in candidates.

To help you get to know the candidates a little better, here are some responses to the question: Why is the Queen City Balladeers important to you?

Pete Armstrong:

At about 9 years of age, I had an insatiable desire for music, pop music, and began listening to WCPO and WSAI on an old radio my parents gave me. They probably thought that gift was a bad idea after a bit.

 In elementary school, we sang “folk songs:”Woody Guthrie, Pete Seegar, spirituals and who knows what all else. It became part of my nourishment and has remained so all through my life.

 It was the music that brought me to the Leo, but it is the people that bring me back week after week. The gathering of such a diverse group of talented and passionate individuals is inspiring. The music is great but the conversations and friendships are greater.

 I am sorry that I didn’t become involved sooner in my life.

 Chris Bieri

The Queen City Balladeers is important to me because it keeps the rich tradition of folk music alive – and growing! Folk music tells our stories -historical, political, personal, and musical. The Queen City Balladeers provides a place for those irrepressible souls who speak their truths through song. Last, the camaraderie of the friends I’ve made at Leo has enriched my life!

 Bev Hansen;

The Queen City Balladeers is important to me. I have been blessed with being born into a musical family, and I appreciate the passion and devotedness of all of the musicians who gather together to make Queen City Balladeers the wonderful organization that it is. Because I have an accounting background, I am privileged to contribute in the position of treasurer.

The board is responsible for all financial decisions and for setting the direction for the Balladeers for the year in which the officers serve. The board year begins in September, with the opening of the club, and ends the following year when the club opens and a new board is installed.

Summer Jam at Sharon Woods

For the past two summers, the Sunday song circle/jam session has continued through the summer at Sharon Woods, starting at 6 p.m. and ending when the park closed. They’ve been pretty much self-organized — that is, organized by the participants themselves. We hope they will continue again this year. If you are interested, leave a comment on the bulletin board.

In the past, the jammers met near the Pavilion Grove Shelter, located at the Sharon Centre parking lot, which is the second drive on your left after you enter the park from Route 42. There is a playground and picnic area there as well.There is a $10 charge per car for an annual park sticker.

Click the thumbnail image above to open or download a map of Sharon Woods with the Pavilion Grove Shelter highlighted.

Tell your friends and other musicians. Help spread the word.

Spread the Word About the Balladeers

You can be on the Balladeers “Street Team” and help spread the word about who we are and what we do.  

To learn more about helping to promote the Balladeers (with some links to information about using social media to promote anything) click Help Market the Queen City Balladeers.

Membership Changes

Recently, the Queen City Balladeers board of directors voted to simplify our membership offerings. We now offer just two types, each one value-priced at $20 for a full year. Our new memberships are:

• Individual with guest pass
• Household/family membership

In addition, we established a standardized membership year that starts on September 1 of each year and ends August 31. This will make it easier for both our membership chairman and our members to remember when it is time to renew.

The cost for new memberships varies based on the time of year.

• Anyone who joins between the opening Leo of the season and the end of December pays $20 for the current membership year.
• Anyone who joins between January 1 and the last Leo of the season pays $10 for the current membership year
• Anyone who joins during the summer – essentially, that means at EdenSong –  pays $20 for the membership year that will start the next September.

The family membership covers all family members who share a residence, including students who have not yet graduated from college. The single membership with guest pass allows the member to bring in one guest to any evening at the Leo.

This policy went into effect February 10. In order to accommodate those that have already joined between January 1 and February 10, 2013 and paid $20, that membership will run through the end of the 2014 Leo season. In other words, those members get an additional four months of membership.

Even with these change, we know that a Queen City Balladeer membership is an outstanding value.

If you are a former Balladeer now living away from the Cincinnati area so that membership doesn’t really make any sense — or if you are just feeling generous and are grateful for what we do — you can donate an amount of your choice.

Questions or comments? Use the Contact Us page to email the president.