President’s Letter
Folknotes 01/24/25
Hello Everyone,
Here is the latest QCB news.
Shape Note Singing Class at OLLI
Leo Coffeehouse, Sunday, January 26, 2025
New Workshops Next Week
Looking Ahead: Leo Coffeehouse, Sunday, February 2, 2025
WoodSongs Hurricane Helene Instrument Drive
Reference Information For New Subscribers (Below my sign off)
Shape Note Singing Class at OLLI
From Rich Overturf: I am teaching a class at Olli that may be of interest to some of you. The class is "Singing from the Sacred Harp”. The Sacred Harp is a hymnal first published in 1844. It uses the distinct shaped-note musical notation that was common at the time. There has been a revival of singing from this book in recent years. It is considered a folk tradition. There are groups all over the country that get together to sing from it. There is an active group in Cincinnati. The singings are not religious services and draw people from all backgrounds. This class will be mostly class participation; a little bit of lecture and a lot of singing. No singing experience required. The first class is Jan. 28. Olli is a program offered through UC that offers noncredit classes to those over 50. Email olli@uc.edu for more info, or contact Rich with any questions.
Leo Coffeehouse
Sunday, January 26, 2025
5:15 PM Old Time Jam
Join this song circle to lead and play along to old songs written before the folk revival.
5:15 PM Open Jam
Anyone can bring songs to lead in the circle while others provide backup and harmony.
Performances 6:40-9:00 PM
1st Set: Jeff Gushin And Scott Nutter
Jeff has had a long-time interest in traditional old-time music including early influences on the genre ranging from blues, ragtime, show tunes, swing, jug band and even Hawaiian music. He also performs with the Laurelview Ramblers. Scott returned to the guitar, the passion of his youth, about 15 years ago when he joined the Leo. He loves to explore a wide variety of musical styles. Expect a few rags, blues, stomps, marches, etc. on fiddle and mandolin accompanied by guitar.
2nd Set: Cigar Box Scott
Cigar Scott Ackinson’s unique take on roots music fuses traditional folk music with rock and blues inspired rhythms. He creates original interpretations of old songs, performing new arrangements on electric cigar box guitar and his homemade amplified foot stompbox. His solo gigs cover a wide range of styles and songs.
3rd Set: Cincinnati Dancing Pigs
Cincinnati's premier Jug Band has been around since the early years of the Rolling Stones, have lasted longer than the Beatles and have more living members than the Grateful Dead. The Cincinnati Enquirer once compared them to the Julliard String Quartet, although not favorably. They have played at every Tall Stacks, at the Cincinnati Bicentennial Celebration, for the runners in the Flying Pig Marathon, many times in the summer concert series in Eden Park, for the Art Museum, and in many bars, back yards and living rooms throughout the area. From country club weddings to pig roasts to 4th of July parties, they have shamelessly wound up audiences at every variety of event.
New Workshops Next Week
I wanted to highlight two workshops that will be held at Leo next week, February 2, 2025. The first one is brand new: Back to Basics from 4:15 to 5:15 PM. The second one has been held one time before, but I didn’t highlight it: Patriots and Protesters led by John Fonner from 5:15-6:30 PM. See below for more on these workshops.
Looking Ahead: Leo Coffeehouse
Sunday, February 2, 2025
3:00 PM: 1st Sunday Rise Up Singing
Tell all your friends and bring the kids! Everyone picks songs from Rise Up Singing and Rise Again song books which are available to purchase or to use in the circle. The incredible Al Wauligman will lead us on the piano.
Back to Basics Workshop
Introducing another opportunity to play and sing. “Back to Basics Circle” is for anyone who wants to refine their technique, and share their experience with others. Newcomers are encouraged to come. Easy chords and transitions…. plus easy tempo and strumming are the focus of this group.
Please join Isaiah Tam, Alana Johnson and Bob Schrock in the Green Room (the 1st floor conference room) on the first Sunday of the month at 4:15-5:15pm.
5:15 PM: Patriots and Protesters led by John Fonner
Let’s unite and heal our communities through song! Protest songs point to injustice and challenge us to make things better. Patriotic songs celebrate the best in our communities and draw us together. We’ll create a list of 10-15 songs to practice together so that any of us can lead a group of others. (Upstairs in the big room.)
5:15 PM: Open Jam
Anyone can bring songs to lead in the circle while others provide backup and harmony.
Performances 6:40-9:00 PM
1st Set: Dave Gilligan
Dave Gilligan was once described by a colleague as, "The guy my mother warned me about.” Why? Perhaps his annual solo set will provide an answer; perhaps not.
2nd Set: Stick & Bindle
A Cincinnati area folk duo made up of Steve Covington and Anne Bangert. They bring their rootsy, multi-instrumental tunes and traditional tributes to the alt-country/Americana scene. Their debut album, Lore and Laments, is now available on all streaming platforms and in vinyl.
3rd Set: Back Porch Hounds
The Back Porch Hounds play a roots music mix of country blues, old style jazz, Celtic, old-time and bluegrass. It’s mostly old, obscure music with a modern edge, plus some originals. If they look like a bluegrass band from a distance, it’s because they love tapping into the many roots, and instrumentation, of traditional music. The hounds include: Frank Fitch, Dennis Henderson, Fred Hautau, and Dale Farmer.
WoodSongs Hurricane Helene Instrument Drive
Now along with dropping them off at Leo Coffeehouse on Sunday nights (see Neil Harrell or Janice Alvarado), anyone can drop playable, good condition instruments off at area music stores, including Willis Music stores and Buddy Roger’s. For more information and a list of stores accepting instruments for the WoodSongs Hurricane Helene instrument drive, go here.
New: Instruments will be collected through January. All donated instruments will be delivered to Lexington. WoodSong volunteers will then deliver them, along with donated instruments from other areas, to Tennessee and North Carolina musicians.
From the WoodSongs website:
“The area around Asheville NC and east Tennessee is rich with musical heritage. With your help, WoodSongs will collect and deliver over 1000 FREE instruments to the musicians of the mountains who lost everything in the storms and help restore the music of the front porches of Western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
“We were very successful organizing instrument drives for tornado victims in western Kentucky and again for the flood victims of the mountains. Nearly 2000 instruments were collected, restored and delivered absolutely FREE to the musicians who needed them.”
That’s all for this Folknotes, I hope to see you soon.
Neil Harrell
President, Queen City Balladeers/Leo Coffeehouse
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President’s Letter
QCB/Leo Coffeehouse Membership
We are keeping our standard annual QCB membership dues at $20.00 for a family, or for a single person plus a guest. Last year, knowing that the pandemic cut into our contingency funds, as we continued to pay overhead expenses with no income, some members donated larger amounts to QCB. We very much appreciate the support of all QCB members at all levels.
We are exploring setting up our website to allow the payment of different levels of dues support. For now, if you’d like to pay the standard dues, you can pay them online here or by a check at Leo. (We’ve discontinued our P.O. Box, I will have a mailing address in the next newsletter for those who wish to mail their membership dues.)
If you would like to donate more than the $20.00 standard dues, you can do so by check, or through our website. When you get to the page with the box to relay instructions, just note that you are paying a larger amount for your dues.
For visitors who prefer not to become a member, a donation of $5.00 (cash) per person helps us pay the rent for our non-profit organization. Donations can be slipped in the box at the welcome table outside our performance room, Founders Hall. If you can’t afford that, pay what you can afford or nothing at all. We will welcome you to join us either way.