1/19/24

Hello Everyone:
Here’s the latest QCB/Leo Coffeehouse news:

Folk Music Jam at Community Happens Here

QCB has begun a new association with Community Happens Here (CHH), an impressive multi-purpose community center in Pleasant Ridge located less than two miles north of Zion UCC at 6238 Montgomery Rd.

I’m not exactly sure how the idea for QCB and CHH working together came about, but Ruth Anne Wolfe (founder of CHH), Kelli Domke (QCB/CHH), and Amy Holbrook (CHH) were all involved in the brainstorming. They invited Janice Alvarado and myself to a meeting at CHH to discuss the idea. 

The basic idea is by working together we can benefit each organization. It gives QCB an opportunity to introduce ourselves, and folk music, to a new group of people from a nearby community. For CHH, music is another way to promote community connections in Pleasant Ridge. After discussing how each organization works, and various ideas of how we could work together, we decided that the easiest way to get started was with a jam. 

QCB will be hosting our first Acoustic Folk Jam at CHH, on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. CHH is open to the public from 11:00 AM-1:00 PM with an event they call “Sidewalk Hospitality”. Our jam will overlap that event and introduce visitors to the idea of folk music at CHH. Janice is taking the responsibility of running the jam, but I plan to be there to help too. We’ll see how it goes, but right now, we plan to hold jams at CHH once a month. 

You can read more about CHH on their website.

Leo Coffeehouse
January 21, 2024

3:30 PM: 3rd Sunday Sing Along
Tell your friends and bring the kids! Everyone will pick songs from the Rise Up Singing books.

5:15 PM: Guitar RoundTable Workshop
Forum for players of any skill level to exchange ideas so we can all make better music together. Bring a question, share a tip. Learn a new lick or chord. Gain a new perspective, share your own with us. Enrich your guitar experience.

5:15 PM: Open Jam
Musicians bring songs to lead in the circle while others provide backup and harmony. This jam continues upstairs during the concert.

6:40 - 9:00 PM: Performances

All Evening Open Mic
Sign up at 6:15 PM to perform up to 3 songs. Sound system will be set up.

Looking Ahead:
Leo Coffeehouse, January 28, 2024

5:15 PM: Workshop led by Alex Poteet: 
Open Chords: Moving Past the First 5 Frets. Focusing on open acoustic guitar chords moved down the neck to create different sounds and textures.

5:15 PM: 4th Sunday Old Time Country Jam
Join us playing early roots country such as Jimmy Rogers, Bob WIlls, Patsy Cline, Delmore Brothers and The Carter Family. Will include songs from the early 1900s through the Folk Revival.

5:15 PM: Open Jam
Musicians bring songs to lead in the circle while others provide backup and harmony. This jam continues upstairs during the concert.

6:40- 9:00 PM: Performances

1st Set: John Fonner
You can often find John as Emcee for the Leo Coffeehouse but tonight he’s on the bill performing on tenor guitar with bassist, John Gardik. The music will include several original songs, and an eclectic mix of old country classics, mid-century gospel and odds and ends. Remember if folks like it, it’s folk music.

2nd Set: Alex Poteet
Alex has provided world-class live music entertainment and guitar instruction locally since 2006. With a rootsy, blues-inspired sound that draws from five decades of music history including John Mayer, James Taylor, the Beatles and more, his "One Man Band" style captivates audiences of all ages. His mission is to share joy through every note he plays and in each lesson he leads; his vision is that performers around the globe become more deeply connected with their craft so they can bring new artistry into the world.

3rd Set: Dave Hawkins, Peg Buchanon and the Perfect Men
“Dave is a rare find in this world of hyped, derivative and bottom line-driven music…he has broadened his work to include many influences from the best of rich musical forms usually found elsewhere in the world.”
—Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)

Peg Buchanon and The Perfect Men: Bobby Fisher and Michael Ronstadt will accompany.

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.

I hope to see you at Leo Coffeehouse.

Neil Harrell
President, Queen City Balladeers/Leo Coffeehouse

President’s Letter