What a great night that was to start off again after the summer break. On Friday Sept. 15, we had 3 new performers and lots of folks that we have not seen for a while. On Sept. 15th, we had the following 15 performers who played 2 songs each, including 3 performers first-time on the stage at Black Walnut:

1. Bob & Sue
2. John Walker
3. Ron Hammar
4. Liam Vickery – NEW
5. Jakki Annerino
6. David Maranta
7. Russell Scott
8. Kate Dudek – NEW
9. Julie
10. Cam & Pat
11. Max – NEW
12. Richard
13. Arthur Wayne

The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, September 15, 2023 at 7:30-10:00 pm. Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. (If you miss this date, our next open stage date will be October 20, 2023.)
A few things that we are expecting are:
1 New*Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other Than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance.
3 To protect the club mics, performers must use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff. They wash and air dry nicely. We will try to keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs AND
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed;
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.

The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com Our website has been updated to address some software issues and security concerns. The new URL is https://blackwalnutfolkclub.com There are still some minor links that are unresponsive and some cosmetic improvements that may soon get done.
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.
At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”
We have posted our Code of Conduct page and other details on our About Page. Our entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.

Upcoming Open Stage Dates in 2023 are : September 15, October 20, November 17 and December 8. All shows start at 7:30pm and Doors Open at 7:15pm. Our date for December 2023 has been revised to December 8th. Sorry about that. The space at the Center is not available on our regular date. ALSO: this site is undergoing some much needed maintenance and updating. The appearance of many parts is still being changed. Most important our URL is now revised to https://blackwalnutfolkclub.com. Our site security is improved.

On Friday, June 16 2023, we had 13 performances. We posted some photos at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/436037566493112.

Our Performers were:

1. John Walker
2. Russell & Ellen Scott
3. Ron Hammar
4. Terry Kreutzkamp
5. Jakki Annerino
6. Dan Hergott & Ellen Hergott
7. David Maranta
8. Gord Castle 
9. Julie Simpson
10. Cam & Pat
11. Doug Blair
12. Richard Reinhardt
13. Wayne Cheater

Thanks to everyone who helped to organize, performed, or just showed up last month at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage. We were treated to 14 great performances, including 6 BWFC first-timers.  A list of the performers is included at the end of this message.
The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, June 16, 2023 at 7:30-10:00 pm.  Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm.  (After that we will take a break for July and August with our next open stage date to be September 15, 2023.)
A few things that we are expecting are:

1  Masks will not be mandatory, but encouraged;

2  *NEW* We strongly discourage use of your own mics other Than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance.

3  To protect the club mics, performers must use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time.  We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously.  Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff. They wash and air dry nicely.  We will try to keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs  AND

4  Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away. 

Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.

The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm.  Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com

No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre. 

On Friday April 21st, We had a good ol’ Black Walnut Open Stage session with a good turnout of performers and listeners. There were 4 performers who had never performed at the Black Walnut before. Here’s a link to our Facebook post with some photos: https://www.facebook.com/groups/436037566493112/permalink/6042626842500795/ The next Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be Friday, May 19, 2023 at 7:30pm. Doors open and sign-up for the open stage starts at 7:15pm.

The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, April 21, 2023 at 7:30 pm.  Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm.  (If you miss this one, our next date is May 19th.)  

Thanks to everyone who helped to organize, performed, or just showed up last month at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage. It was St. Paddy’s and we were missing several of our organizers and regular attendees but we were treated to 10 great performances.  Our previous post included a list of the performers. 

A few things that we are expecting are:

1. Masks will not be mandatory, but encouraged;

2. To protect the club mics, performers must use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time.  We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously.  Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens separately so the dye won’t stain any other stuff. They wash and air dry nicely.  We will try to keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs  AND

3. Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away. 

Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.

The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm.  Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it. 

March 17th Open Stage was fun. We were quite shorthanded in the technical department, but thanks to our dedicated volunteers taking on different tasks we pulled it off, I’ll post details later. Here’s a link to our Facebook post with some photos: https://www.facebook.com/groups/436037566493112/permalink/5930823783681102/ 

We all pitched in and had an enjoyable, glitch-free evening. There were some Irish songs sung and some singing along. After a short break at about 9pm, several performers returned to the stage to do an extra song, which shows that we always make the most of an opportunity to have fun. Thanks to everyone who helped out and to everyone who performed or sat in the audience. Our next Open Stage date is Friday April 21, 2023 at 7:30 pm. The performers on March 17th were:

David Maranta

Graham Day – NEW

Ron Hammar

Russel Scott – NEW

Jakki Annerino

Barb Scott

Rick and Doug

Lawrence Cresswell

Richard Reinhardt

Arthur Wayne Cheater

The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, March 17, 2023 at 7:30 pm. This will be on the St. Patrick’s Day date which we will observe with no intoxicating substances and Irish songs are optional. (The next Date for this event is April 21st.) Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm.

Thanks to everyone who helped to organize, performed, or just showed up last night at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage. After some initial technical delays we were treated to 17 great performances and 37 total attendance. Not bad, after a 3 year break. It was great to be back. A list of the performers is included at the end of this message. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out last month.

Right now it looks like we won’t be changing much from the way we did things in 2019 except that we won’t plan to have a featured act until we have tried the Open Stage out for the first season. We are concerned that, like every other event or service in the community, we will lose volunteers with little or no advance notice because of health issues. The people that are essential and hardest to recruit are those with the ability to organize, move equipment to and from the Community Center and actually set-up and produce the event. If that sort of thing sounds good to you please contact us and we can discuss how that can happen.

A few things that we are expecting are:

1. We will set up tables and chairs, stage with sound and lights and coffee bar just like before, except we will do what we can to allow the attendees to maintain 2m social distancing;
2. Masks will not be mandatory, but encouraged;
3. To protect the club mics, performers will use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We still have only a few new windscreens left over from last month;
4. Anyone arriving at the Community Centre who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away. AND

It will be very satisfying to welcome many of our experienced and first-time performers and audience members.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.

The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. the facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.
At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”

We have posted our Code of Conduct page and other details on our About Page. Our entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.

On February 17, 2023, the performers at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage were:

Dan Patterson
Neil Lightt
Ron Hammar
Lawrence Cresswell
Dan Hergott and Ellen Hergott
Jakki Annerino with Wayne Cheater
Doug Blair (New to Black Walnut)
Gordon Castle
Richard Reinhardt
Jack Cooper
David Maranta
David Lum – Singer/Songwriter with Kathy Lepp
Kathy Lepp (New to Black Walnut) with David Lum – Singer/Songwriter
Arthur Wayne Cheater with Jakki Annerino
Paul Rempel
Cam and Pat
Barb Scott

At last, the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener starting on Friday, February 17, 2023 at 7:30 pm. (The next  Date for this event is March 17th.)  Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm.  

We know that some people are interested in returning to perform and some people are interested in returning to listen and see the rest of the gang. We also have some volunteers who are willing to return to organize and produce the Open Stage events.

Right now it looks like we won’t be changing much from the way we did things in 2019 except that we won’t plan to have a featured act until we have tried the Open Stage out for the first season. We are concerned that, like every other event or service in the community, we will lose volunteers with little or no advance notice because of health issues. The people that are essential and hardest to recruit are those with the ability to organize, move equipment to and from the Community Center and actually set-up and produce the event. If that sort of thing sounds good to you please contact us and we can discuss how that can happen.

A few things that we are expecting are:

1. We will set up tables and chairs, stage with sound and lights and coffee bar just like before, except we will do what we can to allow the attendees to maintain 2m social distancing;
2. Masks will not be mandatory, but encouraged;
3. To protect the club mics, performers will use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We will make these available at no cost to the performers, at least for the first month.  ;
4. Anyone arriving at the Community Centre who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away. AND
5. It will be very satisfying to welcome many of our experienced and first-time performers and audience members.

We will also update our Facebook group and email list.