Well folkies, the club is off for the summer until September 16, 2011.
BUT: The eleventh Annual Campfire is on Saturday July 9, 2011. For more info, check your email. If you aren’t on our email list you could call Jim or Irena at 519-699-4520 for more info.

This message from Jakki is important to members of our folk music community. GK was an important member of the Black Walnut Folk Club from way back in the early days. Jakki posted this on Facebook:
“I just received the sad news of the passing of my friend, G.K. (Gail Karen Eckert). She was a singer/songwriter, music teacher, writer, mentor and a lovely woman. She will be missed by many. I’m so glad I got to spend a bit of time with her in the last few weeks. For those of you who knew her, she has some videos on youtube about finding your creativity. Sing with the angels, G.K.!!”

From The Record on May 28,: “GK passed away at Freeport hospital, in Kitchener, on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at the age of 58. Beloved friend and companion of Byron Leis of Waterloo. Loving sister of Gudrum Reichert of Lucknow and Linda Eckert and Arthur Hutchison of the Yukon. Lovingly remembered by her nieces, nephews and cousins. Predeceased by her parents, John and Berta Eckert. Special thanks to the doctors and staff of Grand River Hospital and Freeport Hospital.
To celebrate GK’s life, a memorial reception will be held in the Fireplace Room of the Erb and Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King Street S. Waterloo on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 where friends and family will be receved from 7-8 p.m. and eulogies shared after 8 p.m. Any expressions of sympathy, donations may be made to the Grand River Hospital Regional Cancer Centre by contacting the funeral home at www.erbgood.com or 519-745-8445.”

The Folk Club for the “second homeless” on the May 24 long-weekend was extremely well attended. Thanks to all who turned out for the show and all who helped set-up, run the production take it all down and take it home at the end of the show.

Jakki Annerino’s six song set started with a solo with self accompanied dulcimer of a traditional “Shady Grove” followed by four of her original songs and closing off with a Keb Mo cover.  Her usual band accompanied on acoustic  and electric guitars.  We put up a photo on the “performers’ pictures” page (Thanks Franki).

Next month the plan is to go back to the all open stage format.  We found that even though Jakki’s songs were short and she finished 6 or 7 minutes early, we could not give everybody who signed up time to play two songs.  Some people who arrived before 8 pm found that the open stage was full and did not get to play at all.

The 17 Open Stage performers (Random order) were: Jay Collins, Jay Linden, Dave Maranta, Dan Hergott, Randy Ouillette, Geoff Lewis, Lynn Kirby, Tom Massiah, Jay Moore, Dan Kearney, Terry Golletz, Jack Guest, Ted Shapiro – NEW, Nathan Few, Scott Abrams, Adam Lang (almost 12 years old!) – NEW, Wayne Cheater (With Jim Galway, Terry Golletz & Dave Maranta)

We had a fine evening of all Open stage.  There were great songs and a good audience turned out to appreciate the show.  Next Month, April 15th, we will welcome “Shenanigans” to start the evening with a feature set.  They are a great Celtic band that we herd a few months ago.  They are also playing at McCabes on King Street on Saturday, March 26.  Then on May 20th we will once again feature Jakki Annerino.

On March 18, our open stage performers were:

Will Spzegl – NEW, , Nathan Few, Dan Hergott,
Lynn Kirby, Scott Abrams, Randy Ouillette,
Jakki Annerino, Dan Kearney, David Maranta,
Wayne Cheater, Cam & Pat, Jim Galway,
Loretta Fullerton

Well we finally tried it with no featured performer.  We did have a full list of 17 open stage performers.  A special thanks to the crew that helped out big time, including Jim Galway who engineered the sound.  NEXT MONTH: We plan to do the same, all “Open Stage” format.  As a result we will start the Open-stage at 8:00 p.m. sharp and we will have time for a short half-time break.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE:  on the need to ensure that when you perform that you are expected to be fully prepared in advance, with your musical instrument tuned and your songs ready to go. All of the performers averaged out to less than 10 minutes. We were able to hear every performer who signed up, perfom 2 numbers if they wished and finished the program by 11:00 p.m. because of that.

On Friday February 18, 2011 the Open stage performers were:

David Maranta, Nathan Hew – NEW, Dan Hergott, Jay Collins, Don Sawchuk – NEW, Randy Ouillette, Jakki Annerino, Barry Cull, Lynn Kirby, Dan Kearney, Then we took a short Break.
After the break we heard from: Bob McLean, Bob Dyke, John Stroud, Jim Galway, Cam and Pat, Wayne Cheater, Nicole Coward & David Skura – NEW

John Stroud treated us to a set of six of his humorous songs, with his unique style of introductions and vocals and his very fluid Martin, 12-string guitar accompaniment. As a surprise treat, he tossed in copies of his CD. We will get a great photo of John, Taken by unstoppable Frankie Picasso, on our “Performers Picture” page.

After John’s set we had a full list of open stage performers.  A special thanks to the crew that helped out big time, including Dan Hergott who engineered the sound with assistance from David Maranta and Ellen Hergott who was was back as MC for the evening.  NEXT MONTH: Our Featured performer has CANCELED due to a schedule conflict. Shenanigans will not appear at our February 18, 2011 Black Walnut Folk Club.  As a result we will start the Open-stage at 8:00 p.m. sharp and we will have time for a short half-time break.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE:  on the need to ensure that when you perform that you are expected to be fully prepared in advance, with your musical instrument tuned and your songs ready to go.  Several performers volunteered/agreed to reduce their open stage sets to only one song. We were able to hear every performer who signed up and finish the program by 11:00 p.m. because of that.

On Friday February 21, 2011 the Open stage performers were:

Dan Hergott, Murray O’Brien, Wayne Cheater & Jon Aplin, Randy Ouillette, Bob Dyke, Dan Kearney, Jakki Annerino, Lynn Kirby, David Maranta, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott, Scott Abrams (new), Jennifer Ferguson (new), Rob Pothier – Bumble, Andrew Kerth, Cam and Pat, Walter Horn

This website/blog is a fairly low effort project to give folks easy access to information about the folk club, what it is about, what  happened recently at the club and what is planned for the next month. It also stared to post on my own facebook page.  If folks would like, We could start a BlackWalnut Folk Club Facebook,  but that has not been promised at this time.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,600 times in 2010. That’s about 9 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 14 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 37 posts. There were 5 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 222mb.

The busiest day of the year was April 17th with 50 views. The most popular post that day was Performers Pictures.

The Christmas spirit was strong at the folk club as Al Parrish www.alparrish.ca  started us out with a fine set of his mostly original songs. After 17 years with CFMA “Best Vocal Group” Tanglefoot, Al brought his huge charismatic stage presence, boundless energy, and ‘That Voice’.  His fine voice was backed by his guitar and acoustic bass. He gave a large dose of inspiration to all who were tuned in. We have a photo of Al on the performers’ Pictures page. Next month on January 21st John Stroud will perform in the featured spot.

After Al’s set we had a great list of open stage performers with Christmas presents aka door prizes. There were candies on the tables to help with the festive mood. A special thanks to the crew that helped out big time, including Jim Galway who engineered the sound and Karen Ouilette who was our first-time MC.

The Open stage performers were:

1) Wally, 2) Brian Kelly (new), 3) Lynn Kirby, 4) Murray O’Brian, 5) Randy Ouillette, 6) Jakki Annerino, 7) Bob Dyke, 8)Barry Cull, 9) John Stroud,
10, Gilbert & O’Neilson, 11, Jay Linden, 12) Wayne Cheater, 13) Loretta, 14) Cam & Pat, 15) Jim Galway