Where to find folk music nearby

When I tell people I volunteer at the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield, I often get a puzzled look, unless they are “in the know” about the Boston Folk Scene. Some people don’t even know that some of the best music in the world might be right in their own back yard.

I cannot say that I have been to all the coffeehouses around Boston, though I’d certainly like to over time. But if you love folk music like I do, what’s a folk fan to do?

Try the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association, or BACHA, for short. The group was formed in 2000 to help spread the word about folk music and the region’s coffeehouses. At a time when it seemed the ’90s folk scene in Boston might be fading, BACHA helped foster their growth.

Visit the link called “Find a Coffeehouse Near You” and you’ll get an alphabetical listing of the various clubs. Click on their logos to visit their individual web sites. It’s kind of clunky.

But it wasn’t hard for me to find out that traditional Irish balladeer Aoife Clancy has a show this Saturday, March 15 at the Old Ship Coffeehouse Off The Square in Hingham, Mass., and cowboy singer Skip Gorman on April 19.

Or that the famed South Shore Folk Club in Plymouth has Charlie Farren on April 5 and the marvelous harmonies of the Burns Sisters on May 3.

Or even that the Stone Temple Coffeehouse in Quincy, Mass., has North Shore comedic singer-songwriter Don White on April 26.

Good stuff with just a little searching. And all simple clicks from the BACHA web site.

~ by folkmaster on March 13, 2008.