I think of the Cowichan Folk Guild Coffeehouse as the place where the music comes down from those high stages and famous places, right down into our hands. The first artist I ever saw at the Folk Guild was Gerry Barnum, on a rainy night in November, a long time ago now. I was amazed at the sound of the scratching metal and wood of his slide guitar playing. His voice was a river and I got lost in the eddies and twists and turns of his melodies, running from country blues to blue-eyed soul and pop. After the show, I had a chance to talk to him and he showed me how his guitar was in an open tuning, which I hadn’t heard of before.
For me, the Coffeehouse is an oasis of living music, where most of the A/V equipment is stripped away and any song, even an original, is eventually decorated with a silver lining of voices from the crowd.
Every second Saturday of the month, September to June, we continue to hold this gathering, in the Duncan United Church hall which includes an open stage at 7:30pm and the feature performers at 8:30pm. Our first Coffeehouse of the year is on September 9th and we will be welcoming performers Linsday Martell, Bruce Cates, Malakai, Mbira Spirit, Paul Ruszel and Naomi Payan to celebrate the music of Robbie Robertson and The Band. Robbie, proud Canadian whose First Nations heritage brought a “North American” perspective to his work, passed away a few weeks ago and we felt like celebrating those great songs, and even singing some of them together would give everybody that lift into fall we all hope for.
Paul Ruszel, who started as a performer at the first Islands Folk Festival in July 1985 and began attending the coffee house shortly after told me “the coffee house brings the community together to share something that
lifts the community. It is a spiritual barn raising.”
Lorna Lawson, who began attending at the same time says the coffeehouse is unique in that “the audience is open to anyone getting up on the open stage, and they make every performer feel welcome. We have had everybody on that stage from kids ages 5 or 6, sharing their first song or dance, to seasoned performers with well-known names. Everybody has the opportunity to develop the skill of being on stage — and be listened to.”
The Cowichan Folk Guild Coffee House operates on the second Saturday of each month, September to June at 7:30pm, doors at 7.
Rag Mama Rag: A Celebration is being held on September 9th.
Submitted by Jack Connolly