Joe Jencks and Si Kahn at the Hurdy Gurdy in 2018

This is the time of year we put away the lawn chairs and bug sprays that served us well during the summer festival season and head indoors to all the clubs and coffeehouses where we will experience the intimate spirit that is a hallmark of our folk community. In this column, I usually spend more time discussing my work in radio and often ignore another important aspect of my involvement with folk music – serving as President and booker of the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. I have not talked too much about the Hurdy Gurdy in the past because this column reaches a wide audience across the globe and the Hurdy Gurdy is a venue local to Northern New Jersey, but I think some of you might find it interesting to learn more about the work we do. This season, I intend to share some behind the scenes stories, some previews for upcoming shows and some reviews of the concerts we present. We are just one of hundreds of similar volunteer organizations operating across the country and the stories I hope to share might remind you of how your local venue operates.

Melanie at the Hurdy Gurdy in 2017

The Hurdy Gurdy presented its first concert in December 1981 in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. A few local folkies realized that Bergen County, a suburb of New York City, did not have a venue they could call their own so they got together to create something local. At the time, folk aficionados would travel about 30 miles south to places like the Minstrel, operated by the non-profit group The Folk Project (and still going strong), or venture into the city for clubs like Folk City, Speakeasy, the Bottom Line or many of the other clubs that were catering to folk audiences at the time. Within months of that first Hurdy Gurdy concert, a group of volunteers formalized the series into a full-fledged organization called the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club. The Hurdy Gurdy quickly outgrew the original space in Fair Lawn and moved to a Unitarian Church in Paramus, New Jersey that they would call home for over 20 years. The Hurdy Gurdy has played host to a virtual “who’s who” in the world of folk music with performances from artists like Pete Seeger, Odetta, David Bromberg, Doc Watson, Cherish the Ladies and many others. Concerts with Schooner Fare became an annual sold out “event” for a number of years, Eric Bogle paid the Hurdy Gurdy an annual visit on his U.S. tours and the club also “introduced” many new artists to their audience. I remember seeing John Gorka open a show for Christine Lavin and watching a newly formed group called Red Molly stun a crowd with a performance in a room that barely fit 50 people.

Mustard’s Retreat at the
Hurdy Gurdy in 2018

When the club began, my initial involvement was to emcee an occasional concert and help promote their shows on the radio. I became more involved with the club about 15 years ago when I was asked to help book artists for concerts. Before I knew it, I was suddenly the President of the club and helped move the organization back to Fair Lawn when the borough opened a brand new Community Center. Our new space, a 170 seat theater, was a huge step up from the folding chairs and iffy acoustics of the Unitarian Church. Comfy theater seats, a full stage close to the audience, full lighting, and digital sound, plus other accouterments makes the Hurdy Gurdy at the Fair Lawn Community Center a perfect gathering place for both artists and audience. I might be biased, but I feel that concerts in our space become elevated as artists seem to bring something extra to their performance once they step on our stage. As someone once said to me, we took folk music out of the church basements and created a “Folk Music Performing Arts Center”.

Alice Howe, Kirsten Maxwell & Freebo

Our 38th season will kick off on Saturday September 8 with three powerful performers sharing the stage – Freebo, Kirstin Maxwell and Alice Howe. These three acclaimed singer-songwriters who, out of their shared love of harmony singing, have joined together for several performances in the Midwest and East Coast and we are honored to present them on our intimate stage in Fair Lawn. Freebo is an award-winning singer-songwriter who is best known as a world-renowned bassist (Bonnie Raitt 10 years, CSN, Ringo Starr, Maria Muldaur, Dr. John, and many others). 2016 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Finalist Kirsten Maxwell is known for her “clear soprano [that] rings out in a way that would make Judy Collins and Joan Baez approve” (John Platt, WFUV). With her soulful, impeccably tuned voice, Alice Howe is “up there with the very best of Mary Chapin Carpenter, Gretchen Peters and Dar Williams” (Folking.com). Her song “Homeland Blues” debuted as #1 on the April 2017 Folk-DJ chart and the EP, “You’ve Been Away So Long,” came in as the #7 album of the year. FREEBO, MAXWELL, & HOWE promise a memorable evening of music bringing together a folk-rock-blues legend and two young artists becoming well known in the national folk scene.

In the coming months, we will share some wonderful evenings with artists like three-time Grammy Award winner Tom Chapin, folksinger Dom Flemons (co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops), acclaimed singer songwriter Tret Fure, and returning to our stage by popular demand – Susan Werner! We will also take you on a trip to Maine when two of the state storied artists visit our intimate stage in Fair Lawn – singer songwriter Dave Rowe along with storyteller Kendall Morse. Old friends Rod MacDonald and Joe Jencks will share an evening of music, and we will be treated to an exciting new trio featuring some names you might be familiar with – Fink, Marxer and Gleaves featuring Grammy Award winning artists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer along with Appalachian singer – multi-instrumentalist – songwriter Sam Gleaves. We will also spend an evening with Makem & Clancy – The Next Generation featuring Rory Makem (son of Tommy Makem) and Donal Clancy (son of Liam Clancy.) In addition, Traditionsfest will also return for an eclectic evening to benefit WFDU-FM in January.

The Hurdy Gurdy Folk Music Club holds monthly concerts from September through June at the Fair Lawn Community Center located at 10-10 20th Street in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. If you are in the area, I hope you will make plans to join us this season, our full schedule and a link to order tickets for all shows can be found by clicking on the box to the right of this article, or at www.hurdygurdyfolk.org. We are always looking for new volunteers, so if you would like to be a part of this, please get in touch.

Great music, great friends and a great spot for acoustic music. It all starts this Saturday, September 8, with FREEBO, MAXWELL, & HOWE and I plan to post a “review” of our first show next week. We look forward to spending some memorable evenings with you at the Hurdy Gurdy!