President’s Letter
Folknotes 05/01/25
Hello Everyone,
Here’s the latest QCB news:
Elections/Update to Constitution
Leo Coffeehouse, Sunday, Sunday, May 4, 2025
Looking Ahead: Leo Coffeehouse, Sunday, May 11, 2025
SongFarmers Gathering, May 8-10, 2025
Reference Information For New Subscribers (Below my sign off)
Elections/Update to Constitution
As far as I know, all of our current volunteer board members would like to continue in their positions for the 2025/26 season. To follow the letter of our constitution, we will be holding an election sometime this month. Right now I am hoping to hold it via the internet rather than in person on a single Leo Coffeehouse Sunday. If it runs as it has for as long as I can remember, the only ones running will be the current volunteer board members.
That said, anyone who wishes to, can throw their hat in the ring and run for one of the board positions. If anyone is interested in running, please let me know.
The current QCB Board Members/Positions are as follows:
Neil Harrell, President
Janice Alvarado, Vice President
Sharon Riegler, Secretary
John Mann, Treasurer
Ed Riegler, Historian/Librarian,
Kelli Domke, Hospitality Coordinator
Dick Males, Support Team Representative
We will also be reviewing the titles and duties of board member positions in our constitution, and will be revising them to match the duties as they are currently being performed. The Hospitality Coordinator name and duties will change, along with the duties of the Support Team Representative.
Members will vote on these minor changes to the constitution during the election.
Note that all the above board members pretty much fill in wherever they are needed to keep Queen City Balladeers and Leo Coffeehouse running; and, of course, we have numerous member volunteers who help on Leo Coffeehouse nights.
Anyway, I’ll let you know more in the near future.
Leo Coffeehouse, Sunday
Sunday, May 4, 2025
3:00 PM: 1st Sunday Rise Up Singing
Tell all your friends and bring the kids! Everyone picks songs from Rise Up Singing and Rise Again song books which are available to purchase or to use in the circle. The incredible Al Wauligman will lead us on the piano.
4:15 PM: Back to Basics workshop
For anyone who wants to refine their technique, and share their experience with others. Newcomers are encouraged to come. Easy chords and transitions…. plus easy tempo and strumming are the focus of this group.
5:15 PM: Patriots and Protesters led by Charlie Mosbrook
Let’s unite and heal our communities through song! Protest songs point to injustice and challenge us to make things better. Patriotic songs celebrate the best in our communities and draw us together. Like Woody Guthrie, Charlie uses his music to make a better world through programs that advocate for human rights and environmental action.
5:15 PM: Open Jam
Anyone can bring songs to lead in the circle while others provide backup and harmony.
Performances: 6:40 - 9:00 PM
1st Set: Mike Boerschig
Mike has roamed to festivals and pubs to find songs and stories to lift people up. He performs them in his own unique style. The rhymes and the rhythms will make you smile.
2nd Set: Charlie Mosbrook
Few people have been as central to Cleveland’s music. His turf is acoustic singer/songwriter/folk music. He has performed for 30 years, releasing albums, collaborating with and encouraging other artists, and hosting open mic nights. He’s an artist teacher with Roots of American Music and president of FARM and Folknet. Through countless charities and events that advocate for human rights and environmental action, Charlie uses his music as a vehicle for a better world. Visit Charlie’s website.
3rd Set: Butch Ross
Chattanooga multi-instrumentalist and mountain dulcimer maestro Butch Ross has tackled everything from Radiohead to Bach and come away with a renewed appreciation for what the humble dulcimer is capable of. No genre is off-limits, nor is there a limit to what Ross has envisioned for this specific instrument. It is his groundbreaking and iconoclastic approach that caused ukulele-virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro to comment, "Now I know what a dulcimer is supposed to sound like."
Looking Ahead: Leo Coffeehouse
Sunday, May 11, 2025
5:15 PM: Songwriters Collaborative led by Dan and Faith Senie
Come and share your songs with other songwriters for encouragement and friendly critiques. Dan and Faith will offer their unique perspective on songwriting.
5:15 PM: Open Jam
Anyone can bring songs to lead in the circle while others provide backup and harmony.
Performances: 6:40 - 9:00 PM
1st Set: QCB SongFarmers
QCB members who attended the SongFarmers Annual Gathering will strut some of the stuff they learned at the gathering.
2nd Set: Dan & Faith
Dan and Faith are an award-winning, New England-based husband and wife singer-songwriter duo who describe their music as dream-inspired folk. Daniel Senie (guitar, banjo, harmonica, vocals) and Faith Senie (mandolin, bass guitar, dulcimer, ukulele, vocals) tap into dreams and everyday life in crafting their original songs. The duo has just released their sixth album, Who We Are. www.danandfaith.com
3rd Set: Oxford Folk Jazz
The Oxford Folk Jazz quintet performs an eclectic mix of jazz, blues, American standards, and musical selections from around the world. Composed of Zach Davis, Jim Dynes, Frank Fitch, Fred Hautau and Lara Thurston, the band presents up tempo, rhythm centric arrangements that invigorate the spirit. Connect to their Facebook here.
SongFarmers Gathering, May 8-10, 2025
2025 SongFarmers Gathering: song circles, workshops, town hall, shape note singing, and a lot more. May 8–10 in Lexington, KY. Current members only get 2 free tickets to all days. We're building a universal front porch. Learn more at at the SongFarmers website.
That’s all for this Folknotes, I hope to see you soon.
Neil Harrell
President, Queen City Balladeers/Leo Coffeehouse
Facebook:
QCB/Leo Coffeehouse Membership
We are keeping our standard annual QCB membership dues at $20.00 for a family, or for a single person plus a guest. Last year, knowing that the pandemic cut into our contingency funds, as we continued to pay overhead expenses with no income, some members donated larger amounts to QCB. We very much appreciate the support of all QCB members at all levels.
We are exploring setting up our website to allow the payment of different levels of dues support. For now, if you’d like to pay the standard dues, you can pay them online here or by a check at Leo. (We’ve discontinued our P.O. Box, I will have a mailing address in the next newsletter for those who wish to mail their membership dues.)
If you would like to donate more than the $20.00 standard dues, you can do so by check, or through our website. When you get to the page with the box to relay instructions, just note that you are paying a larger amount for your dues.
For visitors who prefer not to become a member, a donation of $5.00 (cash) per person helps us pay the rent for our non-profit organization. Donations can be slipped in the box at the welcome table outside our performance room, Founders Hall. If you can’t afford that, pay what you can afford or nothing at all. We will welcome you to join us either way.