San Francisco Folk Music Club

Subject: San Francisco Folk Music Club
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Dec 98 - 01:06 PM

We kind of digressed on a thread asking for technical help, so I thought I'd move the messages over here. It seems appropriate that at the momen I discovered Barry's message, I was listening to Faith Petric's one-and-only CD, "Faith's Favorites." Here's what I said, that got Barry going, and then Barry's message will follow:

Sorry, Roger - I was off to San Francisco with my sweetie, singing at the SF Folk Music Club gathering at Faith Petric's house. It meets every other Friday, and it's just grand! The next day, we walked the Golden Gate Bridge on a clear night. So that's why I wasn't paying attention.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: JOE: Tech help please
From: Barry Finn
Date: 21 Dec 98 - 01:09 PM

Hi Joe, good to hear that you get out & about & go to music gatherings to boot, ah, it's a grand life. Joe could you tell me what Faith's Friday night sessions are like. The last time I was there (a week visit seeing in-laws & friends) was eleven yrs ago, before that 17 yrs ago. They used to start off in the parlor then as the night wore on they'd be acappella/chorus singing from the kitchen, other stuff came in from the halls, people practicing in the upstairs rooms & down in the cellar an old-timey/irish session would be on the go. This has to be one of the oldest music parties in the country 40 + years at the very least. I've heard, as of the past few years, that it's been run over by & run by & according to Rise Up Singing. Joe say it ain't so. Did you get a chance to get to the bi-monthy, or is it monthly, (I think, correct me ) shanty session at the Hyde Street Pier & if you know, how & what's that like now? It used to start in the early evenings so that young scouts & kids especially, would get exposure to & a chance to participate in what normally would be, for kids, difficult to find. As the night moved on more would start to drift in untill the hold of the schooner would be bursting with song (is it still held below decks?). Aside from the sessions & parties & get aways, these two spots were my favorites. Thanks for any up dates, Joe, & next time you're out this way (& the same goes for you, Liam's Brother) give some advance notice so you can get a wider musical scope to pick from. Hopefully my wife, at some point, will find a good enough reason to visit her 2 sisters in San Francisco. Stuck on the "Other Coast", Barry

Subject: RE: San Francisco Folk Music Club
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Dec 98 - 01:46 PM

Hi, Barry, I'm happy to report that the gatherings of the San Francisco Folk Music Club (SFFMC) are still just as you described them. They're held every other Friday at the home of Faith Petric, 885 Clayton Street. It appears the usual time is 9 PM until 1 AM. Details are at the club's Web site (click here).
My friend Claudia is one of the founders of the Sacramento Song Circle, and (as you might imagine) I'm one of the more vocal members. Claudia suggested that we go to the SFFMC "Solstanukkahmas Party" last Friday, so we did. The house is a three-story Victorian that appears to be totally devoted to folk music. I drooled over the library of songbooks in the parlor. I had been a little apprehensive about this gathering, since the gathering we attended in Berkeley a few months ago was a bit beyond our capabilities. I didn't get that feeling at Faith's - everybody fits in at Faith's. It's a very unpretentious group, not what I expected in a municipality so snooty it refers to itself as "The City," with a capital "T."
In the front parlor, the "younger" people were gathered, mostly people between the ages of 40 and 50. That room was dominated by people who come armed with musical instruments, so I didn't spend a lot of time there. Claudia plays every instrument known to mankind, so she stayed there. She reports that the music covered a wide spectrum, from rock 'n roll to traditional to Rodgers & Hart. Wish I had known about the Rodgers & Hart earlier.
I stayed in the back parlor with the septuagenarians (and a few of us others). Mostly, we sang Christmas carols, but it was a wide selection. There were a few copies of Rise Up Singing around and nobody criticized people who used the books, but most of the songs were sung from memory. Some people performed songs they had written themselves - the man next to me brought a tape recorder with a piano accompaniment for the songs he had written. We sang ALL the verses of every carol, and sometimes in various languages. I was pleased to see that people who weren't necessarily Christian still sang the carols with gusto. Many people in our Sacramento circle make horrible faces or start talking when others sing religious songs. We sang Christmas, songs, Hanukkah songs, and Solstice songs - together. The singing in my room was mostly a cappella, but there were a few guitars on some songs, and one man did a wonderful solo on a tin whistle.
And yes, Barry, there was a jam session in the cellar.
Claudia saw a history of the club on a flyer in the vestibule. I think she said the club was founded in 1948, and that Faith Petric has been hosting its gatherings since 1962. I am very pleased to announce that the San Francisco Folk Music Club is alive and well. Maybe Barbara can tell us more - she's been a member for a long time, even though she doesn't live there any more.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: San Francisco Folk Music Club
From: Barbara
Date: 22 Dec 98 - 01:25 PM

gosh, Joe, it's been maybe 18, 20 years since I went to Faith's to sing, but it sounds similar. Used to be front parlor was for pickin' and singin', the room off the kitchen where you said the septugenarians gathered was the "Theme room" (Hi, Art) for the topic of the week and was mostly acapella, often with people using books. I used to take books regularly, and I think some of them are still there in the library. The basement was Irish/Old-timey instrumental jam, and after the themesingers ran down, folks would congregate in the kitchen for harmony stuff. And cider, and pea soup. Used to be packed.
I had heard from folks that it languished for a while. Doesn't sound like it from your report.
I'll be going to the SFFMC New Years gathering in a week, my reward for a misspent year, and a "Yea! I made it thru the holidays again" time for me. It's one of my favorite things, and one can go by joining the folk club, something that costs, I believe, $4 or $6 dollars a year now (used to be $2 for a long time).
The NY camp itself is not very expensive at all, and a workshare, song share, WONDERFUL experience. Too late this year, but join the club and go next year. Meet Y2K with song!
Blessings, Barbara

Subject: RE: San Francisco Folk Music Club
From: Barry Finn
Date: 22 Dec 98 - 02:20 PM

Thanks for the nice news Joe. I've been to the Bay area a few times, once in the late 60's (summer of love) then in the late 70's & again for a winter stay (I needed warm winter work for a change) during the early 80's. The folk music scene there really knocked me over. Everyone one was so very nice & friendly & the level of talent was second to none (except maybe Boston - I'm bias - sorry). Music was happening all over the place, lots of coffeehouses, clubs, sessions, mini festivals & getaways & the parties, oh the parties, it was incestuous, no matter where you'd be, at an Irish session or a bluegrass jam to Texas swing to British Isle or Sea Shanties to 60's American folk revival stuff, there'd always be a large percentage of crossovers, so you'd always feel at home, you'd always know a few, it was like a great folk music family. That was, to me, the greatest part of the music scene out there. Boston has always been my home, but here sometimes you need to get a shovel to dig people out, to get them into the open & there's not a strong sense of belonging to a music scene here, alot of the people here don't crossover. Most that play Irish, you won't see elsewhere. The same goes for other types of folk. Singer/songwriters have there own pocket & so on, no big family feeling here. Although 20 years ago it was more like what you have out there but never near as strong or as encompassing. I truly believe that here in Boston there are more folk venues & singers/musicians & happenings than anywhere else in the country but if you'd put the two places side by side I have to say that you have, out there, the largest, most active & by far the friendliest family/community of folk people that I've ever seen & that they really expose themselves (you know what they say about you Left Coasters) & others to the full spectrum of the music, no one could ever say that it's a stale music scene out there. After all this, I'm gonna have to convince my wife to visit her sisters out there, maybe for at least a month or so. Thanks again for the update Joe. Barry

Subject: RE: San Francisco Folk Music Club
From: Barbara
Date: 22 Dec 98 - 02:57 PM

Here's the nitty and the gritty:
Membership in the SFFMC is only $7.00 a year (or multiples thereof) SFFMC members recieve the club's newsletter, the folknik, which is published 6 times a year. The club meets every other Friday night at 885 Clayton St. SF, CA,94117. The on-line verson of the folknik is at
http://www.idiom.com/~poet/harmony/
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: San Francisco Folk Music Club
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 23 Dec 98 - 03:26 AM

It was in the spring of 1957 that I sat in on song swapping sessions at Clayton St., so Faith must have had a hand in them that far back. I know the year, because that's when I met my wife in Berkeley. It was in the summer of that year that we hitch-hiked across the country together to go to England, where we sang with MacColl, Lloyd, Ennis, Behan, etc., and had a free baby on the National Health. Great year!

Sandy