Celebrating forty-one years of making music! The Folk Club is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to the appreciation of music and the preservation of folk traditions. Each Tuesday we host an open mic and/or special monthly events, including concerts and member showcases. Come join us any Tuesday. Whether you choose to listen, perform or both, you’ll find the Folk Club to be a friendly and enjoyable experience you’ll want to repeat. All levels of performers are welcome, from 3-chord beginners to seasoned pro’s and we encourage newbies by reserving slots on the board for first-timers during our regular open-mics!
Every Tuesday at 7:00 pm, Amphora Diner Deluxe, 1151 Elden St, Herndon, Virginia 20170
News, Notes & Quotes
Important Dates:
September 8 – Showcase Night featuring TM Hanna
September 14 & 28 – Alternate Mondays Virtual Open Mic on Zoom
September 15 – Our concert series start back up, featuring the Australian Folk Duo “Great Aunt”
September 20 – Song Circle at the Artsbarn, featuring Folk Club couples John and Kari Cantrell, Felicia and TM Hanna and David Hollingsworth and Lesley Lawrence
Tuesday, September 8th:
September Showcase featuring:
TM Hanna
I spent most of my childhood in a small village in Pennsylvania, about 12 miles west of Slippery Rock. My earliest musical influences were AM radio, TV, the church, and my mother, who played piano.
I began teaching myself guitar after high school to put my songs to music. I switched to mostly banjo when I got to college because everybody else played guitar. I then started playing mandolin because a trio I was in was doing Maggie May, and the banjo just wasn’t right for it. I had to sell my plasma twice that week to come up with the fifteen dollars for my first mandolin.
I spent four years in North Dakota in the Air Force before ending up in Northern Virginia. I mostly played in church and for church events before discovering the Folk Club, joining in May of 1991 after attending for a few months. The first time I performed (at the Tortilla Factory), I played mountain dulcimer. Back then I played mostly banjo, but eventually began to bring the guitar (I only had one in those days) to perform some of my songs. I joined three others from the Folk Club in a band playing covers and originals, and ended up mostly on mandolin, which they seemed to prefer. Since then I’ve assembled a collection of instruments that includes percussion, harmonicas, pennywhistles, and more than a dozen different types of string instruments.
I’ve not yet decided which songs to perform at the showcase. I was thinking I would do some of my lesser heard originals, and to that end have narrowed it down to about fourteen. As of this writing I also haven’t determined who will be joining me, or which instruments I will be attempting to play. Hopefully I’ll know before the show starts!
