Updated
The
Canton Folk Song Society is a small group of folk-style musicians who get
together at the McKinley Historical Museum in Canton, Ohio once a month to
enjoy sharing music with each other and with the museum's patrons.
Meetings
Scheduled Meetings for 2006:
Saturday, February 18, 2006 from 1-3 PM
Winter Folk Song
Fest
Eighth Annual
Festival Put on by
In the Auditorium
of the McKinley Historical Museum
Performances by
Several Local Groups, Clubs, and Individuals
Followed by Jam
Session for Everyone with Instruments and Voices
It will
become clear in this section that it's always a good idea to check here, to
contact Bill by e-mail or phone (330-332-4420), to check
with another member, or to call the McKinley Museum (330-455-7043) before
coming out for a meeting -- especially if you are coming from a distance.
Meetings
are generally held on the second Saturday of the month from 1-3 PM at the
McKinley Historical Museum, 800 McKinley Monument Drive, NW, Canton, Ohio
44718. Meetings are generally held in the Wörschler House in the Street of
Shops on the second floor of the museum. However, the actual meeting date for
an upcoming month is usually chosen the previous month by the members present
so that it will best meet their schedules and the museum's schedule. Meetings
have been on every Saturday of the month and on some Sundays. There have also
been different times for the meetings depending on the needs of the members and
of the museum. Meetings have been in the Wörschler House, in various locations
along the Street of Shops, by the model train layouts, in the main room on the
second floor, in the garden area of the patio, and on the lawn outside the
museum. They can always tell you at the front desk exactly where we are
scheduled for a given day.
The
meetings of the club are generally run as informal song circles with individual
members each taking a turn to choose a song. Choices are usually taken from a
source available to several other members which allows others to join in the
performance. However, members sometimes choose to perform songs for the rest of
the group – whether old favorites or songs that they are just in the process of
learning. Singers and acoustic folk-style instruments of all sorts are welcome.
Instruments which have been played at Canton Folk Song Society include (but are
not limited to): guitars (6 & 12 strings, steel, banjo-guitar), dulcimers
(hammered and lap), autoharps, harps, flutes, whistles, recorders, fife,
harmonicas, concertina, banjos, mandolins, octave mandolin, fiddles, cello,
upright bass, jug, washtub bass, marimbula, and percussion (bodhran, spoons,
tambourines, bells, chimes, and more), and more.
Membership
Membership
in the Canton Folk Song Society is open to anyone who enjoys folk-style music
and agrees to work with the other members for the mutual enjoyment of all.
There is no membership fee or charge. Come to a meeting and join along in the
music if you would like to be a member. There are members who just choose to
sing along on a few choruses; members who are trying to learn to play an
instrument who play so quietly that almost nobody else can ever hear them;
members who usually play and sing only for their own enjoyment; members who
gave up performing publicly years ago, but have decided that this is something
they can enjoy doing; and members who currently perform professionally. Members
have enjoyed doing songs by contemporary singer/songwriters, folk favorites
from the fifties and sixties (and earlier and later), traditional ballads,
celtic music, world music, children's songs, humorous songs, the blues, popular
songs, country songs, seasonal music, music fitted to various themes, and more.
Purpose & Methods
The
Canton Folk Song Society is a club open to anyone who enjoys folk-style music
and agrees to work with other members for the mutual enjoyment of all. The
primary purposes of the club are to share in the enjoyment of folk-style music,
to share friendships with others who have similar interests, to help others to
become familiar with this type of music and the instruments involved with it,
and to help our members follow their own goals in relationship to the music.
These purposes may be accomplished by having regular meetings or activities to
play and sing; by finding ways to communicate to let members and others know
about the activities of the society, its members, and other organizations or
individuals with similar purposes; by sponsoring programs, shows, festivals,
conferences, seminars, workshops, lectures, classes, meetings, displays, or
publications; and by working with or supporting other organizations in similar
or related activities.
Activities
In
addition to the regular monthly meetings, members of the Canton Folk Song
Society have also done public performances as the Canton Folk Song Society.
Several performances have been for the McKinley Museum as a way of showing our
appreciation for the meeting place. We have regularly performed for such events
as McKinley's Birthday Celebration, the Museum Christmas Party, and other
special events at the Museum. We also have performed for the Clubs Open Stage
time each year since 1995 at Dulci-More Festivals in Lisbon and Franklin
Square, Ohio. Some other public performances have been at coffee houses and
parks for special events in the North Canton area.
History
The
Canton Folk Song Society first got together in January, 1994 at the Public
Library in North Canton in a downstairs meeting room, organized by Len Crossman.
The club met at the library and in the local park for several months. Members
wanted a more public place to meet after a while with a better atmosphere and
better acoustics. The move was made to Trivium Coffee Cafe in Belden Village
for some time. During this period, Len moved from the area, and the leadership
of the club was taken over by Christina Kambrick. When Trivium needed the space
we were taking up, Christina was able to find meeting places including another
Belden Village restaurant and our present home at the McKinley Historical
Museum in Canton where we started meeting in November 1994. Christina remains
as the leader of the Canton Folk Song Society. There are no other official
positions, but Bill Schilling keeps this information available for folks,
having been involved since the first meeting of the club. Some members of the
club did take one meeting of the group to the Grand Opening of the new offices
of Autoharp Quarterly magazine in Chester, West Virginia, where the club was
mentioned and heard in the background performing on WELO radio. Many members of
the Canton Folk Song Society are also members of Dulci-More: Folk &
Traditional Musicians. Thus, much of the music done at the meetings comes from
the Dulci-More Songbook and is done with the
whole group playing or singing along. Many other choices come from Rise Up
Singing, the Group Singing Songbook by Sing Out! Corporation. Sometimes
members choose to perform a song rather than having everyone join along on the
song. New members of all ages are always welcome whether they choose to play
and/or sing along on just the easiest songs, or whether they choose to perform
for the rest of the members.
Contact
Bill Schilling by e-mail.
Return to Bill Schilling's Home Page.
Links to Other Home Pages Developed by Bill Schilling
Contact Information
984 Homewood Avenue
Salem, Ohio 44460-3816
330-332-4420