Ten years ago I spoiled an otherwise spotless fifth grade career by failing to produce for Miss Capponetti of Rosemont Elementary School a three-page handwritten report on colonial American shipbuilding, a topic which continues to exert an uncanny soporific effect on me.
About the same time some Cambridge folks who wondered a lot about how you could give your love a cherry without a stone or what they would do if they had hammers, and probably very little about colonial shipbuilding, started the Nameless Coffeehouse. Nameless turns ten this weekend, the oldest coffeehouse in New England. Happy birthday.
The Nameless doors at 3 Church Street, opposite Shakti Shoes in the Square, open at 7:30 every Friday and Saturday night. Music begins at 8 and lasts through seven-count-'em-seven sets until midnight or 1 am, no admission or cover charge. Musicians, mostly locals chosen by audition, are unpaid. Folk and blues styles predominate, but jazz and classical sometimes appear. Coffee, cider and soft drinks free! No booze.
For details on this weekend's special all-star birthday show, or if you'd like to audition, contact Walter Carlip '77 or Jeff Griffiths '77 at 498-6291 or -6296. Go, enjoy, and when they pass the hat for operating expenses, contribute the money you saved by registering on time.
The Back Room at the Idler, a short walk from the Square at 123 Mt. Auburn St., is currently attempting a revival of sorts. Aside from a new ceiling and some interesting architectural experiments with the entrances, this means Paul Rischel with country, urban and suburban blues tonight and Friday, Reeve Little with good, solid folk on Saturday and Sunday, John Kolstad with cowboy folk on Monday, and Chris Rhodes with a mixed bag on Tuesday.
Back Room at the Idler, which is not surprisingly connected to the Idler, which is in turn connected to the Blue Parrot, and then to the hip bone and so on, is open seven days a week. Three-set shows begin at 9 pm. No cover, no minimum. Beer, wine and light food available. New acts every week, call 491-1551 for info. Little also plays every Tuesday and Thursday at the Casablanca Downstairs in the Truc complex at 40 Brattle St. 876-0999 for details.
Brother Blue furnishes amazing stories, rhymed didactic, but no music tonight starting at 7:30 pm at the nonprofit, collective Common Grounds Coffee House. Teleport or take the Red Line to Central Square, find the 100 Flowers Book Store at 15 Pearl St., walk inside, and you're there. Music on Fridays and Sundays only; this week it's Dean McGraw with folk and blues from 8:30 to 11:00 pm on Friday, and "open music"--something like open book, I understand, but no molecular models or calculators allowed--on Sunday from 3:00 pm to closing. Call 661-1640 to figure this one out.
With a capacity of 40, Common Grounds is a small place, but there are those who love it. Coffee, tea and light food served. No cover or minimum.
The Inn Square Men's Bar in Inman Square buys advertising space from The Crimson. Maybe you should, too. See their ad on this page. Then go to one of the most friendly and crowded bars in Cambridge.
Chuck McDermott and his band Wheatstraw will play country rock at Johnathan Swift's this Friday and Saturday, so why are they listed in the Folk column? Beats me. Same with John Lincoln Wright and the Sour Mash Boys, who play Sunday. Watch out, cover charge here. Music starts between 8:00 and 9:00 pm at 30 Boylston St. in the Square; three or four sets an evening; telephone 661-9887.
On Saturday at Oddfellows Hall, alias the Joy of Movement Center, 536 Mass. Ave., Central Square, two dollars buys you a concert of British, Australian, Canadian and American songs and ballads given by Priscilla Herdman and Deborah Saperstone. All the concert publicity says with an air of significance that it's "sponsored by Peter Johnson." This means Johnson will be eating cat food if no one shows up. The concert starts at 8:00 pm. 492-4680 for interesting stories about Johnson.
Ellen McIlwane, a bluesy guitarist with a powerful voice, appears with Bob Holmes at 8:00 and 10:30 pm tonight through Sunday at Passim. Four dollars admission--Passim is struggling financially and McIlwane is a big name. If you can't afford that, come to the 2:00 pm show on Sunday, when admission is $2.50, or listen to WCAS, 740 AM, which broadcasts the Sunday afternoon show live every weekend.
After McIlwane and Holmes vanish, it's Norman Blake at 8:30 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday for $3.50. Passim, located at 47 Palmer St. opposite the Coop Book Annex in the Square, closes on Mondays. Good eats, coffee tea. Come early to be sure you get a seat. Phone: 492-7679.
Reflections coffee house at 10 Mt. Auburn St. near the Square, features a different folk performer every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This week it's Bill Bellamy tonight, followed by the Bunker Mountain Fiddlers on Tuesday and Lee Kidd on Wednesday. The Fiddlers fiddle, Kidd plays blues, and Bellamy is something of a mystery to the Reflections employees, none of whom can tell my what he does, except it's folk.
Reflection serves food, coffee and tea to the tune of a $1.00-per-person minimum; musicians are paid by audience contributions. Call 661-1118 to find out about jazz (Friday-Sunday) and classical (Monday) performers. Music starts at 8:30 pm.
And for those of you with a raised consciousness, or at least a lowered unconsciousness, check out The Deadly Nightshade at the MIT Student Center at 8:30 pm on Friday and Saturday. Nightshade is a feminist group; they play folk and country-rock. Tickets are $3.00, sold 10:00 am--4:00 pm in the building ten lobby at MIT. Friday night's proceeds go to Sojurner, a women's newspaper, Saturday night's to Vietnam as reconstruction aid.
