My Historian Hat - Edensong - Week Three

With cooler temperatures and less humidity, week three of Edensong was comfortable for the hundreds of folks enjoying the music. Edensong 2008 is the 44th series presented by the Queen City Balladeers. The Queen City Balladeers were established in 1963 by a group of students at the University of Cincinnati looking for an opportunity to share music and to have a performance venue. Since December of 1983 they (we) have been sponsoring and promoting folk and acoustic music in the Greater Cincinnati area. The QCB is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization with a membership that includes a wide variety of people from all backgrounds and age groups. Many Balladeers are also part or full-time musicians, writers, instrument makers and sound technicians as well as avid fans of folk, acoustic and world music. The Leo Coffeehouse, is one of the longest-running folk venues in the United States. For the majority of its years it was held in the basement of the University of Cincinnati YMCA, then moved to Old St. George's Church in Correyville in 1999, and in 2006 was moved to the Zion United Church of Christ in Norwood. Leo Coffeehouse is presented on Sunday evenings from September through May. Many nationally-known artists like John Denver and Utah Phillips have performed at Leo, but the coffeehouse is mainly an outlet for the many Tri-state area artists. These artists love performing to a "listening room" such as Leo, so they willing perform free of charge. Leo is an incredible place for an evening of high-quality entertainment.

Tonight's audience at Edensong was treated to a diverse group of musicians beginning with Liz Bowater, accompanied by Sharon Udoh, and followed by the phenomenal 12 string guitarist Neal Jacobs. One Iota played bluegrass before singer/songwriter Greg Mahan took the stage. The evening ended with the amazing Bromwell Diehl Band who have been performers at Edensong for many years. Jan Diehl brought the house down with his flute solo on "Moon Dance". Its an honor and a joy to be the historian for such an outstanding music club as the Queen City Balladeers. We hope to be presenting the same high quality coffeehouse and summer concert series as long as people will come to listen.