The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, April 19, 2024 at 7:30-10:00 pm. Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. We will aim to finish at about 10:00 pm. As a rule, if we have more than 3 performers left at 9:30 we may limit the last performers to one song and no more than 5 min. We find that this is necessary when more than 14 performers are signed up or if there are unusual delays. (If you miss this date, our next open stage dates will be May 17 and June 21.) A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance;
3 To protect the club mics, performers must use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens (separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff). They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.
The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on our website which has been updated to address some software issues and security concerns.
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.
At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”

Thanks to everyone who helped to organize, performed, or just showed up last month at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage. On Friday March 15th, we had 12 performers and yes there was some Irish themed music (but not too much). Some Photos can be found on our Facebook Group at Facebook Link .
On Feb. 16th, we were treated to 12 performances:
1. Ellen and Dan (Best Dressed. I wish we had a photo.)
2. John Walker
3. Matthias Schonlau
4. Michelle Stelter
5. Gord Castle
6. Jakki Annerino
7. Richard
8. Larry and Rebecca
9. Cam and Pat
10. Wayne Cheater
11. Ron Hammar
12. Kate and Carol

The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, March 15, 2024 at 7:30-10:00 pm. Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. (If you miss this date, our next open stage dates will be April 19 and May 17.) We will aim to finish at about 10:00 pm. As a rule, if we have more than 3 performers left at 9:30 we may limit the last performers to one song and no more than 5 min. We find that this is necessary when more than 14 performers are signed up or if there are unusual delays.

Fair warning: This month, there will definitely be some Irish themed music. A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other Than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance;
3 To protect the club mics, performers must use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens (separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff). They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.

The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on our website which has been updated to address some software issues and security concerns.
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.
At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”

Thanks to everyone who helped to organize, performed, or just showed up this month at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage. On Friday February 16th, we had 16 performers including 1 first timer and folks that we have not seen for a while. We limited 2 performers to a single song each.
We will aim to finish at about 10:00 pm. As a rule, if we have more than 3 performers left at 9:30 we may limit the last performers to one song and no more than 5 min. We find that this is necessary when more than 14 performers are signed up or if there are unusual delays.

On Feb. 16th, we were treated to 16 performances:

1. Michelle Stelter
2. John Walker
3. Susan Koswan
4. Dan and Ellen
5. Gord Castle
6. Jakki Annerino
7. Kyle – Grandson Soul – NEW
8. Ron Hammar
9. Wayne Cheater
10. Max & Charlene
11. Julie
12. Matthias Schonlau
13. Darren Watts (New as solo)
14. Cam & Pat
15. Richard *
16. Eric*
    (* These two performers only did one song each.)

The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, February 16, 2024 at 7:30-10:00 pm. Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. (If you miss this date, our next open stage dates will be March 15, 2024 and April 19.) We will aim to finish at about 10:00 pm. As a rule, if we have more than 3 performers left at 9:30 we may limit the last performers to one song and no more than 5 min. We find that this is necessary when more than 14 performers are signed up or if there are unusual delays. A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other Than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance;
3 To protect the club mics, performers must use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff. They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.
The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on our website which has been updated to address some software issues and security concerns. The URL is https://blackwalnutfolkclub.com
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.
At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”

Thanks to everyone who helped to organize, performed, or just showed up last month at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage. On Friday January 19th, we had 19 performers including 5 first timers and lots of folks that we have not seen for a while. Some photos are on our Facebook group . We limited 5 *performers to a single song each and did not get to hear two more who would have performed if we had more time available on-stage.
On Jan. 19th, we were treated to 19 performers:
1. Matthias Schonlau
2. David Maranta
3. John Walker
4. Wayne Cheater
5. Ellen Hergott + Dan
6. Ron Hammar
7. Leonardo * -NEW
8. Jakki Annerino*
9. Richard Reinhardt
10. Peter Van der Maas
11. Carol Barton – NEW
12. Rebecca & Larry
13. Carley Michael
14. Kate Dudek
15. Jack Cooper
16. Shatira* – NEW
17. Selaah* – NEW
18. Eric *
19. Matt Ducak – NEW

The Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, January 19, 2023 at 7:30-10:00 pm. Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. (If you miss this date, our next open stage dates will be February 16, 2024 and March 15.) A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other Than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance;
3 To protect the club mics, performers must use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff. They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.

Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.
The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on our website which has been updated to address some software issues and security concerns. The URL is https://blackwalnutfolkclub.com There are still some minor links that are unresponsive and some cosmetic improvements that may soon get done.
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.
At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”

Thanks to everyone who helped to organize, performed, or just showed up last month at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage. On Friday Dec. 8th, we had 13 performers and lots of folks that we have not seen for a while. Folks who came on Dec. 8th contributed $70.00 to add to the Black Walnut Folk Club’s donation of $150.. to the Waterloo Region Foodbank. An anonymous donor has also matched our total $220.00 donation to the Foodbank. Some photos are included on our Facebook page. On Dec, 8th, we had the following 13 performers who played 2 songs each:
1. Richard Charboneau
2. John Walker
3. Kate Dudek
4. Ron Hammar
5. David Maranta
6. Jakki Annerino
7. Gord Castle
8. Richard Reinhardt
9. Cam and Pat
10. Michele Stelter
11. Wayne Cheater
12. Walli Sawatsky
13. Matthias Schonlau

This will be early in the month for us but,the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage will be back at the Mill Courtland Community Centre, 216 Mill Street in Kitchener on Friday, December 8, 2023 at 7:30-10:00 pm. Doors open and performers’ sign-up starting at 7:15pm. There may be some seasonal songs and extra treats. The Black Walnut Folk Club will donate $150.00 to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region and anyone who wants to add to that donation may do so at the door on Friday night. (If you miss this date, our next open stage dates will be January 19, 2024 and February 16, 2024.) A few other things that we are expecting are:
1 Strong reminder for performers: Don’t forget this is for music, not for stories, spoken word, magic tricks, etc… AND don’t play along when someone else has the stage, unless they ask you to share the stage with them;
2 We strongly discourage use of your own mics other Than SM57 or SM58 and do not bring any add-on processor/pedals/effects, amps or other sound gear. We do not have enough time to get any benefit from the stuff that performers have been bringing. Sorry, but 10 minutes is not a very long time and our own mics work very well. If you need a keyboard please bring it in at doors-open so that we can set it up in advance;
3 To protect the club mics, performers must use removable foam pop filters (windscreens) which they will obtain, install, remove and keep for the next time. We hope all performers will bring their windscreens that we gave out previously. Now is probably a good time to hand wash the foam windscreens separately so the dye wont stain any other stuff. They wash and air dry nicely. We will keep a small supply of these available which we will sell for $1 each to cover our costs;
4 Masks will not be mandatory but they will be welcomed, AND
5 Anyone who has been recently exposed to or has symptoms of COVID, Flu, RSV or other contagious illness is directed to stay away.
Bring your guitars, accordions, voices, acoustic instruments of all sorts or just your eyes and ears and make yourself feel at home. Do not feel shy because you have not played for us before.
The doors will open and sign-up for the open stage will start at 7:15 pm. Remember when you sign up you get to play/sing two songs in a set of 10 minutes or less and you need to be ready to start playing when your turn starts so you won’t lose any of your 10 minutes.
The entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.
If you are having any difficulty with viewing any content, please post a comment or send a private email to: wayne@blackwalnutfolkclub.com We have posted our “Code of Conduct” and other details on our website which has been updated to address some software issues and security concerns. The URL is https://blackwalnutfolkclub.com There are still some minor links that are unresponsive and some cosmetic improvements that may soon get done.
No-Smoking Reminder: The entire Community Centre property is included in the City of Kitchener policy of a total ban on smoking on the property. That includes tobacco, marijuana and other smoking and includes both inside and outside the Community Centre.
At 8 pm we will lock the outside door and put a notice there to say, “The building is closed to all those who are not participating in the Black Walnut Open Stage Event from 7:30 pm – 10 pm. Please knock at the rear doors so that you may be admitted to that event.”
Our entrance and free parking are at the back of the Mill-Courtland Community Centre and admission is still $3 at the door. The facility is wheelchair accessible, alcohol, smoke and peanut free and every show is different. If you don’t come, you’ll miss it.

Thanks to everyone who helped to organize, performed, or just showed up last month at the Black Walnut Acoustic Open Stage. On Friday Nov. 17th, we had 2 new performers and lots of folks that we have not seen for a while. Some photos are included on our facebook page. On Nov. 17th, we had the following 11 performers who played 2 songs each, including 2 performers, first-time on the stage at Black Walnut:
1. John Walker
2. Mattias Schonlau
3. Michelle Stelter
4. Ellen and Dan
5. David Maranta
6. Richard and Wayne
7. Ron Hammar
8. Pat and Joe – NEW
9. Al Parrish
10. Ash Parrish – NEW
11. Cam and Pat