ENTERTAINMENT
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Mr. Knoppow's annual Folktown series keeps
the Raven legacy in Southfield.
LESLEY PEARL
lmost 12 years ago,
one of Ken Knop-
pow's favorite hang-
outs, the Raven at
12 Mile and Green-
field, closed its doors to folk-
loving fans forever.
Unable to cure his folk
music habit without traveling
to Ann Arbor or East Lans-
ing, Mr. Knoppow decided to
open his own club, Folktown
Coffeehouse, exactly one year
to the day after the Raven bid
its final farewell.
However, Mr. Knoppow's
endeavor is a slight twist on
the Raven format. A 10-week
series at the Southfield Civic
Center rather than a seven-
night-a-week club, the Folk-
town Coffeehouse is a non-
smoking, 1990s-style arena
with pastries and coffees serv-
ed in back. Mr. Knoppow
vividly remembers the few
drawbacks of the Raven — too
much smoke and a distractive
waitstaff.
The cabaret style of the
Raven has been maintained
by Mr. Knoppow, with art
work surrounding the in-
timate room seating only 100.
And Mr. Knoppow is confi-
dent the quality of musical
acts at Folktown Coffeehouse
is of the same quality and
caliber as its predecessor and
inspiration.
When Mr. Knoppow opened
Folktown in 1981 he was
more concerned with satisfy-
ing his own musical cravings
and saving face than running
a big-name club.
"I had to open up the club.
Photo by Glen n Triest
Special to The Jewish News
I had been talking about do-
ing it for so long," Mr. Knop-
pow said.
So when Folktown Coffee-
house was voted the best folk
club by Detroit Metro Times
readers this year, Mr. Knop-
pow was both shocked and
thrilled. "I didn't even know
if we would make it past the
first season," Mr. Knoppow
said.
Run entirely by volunteers
and funding from Mr. Knop-
pow's pockets and profits,
Folktown has never lost
money. However, Mr. Knop-
pow stresses the Folktown
Coffeehouse is not a non-
profit organization — as many
people think — but rather a
"low-profit enterprise."
He continues to use the
sound system he bought 11
years ago from a friend, and
he houses visiting enter-
tainers with local families.
Although the focus and
financial basis of Folktown
clearly remains true to its
original mission — to fill the
vacuum left behind by the
Raven — Mr. Knoppow has ex-
panded its scope both in style
and base.
The first series at Folktown
Coffeehouse consisted mainly
of Michigdn-based perform-
Ken Knoppow:
Guru of an annual 10-week
concert series.
c. {ft
ers. However, Mr. Knoppow
now competes with Ann Ar-
bor's Ark and East Lansing's
Ten Pound Fiddle Coffee-
house for local favorites like
the Dick Siegel Ensemble
and Ray Kamalay and His
Red Hot Peppers. National
acts include political
singer-songwriter Tony Bird
from Africa.
Mr. Knoppow finds the ma-
jority of his acts at folk
festivals throughout the
United States and Canada.
They not only spawn new
seasons for Folktown, but
were the birthplace of Mr.
Knoppow's passion.
In 1978, Mr. Knoppow at-
tended the Mariposa Folk
Festival in Toronto. That
same summer he went to two
smaller festivals. Before long,
he was hooked.
Mr. Knoppow began visit-
ing national conventions of
the Folk Alliances — spen-
ding days in workshops and
helping to create bylaws to
.
present a coherent voice for-
the folk community.
"Folk is everywhere," Mr.
Knoppow said. "It's just
limited."
Because most festivals run
in the summer, the Folktown
Coffeehouse season begins in
the fall. Mr. Knoppow inten-
tionally chose autumn to kick
off the season both to attract
"folkies" with no other outlet
and to continue attending
festivals. He believes the
festivals help invigorate him
for his own season.
"Attending the festivals
keeps me on pulse musically,"
Mr. Knoppow said. "This is a
vibrant scene today. It's not a
re-creation of the 1960s.
"I don't see this as
nostalgia, but if people want
to tap into folk for that reason
that's OK."
So rather than bringing in
10 typically folk acts, con-
sisting of an acoustic guitar,
a vocalist and politics, Mr.
Knoppow attempts to book a
variety of acts ranging from
jazz to bluegrass to worldbeat.
"They're (the performers)
not so much about being
political as they are about
saying something," Mr. Knop-
pow said.
This season, Mr. Knoppow
will integrate a new aspect in-
to the Folktown series. "Jews
of Spain with Voices of
Sepherad" will grace the
stage Oct. 26 as part of a
Mediterranean theme.
The foursome features a
guitarist, percussionist,
vocalist and dancer perform-
ing songs from Morroco,
Israel, Greece, Turkey,
Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.
Mr. Knoppow hopes the per-
formance, in addition to
entertaining, will tap into an
early commemoration of the
500-year anniversary of the
expulsion of Jews from Spain
in 1492.
Each year, Mr. Knoppow
tries to schedule an act with
a Jewish theme or sentiment.
In the past he has booked
Hebrew and Yiddish vocalists
along with a musical group of
children of Holocaust
survivors.
"I do Jewish concerts as a
way of making a contribution
to Jewish culture and its sur-
vival," Mr. Knoppow said. "It
also brings in new people and
thus, a new crowd."
Although Mr. Knoppow
usually books acts according
to what appeals to him per-
sonally, he followed his
sister's instinct with "Jews of
Spain with Voices of
Sepherad."
"My sister was at a wed-
ding and began chatting with
the caterer," Mr. Knoppow
said. "It turned out the
caterer was a vocalist with
`Jews of Spain' and a part-
time cantor.
"It wasn't even a Jewish
wedding," Mr. Knoppow
laughed.
While it appears Folktown