The pleasures (and dangers) of boom times

Yogi Berra once said, "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." The baseball star was double-talking about a New York nightspot, but it may be an apt description for the Boston folk scene these days. To all outward appearances, the revival that began in the late '80s has yet to crest, with crowds for all manner of acoustic music growing at record rates. Club Passim had the best-attended month of its history in July, a time former owners Bob and Rae Ann Donlin often didn't bother to open.

But it has been over five years since the local scene produced a folk artist with a viable national presence - Dar Williams - and there are potentially troubling signs of a growing glut in the numbers of both artists and venues in the area.

Revolutionary Acts and Songstreet Concerts have for years been the busiest local folk concert producers. Last year, after nearly going bankrupt, Songstreet cut its schedule by more than half. This year, Revolutionary Acts is doing the same.

"There's just too much going on for a limited audience," said Revolutionary Acts producer Ellen Friedman. "It seems there's something big happening every weekend, and there are so many little coffeehouses out there. So anyone local who might be a possibility to move to the concert level is overexposed."

What Revolutionary Acts is presenting, however, is choice. On Sept. 24 at the Somerville Theatre, they coproduce a benefit for Respond, which supports area battered women and family shelters, with Patty Larkin, Jennifer Kimball, and Mary Lou Lord. October 2, a once-in-a-lifetime musical history of women in folk is offered with Ronnie Gilbert, Judy Collins, Holly Near, Linda Tillery with her Cultural Heritage Choir, and Dar Williams. But this folk event of the season is not happening in Boston; it's at Veterans Auditorium in Providence.

"We couldn't have gotten these people together for a Boston show," said Friedman. "They all wanted to do this because it's a benefit for the Women's Center of Rhode Island, but I think they would have wanted to save Boston for their own concerts."

Williams, in fact, performs a show for Revolutionary Acts Oct. 17 at MIT's Kresge Auditorium, with the Nield Sisters. It rounds out its 1999 season at Sanders Nov. 19 with a Four Bitchin' Babes Reunion, featuring the current ensemble and ex-Babes Christine Lavin and Julie Gold.

Boston Folk Fest

The other folk highlight of the season is unquestionably the second Boston Folk Festival, which moves from Boston Common to the UMass-Boston campus. Seven stages feature over 70 performers on Sept. 25, including Eileen Ivers, the Barra MacNeils, Eddie From Ohio, Richard Shindell, Cheryl Wheeler, the Silver Leaf Gospel Singers, Baba Olatunji, and the Sol y Canto trio.

Songstreet stays at the Somerville Theatre, offering the smart bill of Ellis Paul and British folk-rocker John Wesley Harding Oct. 23; its typically overbooked Great Women's Voices show with seven young songwriters, including Jess Klein, Faith Soloway, Rose Polenzani, and Lori McKenna Nov. 20; and the very hot, very funny Eddie From Ohio Dec. 4.

Other enticing concerts: '70s songwriters Loudon Wainwright III and Jesse Winchester, both sporting acclaimed comeback CDs, at the Copley Theatre Oct. 16; and Tom Rush, with a "best-of" CD due soon, at Sanders Oct. 9. Waterson/Carthy, with young British folk star Eliza Carthy and her legendary parents, Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, visit Old Cambridge Baptist Church Dec. 2. Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, and Tony Rice are at Sanders Oct. 21. Cinematic pianist Jacqueline Schwab performs a concert of American music from Stephen Foster to Billie Holiday at Falmouth Academy in Falmouth on Oct. 2.

In Marblehead, the me & thee coffeehouse quietly celebrates its 30th anniversary as the very model of the suburban church coffeehouse. Founder Anthony Silva, known to New Englanders as the business reporter for WBZ-TV and radio, mused that boom times like these often pose more problems for small venues like me & thee than folk's ghost-town days in the '70s and '80s.

"It's always a balancing act today, with so many venues to compete with," he said. "A lot of clubs get stuck with a major-act schedule, and start depending on those names to bring in the people. You can lose too much money very quickly that way. We fell into that trap a few times, then remembered that the clubs that are successful over the long haul are those that cultivate their own audience. We have 40, 45 people who've been coming for 25 years; they're our seedbed. It all grows from there."

Me & thee sprinkles new faces with old familiars, including Jess Klein and Lori McKenna Sept. 24, John Gorka Oct. 1, Tommy Makem Oct. 15, Bill Staines and Jeanie Stahl Nov. 19, and Patty Larkin Dec. 11.

Club Passim is perhaps the most successful folk club in the country right now, in terms of audiences it can attract for a diverse array of music. On Friday, it welcomes folk icon Rosalie Sorrells, with budding local star Lori McKenna the next night. Peggy Seeger is there Oct. 15, Anne Hills and Michael Smith Oct. 28, Cris Williamson and Tret Fure Oct. 30.

Music lovers' magnet

Johnny D's in Davis Square also remains a thriving hive for music lovers with its savvy array of folk, roots, and world music. It hosts the California Guitar Trio and 12-string innovator Richard Leo Johnson Oct. 13, Adrian Legg the 26th, and autoharp wizard Brian Bowers Nov. 2, with enticingly original western songwriter Kate McCleod.

Other highlights in the suburbs include Christine Lavin at Salem's Universal Coffeehouse Oct. 2 and Circle of Friends in Franklin the next night. The Homegrown Coffeehouse in Needham hosts Sol y Canto Oct. 16 and Garnet Rogers Nov. 6; and Lexington's Joyful Noise features John Gorka Oct. 2 and the Nields Dec. 4. Old Sturbridge Village hosts four folk shows, including Bill Morrissey Oct. 9 and John Hartford Oct. 23.

But there is trouble at the club level, too. The lively Bull Run series in Shirley has ceased, as have the folk shows at Sudbury's Moonshadow Cafe, both victims of inconsistent crowds.

Watch City Arts, which ran the Bull Run series, is looking for a new home in the Waltham-Framingham-Newton area. It offers Scottish songwriter Dougie MacLean at Waltham's JFK Middle School Oct. 1, and magnificent ballad singer Connie Dover at the Museum of Our National Heritage in Lexington Nov. 27.

World Music brings Cape Breton fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster to Berklee Nov. 13, and MassConcerts presents Maire Brennan of Clannad at the Copley Theatre Oct. 22. But most of the Celtic action is happening in pubs like the Burren in Davis Square, which welcomes Irish accordion delight Sharon Shannon and the Woodchoppers Sept. 22, Paddy Keenan and Sean Tyrell Oct. 7, and Andy M. Stewart and Gerry O'Beirne Dec. 5. Bad Abbots in Quincy presents an Irish festival Sept. 27 with DeDannan, Dolores Keane, and John Faulkner.