WESTBOROUGH – In the 1980s, Timothy Mason switched careers from management to booking local musicians at a little spot on South Street called the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus.
By 1996, Mason had banded together with some of the top musical and media talents in New England to establish a thriving, vibrant and nationally-known acoustic venue.
Despite an unlikely name and even more unlikely location in the far suburb of Westborough, the “OVK” proved a launching pad for many of the bright stars in the folk and traditional music sky today.
Among others, the Kaffeehaus played host to Arlo Guthrie, the Clancy Brothers, Bill Monroe, Kris Kristofferson, Holly Near and the Pousette Dart Band.
Many of these acts will come back for a revival/gathering on Saturday, Aug. 17, from 1 to 9 p.m. in Hopkinton.
“It’s a reunion, really,” said Mason. “We’re going to have a professional-caliber show. People are flying in for this.”
Mason said the idea for the reunion came from Robert Haigh, who served as the venue’s master of ceremonies.
“He had this harebrained idea to do this … and it turned out we can,” he said.
There was an OVK reunion held online during the pandemic, but the Aug. 17 event will definitely be in person, complete with a livestream, tents and a ton of shared memories.
The event will include Lori McKenna, a double Grammy winner whose first appearance was at the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus’ open mic. Also filling the bill is Christine Lavin, Cliff Eberhardt, Duke Levine, Barbara Kessler, Don White, Deborah Henson-Conant, Peter Mulvey, Diane Zeigler with Geoffrey Cary Sather, Jim Infantino, Buddy Mondlock, Paul Della Valle with Walter Crockett, Emilia Ali, Jan Luby and many others.
“It’s been very affirming,” said Mason of the people willing to help with the reunion, from performing to logistics. “How do you not do it when you have all these resources?”
The Kaffeehaus operated upstairs from the Old Vienna Restaurant, which specialized in Austrian-Hungarian cuisine. Its location near the Massachusetts Pike and Route 495 helped bring fans from all over Worcester and MetroWest.
According to information from the 8/30 Club website, “The Thursday night open mics became the heart and soul of the club, signing up regularly were folks like Dar Williams, Martin Sexton, Don White, Ellis Paul and Vance Gilbert, while the pass-the-hat features included David Wilcox, Susan Werner and Pierce Pettis, it was a creative and supportive community that helped give the scene an anchor and spawned relationships that endure to this day.”
The final show took place on Dec. 31, 1996, featuring Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters.
“When I look at the names that played there over the years, both known and up and coming, it’s an amazing record of the time,” said Haigh. “The old guard played often – Dave van Ronk, Tom Paxton, Tom Rush, Bill Morrissey and Shawn Colvin … even Laura Nyro and Kris Kristoffersen each played twice. This was a place where young emerging songwriters like Dar Williams, Peter Mulvey or Kris Delmhorst could have direct contact with their idols, every week, all the time.”
“Being off the beaten path might have been a detriment, but in the long run it was more of a plus,” said Mason. “You didn’t have to go into Boston. You could find it. You could park. Remember, this is way before GPS. I mean, you’d need a native guide to find anything in Worcester.”
The event will be held in a private location near Hopkinton Center. Admission is free, but donations via reservation are requested. For more information on the lineup, location and how to attend, please visit https://0830club.com/product/ovk-reservation/.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help defray expenses — https://www.gofundme.com/f/ovk-revival-gathering-aug-17th-2024
A portion of the proceeds will benefit Touchable Stories, which will help the next generation of artists. For details, visit https://touchablestories.org/
