Acappella ensemble Archipelago entertaining at the Second Friday Coffeehouse

At the Second Friday Coffeehouse in Belmont, it's all about community.  Of course, that's true for all of BACHA's community coffeehouses, but community is really the star of the show at this venerable venue, where local folk favorites perform for a fraction of their normal fees, knowing all the proceeds go to a variety of carefully chosen community causes, from food pantries to literacy programs to after-school activities.

As a result, Second Friday is really known mostly for its friendliness, for that convivial ambiance of neighbors sharing an evening of music that the Irish call craic.

"It's a place with a lot of warm feeling, where people really feel welcome whether they've been coming for 18 years, or just walked in the door for the first time," says Isabel Freeman, who helps books the venue and has been active with it for 16 years.  "We have both small and large tables, so people can be as sociable or as private as they choose.  You can come alone or with a group, and it's really a comfortable place.”

The coffeehouse was founded as a community outreach in 1985.  Shows are usually held, as the name suggests, on the second Friday of the month from September to June, with no show in December although they occasionally move to the 1st or 3rd to avoid conflicts with religious or other community events.  (During the 2003-4 season, concerts will be held at the Belmont Lions Club across the street, while a new parish hall is under construction).

Musical fare tends toward local singer-songwriters, with occasional forays into Celtic music and jazz.  True to the venue's neighborhood vibe, a highlight of each season is an evening of cowboy songs performed by Belmont father-and-son duo Darryll and Avery Griffin.  Freeman speaks dotingly about watching Avery grow from a small boy into a gifted musician now matriculating at Boston University's music conservatory.

Food is an array of home-baked desserts, coffees and teas.  Freeman says the house specialties are blondies (butterscotch brownies), and a particularly tantalizing chocolate chip cookie.  Free parking is available in a large lot adjacent to the church.  As at all BACHA coffeehouses, dress is casual and all ages are welcome.

True to the community vibe of Second Friday, there is a standing invitation for open mikers.  Anyone who wants to offer a song, poem, or story just needs to show up in advance and sign up.

True to that egalitarian spirit, Freeman identifies herself only as a member of the coffeehouse committee.  None have titles beyond that, she says; it's strictly all-for-one and one-for-all all.

"At a lot of coffeehouses," she says, "there's really one person who runs it, with a lot of volunteers helping out.  We have this structure that's unusual even for a committee.  There's no chair or vice-chair; it's really kind of a collective thing.  And everyone who comes to the coffeehouse knows they're contributing, too, because all the proceeds go to community causes.  It gives the place a deeper sense of purpose than simply going out for an evening of entertainment.  And that seems to make it even friendlier."