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Featured Coffeehouse of the Month

The Dessert Club
At Steve's Backstage Pass
15 School St. Taunton Ma. 02780
Downtown Taunton

The hardest thing about starting a community coffeehouse can be simply convincing your neighbors that folk music is fun.  People unacquainted with what happens in a modern coffeehouse sometimes imagine long evenings of dour, confessional ballads, or too-nostalgic nights full of “Kumbaya” and group hugs.  That is hardly the case, of course; the folk scene today is packed with vital, gifted performers known as much for their charismatic, fun-loving stagecraft as for their modern songs and musical mastery.

That’s the challenge for the two-year old Dessert Club Coffeehouse in Taunton, and one founder Steve Toli seems to be having a lot of fun tackling.

"The hardest part is getting the word out, getting that person to try it just the one time," he says.  "I have people all the time say, 'Oh folk music, I don’t like it,' and a friend says, 'Well, let's just go once, check it out.'  And the next thing you know, I see them getting autographs from the performer, hanging out afterwards because they had so much fun, telling me what a great time they had. And then they come to more shows."

Concerts are held one Saturday a month in the lovely, cathedral-ceilinged chapel of the big stone church that greets people at the crossroads of  Taunton center, a room with acoustics so lively that several performers have wanted to record there.  Large tables and padded chairs convert the room into a cozy nightclub.  Parking is free on-street and in a lot across the street.  Attendance ranges from 60-100.

As the name suggests, the cuisine consists of a tasty array of cakes, brownies, and cookies, all from a local bakery, along with a variety of coffees, teas, cocoa, and soft drinks.

The coffeehouse is already developing a reputation for the quality of its shows, the first-rate sound system, and for a convivial vibe from the number of Toli’s relatives and friends who are volunteers.  The Dessert Club also runs the stage for the annual Whittenton Community Forum’s Kid Care Day, and produces the Silver City Summer Music Festival.

Toli says that word “folk”, which can put people off, has exactly the opposite effect once people know what really happens at the Dessert Club.

"I'm not looking for any particular style of music so much as for performers who just enjoy what they're doing, and know how to give the audience a good show," he says.  "It's acoustic music, live music, up close and personal.  A lot of people just don't realize how good these performers are, that they have stories to tell, they're funny, and write songs that make people think, “Geez, I know just what he's talking about”.  Sometimes I tell people if they don't like it, for any reason, I'll give them their money back.  And I've never had to."