By Mike Templeton

On Sunday, April 13, 2025, from 4:30 – 9:00 pm, the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition’s Kith and Kin Project will team up with the Queen City Balladeers’ Leo Coffeehouse for an evening of story gathering, music and performance. You can show up at the Leo Coffeehouse at 2301 Indian Mound Avenue (United Church of Christ) in Norwood anytime between 4:30-6:30 pm and UACC’s Kith and Kin story gatherers will be on hand to record stories on the subject of “What Does Family Mean to You?” To share your story, bring a photo or object that says family to you, and a trained Story Gatherer will take a picture of your picture (or object), and record an interview about it! These stories and their accompanying photos will be added to the Story Gathering Page of UACC’s new Kith and Kin website.

But wait, there’s more! Plan on staying for an open jam or songwriting session at 5:15 and for music by Dave Johnson, The Pine Ridge Partners, and The Farmer and the Crow beginning at 6:40. This is such a rare and possibly singular opportunity to enjoy some of the most enduring musical acts in greater Cincinnati while contributing to the creation and preservation of our urban Appalachian stories. The full schedule for the evening (and for future Leos) can be found here.

Teaming up with the Queen City Balladeers and Leo Coffeehouse is an opportunity to link one of greater Cincinnati’s most treasured cultural institutions with the city’s deep and long urban Appalachian culture. The Queen City Balladeers and Leo Coffeehouse is one of the longest running acoustic folk music venues in the United States. It has become a legitimate cultural institution in our area, and has provided inspiration for musicians and music lovers all over the world. With the long history of QCB and Leo and the deep connection between acoustic folk music and Appalachian culture, we have the makings of an absolutely one-of-a-kind event.  We are tremendously excited to bring our group of folks with the Kith and Kin Project to take part in a night of music while gathering stories in support of our urban Appalachian heritage. It is difficult to imagine a more perfect line up.

The Queen City Balladeers, sponsor of Leo Coffeehouse, is a non-profit organization committed to the preservation and performance of folk music, however expansive that term may be Neil Harrell is the President of the Queen City Balladeers. He told me the group has been around since 1963 “when a group of like-minded folk musicians, University of Cincinnati students, and faculty, formed our club. It’s been carried on by many volunteers over the years, meeting at several locations on or near the UC campus.” Since its earliest days, QCB has made folk music the center of all that they do, although what constitutes folk music has changed over the decades. Harrell explains that the definition of folk music has become more inclusive, and “we have expanded the term “folk music” to include many different genres of acoustic music. The musicians who play for us at Leo Coffeehouse play a wide variety of music: singer/songwriter originals, old time, bluegrass, blues, folk rock, Appalachian, jazz, folk, show tunes, tin pan alley, classical, etc.” The webpage for Leo Coffeehouse features a quotation from Robert Fripp of the progressive rock band King Crimson fame, if this gives you any indication of how wide ranging their musical interests can be. Even 1970s rock may well figure into some of what they do. 

The Leo Coffeehouse has occupied many spaces over the years and currently has its home base in Norwood. Neil Harrell told me their main stage and performance space is the first floor of the Alfred Springer mansion. The building “was donated to the predecessor of Zion UCC in the 1930s and expanded with new construction in the following years. The stones for the adjoining church were recycled from mansions torn down in nearby Walnut Hills.” The listening room is described as “the jewel of the QCB and a civic treasure.” With that we may now add another civic treasure which is our urban Appalachian heritage and the oral history of Kith and Kin which will figure prominently at the performance space in April.

UACC’s Kith and Kin is an oral history/story gathering project designed to gather stories from individuals who have living memory of events, times, cultural phenomena, or just aspects of daily life that pertain to urban Appalachian people and communities. It includes the exhibit, Perceptions of Home: The Urban Appalachian Spirit, collected in the mid-1990s with photos by Malcolm Wilson and interviews by Don Corathers; the Urban Appalachian Story Gathering Videos and Video Quilts, collected in 2021-2023; and our new Story Gathering Project in partnership with A Picture’s Worth, which pairs photos and audio interviews.

Pauletta Hansel has spearheaded the Kith and Kin Project from its beginning. As the project grows, we have continued to find new ways to make sure the project remains available to everyone. Now, Kith & Kin has two digital homes, having recently found its place in the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library’ digital library, and in the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition’s brand new Kith and Kin website. This is just one of many ways we have situated our urban Appalachian history within the larger context of local and regional historical preservation.

You can hear and read stories from three of the individuals involved in the April 13 event on the Kith and Kin website. In addition to Judy Waldron of Pine Hill Partners and Dale Farmer, the “Farmer” of The Farmer and the Crow, Kelli Domke is a member of the Queen City Balladeers who has taken part in the Kith and Kin Project. Kelli told me that although she does not see herself as Appalachian, she nevertheless feels a deep attachment and kinship with the music of Appalachia and the musicians who carry on these traditions within the QCB/ Leo Coffeehouse. As Kelli explains, “I feel I’ve found a musical family here at QCB, and many of my music friends here are Appalachian or tied into those musical traditions. My own story has been recorded and is part of the Kith and Kin collection.” Kelli Domke’s background did not include things like traditional bluegrass, and seeing and hearing these kinds of musicians live was a thrilling experience for her: “I couldn’t believe it when I got to hear my first string band at the Leo! I had never heard bluegrass or old time music live before.” I believe anyone who attends this event in April is in for a similar experience, and people are invited to share their experiences in the form of UACC’s Kith and Kin Project.

We hope to see you at on Sunday, April 13, 2025, at the Leo Coffeehouse at 2301 Indian Mound Avenue (United Church of Christ) in Norwood. You can share your story with the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition’s Kith and Kin Project from 4:30 -6:30 pm.  Remember to bring a photo or object that says family to you! The share an evening with the Queen City Balladeers’ Leo Coffeehouse with an open jam or songwriting session at 5:15 and for music by Dave Johnson, The Pine Ridge Partners and The Farmer and the Crow 6:40 – 9:00 pm.  All are welcome for all or part of the fun!

More information on the Kith and Kin Project can be found at this link: https://www.uacckithandkin.org/.

You can learn more about the Queen City Balladeers and Leo Coffeehouse at this link: https://www.queencityballadeers.org/.

Michael Templeton is a writer, and independent scholar. He is the author of The Chief of Birds: A Memoir published with Erratum Press and Impossible to Believe, published by Iff Books. He is also the author of Collected Apoems, forthcoming from LJMcD Communications and the awaiting of awaiting: a novella, with Nut Hole Publishing. Check out his profile in UACC’s Cultural Directory. He has published numerous articles and essays on contemporary culture and works of creative non-fiction as well as experimental works and poetry. He lives in West Milton, Ohio with his wife who is an artist.