Photo: Steve Orr

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS TAVERN-E-STY?

    The club is owned by Bill Camplin and Kitty Welch, who began it in 1985. That’s a long time ago. You’d think they’d have fixed the place up by now. Bill is a singer-songwriter of modest regional fame (we are a modest region), and as a performer has created a listening space in which he and others of his ilk love to play.  Kitty, who enjoys modest regional fame for her physical resemblance to Henry Kissinger, wonders who others of her ilk might be.  They, their two children- Satchel (who now at twenty-five is a singer-songwriter in his own write, check it out) and Savannah, and their dog/actor-model Jeb*, live above the business.  The Carpe has a lovely staff more competent than themselves who help keep the place running, including Dennis Geszvain, Scott Arndt, Beth Gehred, Jason Gapinski, Jeremy Pinc, Cynthia Holt, and Satchel Welch, not to mention past staff who made huge contributions as well but this is not the Academy Awards.

*Sadly gone to actor-model heaven

    Due to the dearth of good small performance spaces, the club started to attract people on the singer-songwriter circuit, and has gained a national reputation among songwriters as a decent venue with wonderful attentive audiences. Unfortunately, there seem to be more people who want to play than there are people who show up to hear them. Come and enjoy the solitude as you listen to amazing talent with 2 to 15 others.  Or enjoy the show with more people than can reasonably fit, or anything in between.

    While the Carpe does not have a policy restricting any kind of music, most of the performances are by singer-songwriters, since they are the majority of those who seek to be booked. Occasionally there is a bluegrass band, or a jazz combo, a play, a poetry performance, a reading by Ursula LeGuin, a stump appearance by Carole King, or an internationally acclaimed cellist...

    Among those who have appeared here in the last 24 years are Tricia Alexander, the Austin Lounge Lizards, Patrick Ball, Peter & Lou Berryman, Tony Bird, Rachel Bissex, Paul Black, Rory Block, Hugh Blumenfeld, Boo Bradley, Ray Bonneville, LJ Booth, Bryan Bowers, Ralston Bowles, Boulder Acoustic Society, Chuck Brodsky, the Soucie Brothers, Greg Brown, Pieta Brown, the Buzzards, Andrew Calhoun, Kate Campbell, Bill Camplin, Craig Cardiff, Paul Cebar, the Chenille Sisters, the Chiara Quartet, Slaid Cleaves, Steve Cohen, Tracy Jane Comer, Don Conoscenti, Special Consensus, Ronny Cox, Walter Craft, Jim Craig, Joe Crookston, Paul Curreri, Kris Delmhorst, Krista Detor, Pat Donohue, Mike Dowling, Tom Dundee, Antje Duvekot, Bob Dylan, Fred Eaglesmith, Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart, Cliff Eberhardt, Mare Edstrom, Kat Eggleston, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Mark Erelli, Stephen Fearing, Mike and Amy Finders, Ella Fitzgerald, BeJae Fleming, Marianne Flemming, Stephen Foster, Jeffrey Foucault, Kenn Fox, Denice Franke, Mrs. Fun, Annie Gallup, Vance Gilbert, Marti Gobel, David Goodrich, John Gorka, Meridian Green and Gene Parsons, Tim Grimm, Judd Grossman, Matt Haimovitz, Reggie Harris, Rick Harris, Josh Harty, Heartsfield, Ernie Hendrickson, Margo Hennebach, Eric Heywood, Phil Heywood, Anne Hills, Malcolm Holcombe, Dakota Dave Hull, David Jacobs-Strain, Joe Jencks, Michael Johnson, Prudence Johnson, Martyn Joseph, Christine Kane, Lucy Kaplansky, Betsy Kaske, James Keelaghan, Paddy Keenan, The Kennedys, Jason Klagstad, Jan Krist, Dayna Kurtz, Sleepy LaBeef, Phil Lee, Adrian Legg, Howard Levy, Bernice Lewis, Tina Lie, Live Bait, Radoslav Lorkovic, Country Joe MacDonald, Karen Mal, Dave Mallett, David Massengill, Peter Mayer, Laurie McClain, John McEuen, Nicki Mehta, Lynn Miles, Bill Miller, Buddy Mondlock, Mother Banjo, Alastair Moock, Kristin Mooney, Jay Moran, Dave Moore, Bill Morrissey, Pete Morton, Geoff Muldaur, Peter Mulvey, Lee Murdock, Roxanne Neat, New Pioneers, the Nields, Miles Nielsen and Dan McMahon, Colin O'Brien, Erin O'Brien, David Olney, the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra, Carey Ott, Sam Pacetti, Paradise String Band, Ellis Paul, Patchouli, Larry Penn, L'il Rev, Utah Phillips, The Pines, Piper Road Spring Band, Tom Pirozolli, Cris and Ann Plata, Robin Pluer, Willy Porter, Jim Post, Tom Prasado-Rao, Chris Proctor, Bo Ramsey, Dave Ramont, Joe Rathbone, Dave Ray, Preston Reed, John Renbourn and Jacquie McShee, Mustard's Retreat, Stephen Lee Rich, TR Ritchie, Kim Robertson, Garnet Rogers, Peter Roller, Dave Van Ronk, Sparky & Rhonda Ruckers, Gary Rue, Barb Ryman, Randy Sabien, Les Sampou, Maria Sangiolo, Art Paul Schlosser, Claudia Schmidt, Danny Schmidt, Dan Sebranek, Cosy Sheridan, Richard Shindell, Susan Shore, John Sieger, Dev Singh, Small Potatoes, Dick Smith, John Smith, Michael Smith, Chris Smither, Paul Sprawl, Devon Sproule, James Lee Stanley, Alpha Stewart, John Stewart, Kasim Sulton, Ember Swift, Eric Taylor, Louise Taylor, Art Thieme, Tony Trischka, Greg Trooper, Ross Volkmann, Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines, Cam Waters, Sterling Waters, Satchel Paige Welch, Bob Westfall, Cheryl Wheeler, Andy White, Jason Wilber, Brooks Williams, Dar Williams, Hayward Williams, Jack Williams, Robin & Linda Williams, Ted Williams, Natalia Zukerman--  there’s more I've probably forgotten but I’m getting tired. And I only stretched the truth 4 times...