About Us

To every thing there is a season . . . The Flint Folk Music Society Board has voted to dissolve the organization after the April 15 concert. We have enjoyed presenting concerts for the Flint area audience for the past 24 years. It has been a labor of love. Love for the music and for the community. Much has changed since we began. Many of those with us at the beginning are no longer with us. Those of us who remain are much older and enduring the limitations of age. We always hoped that over the years we would attract a younger group to continue the FFMS, both to run the organization and to fill the audience seats. For whatever reason, that has not happened. If there is a regret it is that we failed to accomplish that goal. When we started the Flint Folk Music Society folk music in Flint had been dormant for a long time. The Sippin' Lizzard and Concert Gallery years were way back in the late 1960s. Folk music in Flint survived largely in the bars and restaurants through the 1970s and 1980s. The demise of downtown venues like Doobies and Hats Pub, basically left Flint without folk music venues. Those of us who enjoyed live folk music performances either went without or traveled to Ann Arbor or East Lansing to the Ark or Ten Pound Fiddle. That was the situation that spurred the formation of the FFMS with the goal of bringing the music back to Flint. We moved around a few times as we presented over 400 concerts – from Mott College to Woodside Church to The Greater Flint Arts Council to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Flint. We presented 18 folk music festivals at Mott Farm, Riverbank Park, Memorial Park and Kearsley Park. We hope you enjoyed listening to the fantastic musicians who played over the years. The list of folk music artists the FFMS brought to Flint is long and varied including renowned performers such as Peter Yarrow, Tom Paxton, John McCutcheon, Susan Werner, Michael Smith, Anne Hills, Christine Lavin, Kate Taylor, Peggy Seeger, Bill Staines, Josh White Jr., Garnet Rogers, John Gorka and Lucy Kaplanski. It also includes numerous regional, Michigan and local artists. I know that we enjoyed bringing them to Flint and the FFMS stage for you to experience.