Cocktails Pair with Foot-Stomping Folk At Community Music Center

Like the thousand other young professionals who swarm the South End theatre, food, and nightlife scene with any regularity, I thought I knew Tremont Street up and down, but Thursday night we took a detour a few doors down from and found ourselves in Sweden. Okay, not quite. Hosting this season’s last installment of its John Kleshinski Concert Series, the presented “Distillations and Distinctive Songs,” an event pairing regionally themed cocktails with live folk music from Sweden, Ireland and Appalachia.

How folk music was meant to be enjoyed – with a drink in hand.

You might imagine that my friend sold me on the “free cocktails” part of this event (you would be right), and while I did leave appreciating the short lesson in spirits that accompanied the tastings, it was the music that really made the night.

Upon arriving, my guest and I picked up our choice of three cocktails and settled in for a bit of spirit instruction from certified wine educator Jo-Ann Ross. Though the location was more community center than lounge – cocktails and cookies were served at a folding table in the back – the event was well attended by a diverse (and eventually participatory) crowd.

A Nordic Spin on the Bloody Mary

Ross started us off with a tasting of Akvavit, a Scandinavian vodka-like liquor, and a helpful Powerpoint rundown on the distillation process. Very informative for people like me who like to imbibe but may not know the origins of their beverage of choice.

While I sipped an Akvavit Bloody Mary, we segued into the musical component. Berklee grads and music therapists Bronwyn Bird and Justin Nawn provided the soundtrack for the entire evening, with Nawn on guitar and Bird taking lead on vocals while playing a Swedish nyckelharpa (wiki it or check out the clip above).

Nawn and Bird make a gifted duo, and while Irish and Appalachian folk songs were never intended to be played on a nyckelharpa, Bird bowed it with such relish that I ended up preferring it to the fiddle.

Whiskey and Bourbon and Foot-Stomping

Ross followed their three Swedish numbers (more rollicking than I expected!) with another fast lesson, this time on Whiskey, and our tastes of Jameson’s paired with a set of Irish traditional songs and a waltz. The crowd had already had a cocktail and happily lent their voices to a chorus. It was turning into quite the unexpectedly fun evening. And just to remind you: TOTALLY FREE. Yes, all of this culture was brought to us free of charge.

Kentucky Bourbon and Mint Juleps rounded out the evening, as Bird and Nawn stomped their feet and riled us up with some Appalachian sound. My friend and I departed on a music high, and while I might serve up a bit of Whiskey knowledge with my next Irish Cream, the real gift of the night was the good old-fashioned folk music.

The Community Music Center of Boston, in addition to operating as a non-profit music school, runs several concert series year-round, almost entirely FREE and open to the public.