Last modified: Thursday, January 15, 2004 8:29 AM EST Mac McLanahan of the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield says the folk scene may be suffering from too much of a good thing. (Staff photo by Tom Maguire) What's ailing folk? BY JOHN WINTERS / STAFF writer With the new year, many people take pause and reflect on the previous 12 months. Local coffeehouse organizers are now doing this, and what they see in their rearview mirror isn't pretty. In short, they say this season has been sort of a downer, attendance wise. Though far from being a disaster, the organizers do say that their venues, like many other things, have been feeling the pinch. `` There's no question that 2003 felt like a very tough year, and felt much worse than it looked on paper,'' said Russell Gusetti, a booking agent who's also managing director of Cumberland's Blackstone River Theatre and a member of the Celtic music group Pendragon. The problem isn't localized, either. Gusetti and others in local coffeehouse circles say they've heard from national touring acts and other promoters that things are tough all over. `` Artists, restaurants and other venues are all telling us that business is down. Even the Boston Pops attendance was down 12 percent last year,'' said Rick Wahlberg, president of Stone Soup Folk Arts Foundation of R.I., which operates the Stone Soup Coffeehouse at the Pawtucket Boys and Girls Club. `` Obviously there's something going on with the economy. With the fire in West Warwick (The Station nightclub), the presidential race, war, terrorism, it's all doom and gloom.'' What the local venues are finding is that acts that usually can be counted on to fill the house have played to some empty seats. Meanwhile, other shows were just simply disappointing all around. Fortunately, there have also been a few home runs, with venues filled to the gills. However, all the area coffeehouse organizers say as of late it's been much more challenging to put people in the seats. Here's what some of them are seeing: E Blackstone River Theatre's coffers were down only $300, however the venue did a few more shows in 2003 than in 2002, and was hoping to show some growth. E The Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield is doing relatively well, with only one of a recent trio of shows producing a disappointing show at the box office. E Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Franklin's numbers are down about 10 percent. E The Dessert Club in Taunton is doing well, but things did start out a little slowly. E Stone Soup Coffeehouse is perhaps the venue that's been hardest hit. It's latest newsletter declares `` HELP!'' across the top, declaring that its survival may be in jeopardy. `` Very-low attendance'' has meant the venue has lost $500 for its first half dozen or so performances of the current season. Overall, attendance at Stone Soup performances is down 30 to 40 percent. `` We looked at our cash reserve for the rest of the year, and realized we wouldn't make it like this,'' Wahlberg said. Organizers point to a confluence of factors that might be responsible, with the economy being the prime suspect. `` There is the money factor,'' Gusetti said. `` Also, a lot of people are working much more. You talk to them and they're working two or three jobs. They don't have time to go out and see a show.'' Also, snowstorms last February and in recent weeks have caused the cancellation of some shows. But more than just the piling up of snow, some believe that the local offerings too have become piled too high. Rose Garden artistic director Mac McLanahan said it's not the economy, but the proliferation of live music offerings that's presenting the real challenge these days to local venues. `` I think the answer for the folk music industry is that there are so many more places to go hear quality music these days that the available audience of interested people is being stretched too thin,'' he said. `` This is a great situation for the concert-goer but a challenging one for the presenter.'' Additionally, with New England being such a hotbed for folk music, many artists focus on the area, maybe spending too much time here up north, said Steve Toli of the Dessert Club in Taunton. `` The problem is there are so many places and the artists have so many places to play,'' he said. `` The artists want to play anyplace they can and don't make themselves as scarce as they should be.'' As an example, if a performer is scheduled to play at the Dessert Club this week, he or she could be slated for the Mozaic Room in Avon -- 20 miles north -- it could be bad news for one of the venues. `` People are simply going to go to the closest place,'' Toli said. Then there are the constant problems that the folk music promoters face. Like classic rock and jazz audiences, folk fans are graying, a term that refers not only to their hair, but to their desire and ability to venture out to hear live music. Local organizers also cited some possible reasons for the empty seats they've been seeing that transcend the traditional ones. McLanahan said the Rose Garden recently replaced its mailed-out reminder cards with emails. Even something like that can throw a monkey wrench into the mix. `` Some people may have found it easier to disregard an e-mailing since it was more difficult to put it onto the refrigerator,'' he said. (However, a survey conducted by the Rose Garden revealed most of its patrons preferred the email notifications since it allowed them to see color pictures of the performers and hear snippets of their music, McLanahan said.) Steve Toli at the Dessert Club has some other theories about the things that keep people from coming to a coffeehouse. It's all semantics, he said. `` The word `folk' can scare people away. They think we're going to sit around and sing `Kumbaya,rquote'' he said. Also, since most coffeehouses are held in church basements, Toli fears some potential patrons may fear they may get a heapin' o' preachin' with their music, or be pressured to join the church. Plus, coffeehouses don't serve alcohol, so those music fans who may want to knock back a few might go someplace where the spirits are flowing, Toli said. The financial aspects of running a coffeehouse can also be tough to deal with when attendance is off. Touring acts get a guaranteed paycheck, no matter how many people buy tickets, and even a venue that's run by volunteers in a donated church basement can cost hundreds of dollars just to open the doors for a single show. Gusetti said some acts he's booking have taken the hard times into consideration and reworked their contracts for a lower guarantee. Still, there's always a relatively large nut to crack. But perhaps the downturn can be a healthy thing, Gusetti said. `` It could cause some self-examination and hopefully you gain some valuable insight,'' he said. `` Hopefully we're just riding out a little bump.'' There are some bright spots. MacLanahan said that the Rose Garden's next show has already had a strong pre-sale, and Stone Soup's Wahlberg said some recent articles like this one have spurred higher ticket sales at Stone Soup. The organizers say that the bottom line is that with tickets usually in the $10 to $20 range, coffeehouses are a good bang for the buck. And a place where a good time is usually had by all. `` All we can do is continue presenting the best entertainment we can and hope that our efforts will result in more and more people realizing that quality, live music at a coffeehouse is a wonderful value and an intimate musical experience that is hard to find anywhere else,'' McLanahan said. Or, as Toli puts it, those folk fans that stay home may be making a mistake. `` It's live music,'' he said. `` and a live show only happens that way one time. Who knows, you may just catch something special.'' JOHN WINTERS can be reached at 508-236-0434 at jwinters(at)(at)thesunchronicle.com.