UUFR 75th Anniversary Post #12: Tom Atkinson and Participatory Musical Groups

UUFR 75th Anniversary Blog Post #12: Tom Atkinson and Participatory Musical Groups

by Lynda Hambourger

What makes UUFR a vibrant, attractive, meaningful community? Certainly one of the key ingredients is music. From professional pianists inspiring us on Sunday mornings to untrained singers pouring out their voices and hearts in adult and youth choirs; from celebrated guest artists to beloved members of the UU performers network to talented UUFR members; from classical to jazz to folk to rock-n-roll, music is essential at UUFR.

For the past 20 years, UUFR member Tom Atkinson has been a key figure in UUFR’s music program, the driving force behind three important groups–Folky Friday, Coffee House and MOM (Ministry of Music). A guitarist, Tom has organized, facilitated and inspired these activities, bringing people together to share, learn, entertain and comfort themselves and each other through music.

In a recent conversation with Tom, he told me about the beginnings of Folky Friday. The idea came from Rev. Rod Thompson, our interim minister in 2005-06. A player of the washtub bass, Rod had encountered such programs at other UU congregations and urged Tom to begin one at UUFR. Though just a novice guitar player at the time, Tom took on the challenge.

Inspired by a movie, O Brother Where Art Thou?, released a bit earlier, Folky Friday folks developed a liking for songs such as Keep on the Sunny Side, I’ll Fly Away and This Little Light of Mine. Tom credits other UUFRers including guitarists Bill MacMillan, Gary Chvatal and Fred Breidt and pianist Marc Brandeis with getting the group off to a good start. He remembers Kitty Munn and Pete Adler contributing enthusiastic tambourine riffs. “We didn’t really know what we were doing, but it was a positive experience,” Tom said.

A big part of what made it work was Tom’s dedication to putting together a Folky Friday songbook. It didn’t include melodies of the songs, just lyrics and guitar chords. “The songbook was essential,” Tom told me. “People would bring songs they wanted to try, but they would be in different versions, different keys, and not enough copies.” Tom standardized the many contributions, using chords that were simple enough even beginning guitarists could take part. “The idea was to make it so everyone was comfortable and had an enjoyable time, even if they were just learning,” he said. Eventually, from 2006 to 2018, the songbook went through four editions; the latest edition includes some 350 songs.

While Folky Friday met on a Friday night once a month, Tom was also at UUFR on another Friday night for Coffee House. This was less of a jam session and more of a performance opportunity. Both UUFR members and non-members took part. Not content with spending two Fridays a month doing music at UUFR, Tom, along with Bill MacMillan, Pete Leary and Vonnie Hicks, a member of Peace Fellowship, also began Song Swap (originally held at Peace, it later moved to UUFR), where musicians tried out their own compositions and played them together with each other.

In 2010, MOM (Ministry of Music) began. Tom told me the idea for MOM originated with Alice Zawadzki and Cathy Murphy. It was a ministry that brought music to people who were ill, often near the end of life. Cathy approached Tom about putting together a small group of singers and one or two instrumentalists to visit Rev. Chuck Howe, husband of Ann Howe and a retired UU minister and author. As Tom remembers, the visit took place about a week before Chuck died.

This successful initial MOM visit led to visits to other people identified by the Care Committee, including Thom Rogers, Dianne Horton, Sam Pettyjohn and many others. Tom credits Jane Hunt, then a Care Committee member, with setting up the time and place of each visit. And he recounts that the visits had a cheering effect: “People could be quite distraught. But we got them singing and when we left they had a smile on their face.” MOM continues to this day; sometimes the group visits a UUFR member at a care facility and winds up singing to the whole community.

I asked Tom why he has put so much time and energy into these musical efforts. “For me, music is participatory,” he said. “Well, there are two kinds of music, the music you listen to and the music you take part in. I find participatory music to be most enjoyable and these activities have been a fulfilling and meaningful part of my life.”