An intimate space to hear great original folk songwriters and their music, in John Gould’s old blacksmith shop at 7 Central Street in Topsfield, Massachusetts.
Upcoming Performances
Tickets are twelve bucks and come with a bottle of water and a snack bar.
“I don't like to be caught without a pick.”
— John Prine
Goodfolk is housed in a renovated old blacksmith shop at 7 Central Street in Topsfield, MA. It was erected in 1915 by John Gould. He hammered iron and steel here for 65 years. It is said that, "His wrist was so strong that in his eighties he could hold a sledge hammer at arm's length and lower it onto his forehead without hurting himself.” Before he bought the land in 1907 a one-story shop stood here, built for Captain William Munday around 1850 by John Porter. It was first used as a carriage house, and later as a carpenter shop by George Towne, who occupied it until his death in 1882. It’s the ultimate maker space, and we John, George and Cap’m Munday will be enjoying the music we make here from wherever their ghosts roam out there in the ether. (Or maybe right here in the building still).
“Folk music-Woody Guthrie and Phil Ochs, early Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger-can be as heavy as anything that comes through a Marshall amp. The combination of three chords and the right lyrical couplet can be as heavy as anything in the Metallica catalogue.”
— Tom Morello
