Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation

The History of the Hungry Ear Coffee House

Chuck Henderson The Hungry Ear Coffeehouse continues a tradition begun in the 1950’s by what was then known as the Beat generation. Shades of Jack Kerouac, Woody Gutherie et.al. At those old coffeehouses a wide variety of coffees were served, people talked and read poetry and listened to acoustic music- mostly modern jazz. During the late 50’s the music changed to contemporary folk. It is music composed by private individuals rather than professional song writers or record companies. Given the leanings of the 60’s much of the music grew to be social commentary. That’s what attracted to coffeehouse crowds. One San Francisco coffee house was best know. It was called The Hungry i.

In the 1970’s a coffeehouse at Northwest was lead by Nancy Bartlett for 10 years to support the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. It was the first coffeehouse in Atlanta.

In 1989, the Northwest congregation was asked to contribute money to help start the Thurman-Hamer-Ellington Unitarian Universalist Church in Decatur, Georgia. Member Rob Cowgill proposed doing another coffeehouse for that purpose. Clarence Rosa was asked to lead it because of his passion and encouragement of music made by ordinary people. A sound system was loaned by Walter Roos and amateur musicians were recruited from the congregation and the community at large. The coffeehouse was the largest single contributor to the new church. But when that job was done, everyone realized that it had been so much fun they decided to continue it. After a few short term Talent Coordinators, Ruth Subramanian settled in and scheduled the performers until December of 2004 when she moved to India for a year. Presently, Kevin Doyle is handling the scheduling.

In the mid 1990's, we held a contest to rename "The Northwest Unitarian Universalist Coffeehouse" to something less cumbersome. The Hungry Ear won.

As it is done here in Atlanta, coffeehouses organized by volunteers who love the music are staged once a month usually on a Saturday. The Hungry Ear took the 1st Saturday of the month because it was available without competition. And so, once a month volunteers are recruited from the congregation to help rearrange the sanctuary into a 1950’s style coffeehouse. A few years ago, the congregation financed a new sound system. These days performers mostly volunteer. It is not uncommon to be booked 6 months in advance. The number of talented people available is surprising. In good UU style and unlike most others, it was decided to make the stage available to anyone without auditions and regardless of their skill or point of view. The number of semi professional and occasionally professional musicians who perform here is also surprising. Some have even come from Nashville. And recently an inquiry came from Montana. The Hungry Ear has become a significant venue for contemporary folk musicians in the southeast US. And it does not pay any of them. It’s just for fun and the love of the music. Nationwide, a substantial percentage of coffeehouses are held in UU churches. We’re all just a bunch of old hippies.


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	Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation 1025 Mt. Vernon Highway, N.W., Sandy Springs Atlanta, GA 30327 770-955-1408 - officenwuuc.org – fax: 770-955-4246
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Promoting Religious Freedom, Spiritual Growth, and Ethical Action

Hungry Ear Coffee House

The History of the Hungry Ear Coffee House