The Folkey Monkey @ Vision

Specialties

We are an intimate music venue specializing in acoustic singer/​songwriter artists. We take pride in the fact that we’re a non-​alcohol listening room, where the performers and the audience work together to create a great show.

Shows are usually held the 2^nd and 4^th Thursdays of the month, but that may vary from month to month so check the website for up to date schedule.

There are two types of shows presented:

1. A Folkey Monkey — which is the host, Joe Rathburn, and his guest for the night, on stage together trading original songs and mixing in songs from the night’s chosen theme. The two acts play on each others songs as much as is fitting, and a good time is had by all.

2. A Folkey Monkey Presents Concert — which is Joe Rathburn presenting and opening the show for a touring artist.

Our admission prices range from $ 10 for local solo or duo artists, to $ 15 or $ 20 for touring performers or artists of a higher stature.

There are always refreshments available and guest artists sell their merchandise.

The venue for our shows is the auditorium at Vision, A Center for Spiritual Living, located at 6154 Mission Gorge Rd., Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92 120.

History

Established in 2005.

In October 2005 San Diego singer/​songwriter Joe Rathburn decided he wanted to create a place where his fellow performers and music fans could come together to play, hear and enjoy great live acoustic music; «hear» being the operative word. He was tired of both playing in, and going to places where people would loudly talk over the music performances, so The Folkey Monkey was born.

What’s in a name? Joe spotted a coffeehouse in his SDSU neighborhood that had live music 7 days a week. It was called the Hot Monkey Love Café. He began playing there every Thursday night and inviting fellow performers to join him. To distinguish his folk oriented night from the other nights (hip-​hop night, blues night, metal night etc), he called it Joe Rathburn’s Folkey Monkey Thursdays. That’s how it all started.

It caught on and we’ve moved and grown since then, and shortened the name, too. Now we’re in the Allied Gardens/​Grantville area of San Diego, at Vision, A Center for Spiritual Living.

Meet the Business Owner

Joe R.

Business Owner

Joe is a full time musician since 1972, originally from Flint, Michigan, now residing in San Diego. His career has had him playing everything from festivals to coffeehouses, recording 6 CDs of original material, promoting shows, opening for artists as diverse as Susan Werner, Ellis Paul, Dave Van Ronk, to Kiss, The James Gang and Ray Charles, winning songwriting awards and garnering the respect of his peers as well as the public at large.

His specialty today is acoustic singer songwriter fare, and his passion is putting on shows where folks don’t have to struggle to hear the music they came to experience.