Notes from the Underground

Go ahead. Say it. Say the MBTA is no fun. "The MBTA is no fun." You said it. You're wrong. Starting Tuesday, November 1, under the aegis of "Music Under Boston," musicians and singers will perform in the Harvard Square, Park Street and Government Center stations from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., and again from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Peter Bentley will play guitar and harmonica next Tuesday morning in the Harvard Square station; Fred Peterson will play violin in the afternoon. Janet Grice plays basoon Wednesday morning; Mark Parsons plays guitar Wednesday afternoon. For the rest of the November schedule, or if you want to perform in December, contact Vicki Gordon of ArtiCulture at 547-2541.

Martha Heywood, whose picture appears on this page (quick--cover the captions and identify Heywood), plays guitar and dulcimer and sings in a clear, soprano voice next Sunday at the Back Room at the Idler, starting at 9 p.m. Other evenings at the Back Room: tonight, Molly Malone, ('40s blues); tomorrow, Patty Larkin (reggae, jazz); Saturday, Jim Bashian (folk guitar); Monday, Janie Barnett (folk and blues); Tuesday, Amy Foster (guitar and dulcimer); and Wednesday, Paul Rishell (blues, acoustic and slide guitar). Be there, aloha.

Right. Tonight through Sunday at Passim Chris Smither plays bluesy folk, and Kevin Roth accompanies himself on dulcimer. Shows at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 8:30 p.m. only tonight and Sunday; admission is $3.50. Next Wednesday and Thursday Willie Nininger, the guy with the associate-professorish picture, will play folk guitar and make you laugh for $3, starting at 8:30 p.m.

Another Saturday night and you ain't got no putty? Fret not. Head for Music, Mirth and Madness at the Old Cambridge Baptist church, 1151 Mass. Ave. The two shows at 7 and 9 p.m. include jazz by Stan Strikland and his group Sundance, dance by Carolyn Brown, film and slides by Ken Brown, but no folk. I listed this because the flyer promises an "audience participation segment" in each show, which sounds kinky. Go, but don't tell me about it.

This week at Sword-in-the-Stone everyone plays contemporary folk. Everyone, that is, save Jim Leahy-- an Englishman who performs English ballads--and Company Coming Troupe, which is not a folksinger, but an improvisational theater group. The Company (clever, eh?--I wonder if that was intentional) will perform tonight and every Thursday night at Sword.

Those of you who prefer to swing your partners can choose between the ERA Benefit Square Dance, at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Agassiz Gym, and the New England Country Dance with Peter Guarnaccia and the Oak Leaf Country Orchestra, at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Adams House dining hall. The benefit is $5 for students, $10 otherwise; I haven't got an admission price for the Country Dance, and I'm not about to call Kriston Koths at 2 a.m. to find out. Why don't you?

The Berkeley Women's Music Collective, a four-year-old feminist group from Berkeley, California, will play a benefit for Transition House ("a shelter for battered women and their children") tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in Paine Hall here at Harvard. Tickets are $3.

Finally, Peter Johnson will host an evening of live folk music (this as opposed to dead-folk music) at 8 p.m., Monday night at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Mass. Ave, Admission is free; you get blues, bluegrass, and Scotch and Irish music. "And more," promises Peter. Enjoy.