Imagine that this church, snuggled up against the Beltway, is your house. Your driveway is large enough to hold the cars of everyone you know. Friends and soon-to-be friends greet you at the door to tell you where the action is tonight. You’ve got a living room full of people, including much of the local music community (deejays, musicians, and many people in Dirty Linen T-shirts). Your kitchen offers homemade desserts and decent coffee. You can enjoy excellent blues, folk, and other acoustic (and occasionally electric) music played by the pros, right on your hearth, punctuated by community news and a raffle. And at the end of the evening, the emcee helps the crowd tidy up the folding chairs.

OK, so you can’t live there, and it costs ten bucks to visit. But it’s a great way to pass a Monday night.

The Institute of Musical Traditions concert series began in 1981, when the world-famous House of Musical Traditions was still a one-room instrument shop in Takoma Park, Maryland. David Eisner (president of IMT and owner of HMT) recalled: “Jesse Winch of Celtic Thunder said, ‘A friend of mine’s coming over, Tony Sullivan, from Ireland. You know, you sell his banjo book. We’re looking for a place where he could play, sorta like a house concert.’ So we pushed the instruments aside, actually took instruments and put them out in people’s cars, and set up a little stage...With about 11 days’ notice, we had 23 people show up. It was unamplified, but everyone was sitting less than ten feet away from Tony. It was a lot of fun.”

So much fun that store personnel decided to host more concerts. As word of the weekly shows spread among the creative, outgoing denizens of the Takoma Park area, things got out of hand: “One St. Patrick’s Day we had Karen Ashbrook [hammered dulcimer, flute; of Maggie’s Music] play. We had 119 people jammed in that little room! People were sitting on the counters, people were standing in the doorway, standing on the risers where all the drums are.”

In need of space, Eisner and company borrowed a now-defunct Takoma Park restaurant. “Monday, when they were closed, we’d use it. They would also spray on Mondays, so you’d come in and there’d be this sweet, pungent aroma that definitely wasn’t anything in the kitchen. And then occasionally, during the set, you’d see these roaches, half-crazed, running down the back wall as they died. A certain atmosphere....”

When the atmosphere got too heady, IMT relocated to more respectable digs. The hall at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring holds 175 people. When advance sales suggest a bigger crowd, as when guitarist Pierre Bensusan appeared last fall, IMT moves to a larger hall in the building. Special events like the annual holiday concert (which entertained nearly 1,200 people last December) are held at alternate sites.

IMT takes advantage of a peculiarity of the tour circuit: it’s hard to get Monday night bookings. The three-person staff — Eisner, director Busy Graham, and associate director Wendy Lanxner — selects the performers, often catching musicians who are between East Coast tour dates or otherwise find themselves in D.C. The staff’s musical expertise — from performing, teaching, and working at HMT — has introduced them to many potential performers, who in turn often recommend future bookings.

The success of IMT rests on the diligent, civic-minded work of its staff and volunteers. Cathy Fink, who with partner Marcy Marxer has performed at IMT’s holiday concerts for many winters, said, “Through HMT and IMT, David [Eisner] has made commitments to the community that deserve recognition. Busy Graham has expanded that commitment with the work she does on the school programs, to expose kids to the greatest possible range [of entertainment] while they’re still young.”

The “school program” is Class Acts. Started by Graham and operating under the aegis of IMT, Class Acts brings performers into Washington-area schools to instruct and entertain. “We try to hook up with artists who we know are going to be in the area, traveling through, and take advantage of any days they might have free to do programs in the schools,” Graham explained. “I find more and more artists recognize the importance of building their audience today for tomorrow and also the importance of bringing the arts into the schools.”

Of course, for most of us, IMT still means those weekly Monday shows. While there is a wealth of talent in the Washington area, Eisner noted that IMT strikes a scheduling balance between local and national acts — sometimes in a single night’s program: St. Patrick’s Day features New York-based Celtic band Whirligig, with Takoma Park’s own Lisa Moscatiello. On March 28, IMT will hold a benefit concert for Tommy Thompson, a founding member of the Red Clay Ramblers. Other artists booked for the spring series include Lou & Peter Berryman (April 7) and Martin Sexton (May 12).

“IMT fills the gaps in providing a place for performers who don’t ‘fit in’, schedule-wise or artistically, to other local venues,” according to Fink. She noted that major artists are moving into smaller clubs, edging out independent performers. Smaller than neighboring venues such as The Birchmere and The Barns at Wolf Trap, but with excellent sound, a friendly atmosphere, and ample parking, IMT provides a place for musicians who might otherwise be playing in bars or living rooms.

Budget willing, IMT hopes to add more shows to its schedule to showcase developing artists; to expand its Class Acts program into more settings, such as nursing homes and other community service centers; and to host more family-oriented concerts like the Fink-Marxer shows. To achieve this goal will require a lot of work; more work means more staff. The bottom line is that green substance so reviled by, and so vital to, a flourishing creative community. Graham said: “Our mailing list this summer brought in about $8,000 [in contributions]. We feel very grateful to have friends and fans behind us.” IMT, a 501(c)3 (not-for-profit) organization, is seeking funding from businesses, foundations, and the community.

Cathy Fink had just come to the Washington area when the IMT series started; like many local music lovers, she feels blessed by the talent we can enjoy and the places we have to enjoy it. For 15 years, Fink pointed out, IMT has offered “an extremely professional and vibrant concert series. If you were to take that out of the arts presentations in the D.C. area, you’d be hungry!”

Institute of Musical Traditions/Box 3580/ Silver Spring, MD 20918