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More live music appeared as other bars began featuring bands. Coffee houses, like the Coffee Hag and Chestnut Tree, sprung up and regularly featured acoustic music. The Bothy was one of the sparks that started it all. Run by volunteers as a non-profit organization, the Bothy featured well-attended Open Stages and the first appearances of local acts such as The Divers, Stuart Davis and Prairie Wind. The Bothy Folk Club has since brought in national folk acts like Lucy Kaplansky, Greg Brown, Tom Paxton and Christine Lavin, as well as dozens of Minnesota and regional artists over its 18-year history.

The Bothy continues its tradition of Open Stages for local talent before some of its concerts, and also at the annual Rock Bend Folk Festival every September in St. Peter. The Rock Bend also began the same year as the Bothy, inspired by an original Bothy board member, Ross Gersten. After stints at the St. Peter Woolen Mill and Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the Bothy has now settled down at the Mankato Eagle’s Club at 708 North Riverfront Drive, just across the street from its beginnings at the What’s Up. The setting is informal, but the shows are true concerts, not background music for a bar scene.

The concerts are also non-smoking, with a smoking area (and beverages) available in the adjacent bar. The ‘Club’ in the Bothy’s name refers to the fact that it’s member-supported. A $15-a-year membership entitles members to $3 off the admission to each concert, so it can soon pay for itself. Nevertheless, everyone is welcome to attend the concerts. The Bothy Folk Club’s concert series runs from October to May, usually with one concert a month.

Oh yes, you ask, what about the name Bothy? It’s a Scottish word for the building that servants and other hired help lived in. It’s where they gathered in the evenings to entertain themselves with music and dancing. Founding member, Englishman Michael Bonner, added this new word to the Mankato music scene. The Bothy will continue to bring new, live music to Mankato, as long as people keep coming.