Folk Music Center

The Folk Music Center is a genuine American institution, a music store and performance space at 220 Yale Avenue in the Claremont Village that has been in Grammy-winning artist Ben Harper's family since it was founded by his grandparents Dorothy and Charles Chase in 1958. The store stocks hundreds of instruments from around the world, including hand-crafted stringed instruments, world percussion, and unusual pieces visitors can actually touch and play. It functions simultaneously as a retail shop, instrument repair studio, teaching center, and intimate concert venue, drawing visitors from four continents who make pilgrimages to Claremont specifically to experience the place and its legacy. Concerts in the Folk Music Center Concert Series run on Friday and Saturday evenings with doors at 7pm and shows beginning at 7:30pm, typically ticketed in the $25 to $30 range. The programming covers folk, acoustic, world music, and blues with a curatorial approach that reflects the Chase and Harper family's deep roots in these traditions. The last Sunday of every month is a Community Open Mic and Jam, a $2-3 entry event open to all styles, with a PA and sound person provided, two songs or five minutes per performer. The space is intimate by design, which means performances carry an immediacy and closeness that larger venues cannot replicate. Beyond the concerts, the Folk Music Center operates as a living museum and cultural gathering place. Ellen Harper, Ben's mother and current steward of the store, maintains the original vision her parents built: a place where music of the people is taken seriously, taught generously, and celebrated without pretension. For anyone in the Inland Empire or the greater Los Angeles region who cares about acoustic music and its traditions, the Folk Music Center is one of the most meaningful rooms in Southern California.