Hot Times at Old Town

Appearing below are selections from the hard copy Hot Times. The objective is to highlight activities at the School and in the larger community, especially those featuring or of special interest to teachers and staff. Your suggestions are welcome. Enter a comment (under any item); it will come to me rather than automatically appearing.

New Classes Begin June 23rd - sign up early

Yep, another class session will be coming up in June, probably sooner than you expected. That makes this a great time to grab the class you want. Timing is especially important if you’re interested in a class that usually fills up and has a waiting list. (The other advantage, of course, is the $10 early sign-up discount). Not sure what to take? If you want information about a particular class, leave a note at the desk for the teacher – you’ll hear back by phone or email. Or see the current term’s class in action; ask when and where the class is having its “big gig” at the end of the term.

If you have a flexible schedule, keep in mind that the School has adult classes during the day. For example, on Fridays you have your choice of four levels of guitar and two levels of harmonica.

Whatever day you take classes, see if your class time is right before or after “Second Half,” the teacher/student gathering held every day of the week. This is when you learn new songs and play music with teachers and students from other classes. Second Half is a school tradition; great fun!

Filed under: Interesting at Old Town by Skip | April 19, 2008 | Comments (0)

Recycling Music

How about recycling music to other folks at the School? Yeah, we do it all the time. But here we’re talking about songs on paper, specifically Tim Joyce’s Songbook Recycling Project.

Tim is Different Strummer Manager. Here’s what he says: “We are all eagerly awaiting the release of our brand new version of the Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook published by Hal Leonard; but as hard as we have tried, there have been a few snafus that have pushed back the release date. The hope is that the new song book will arrive near the end of the next session. As of right now though, we are in the position of deciding if we should wait it out with no songbooks or reorder a massive printing of the spiral bound version of the songbook. (Ordering a small quantity would make it too expensive for students to purchase.) ”

Tim’s suggestion:

“If you have an extra copy of the songbook lying around your house or in a old guitar case (I have at least two) please drop them off in the box at the Different Strummer Music Store. They will be redistributed/shared with the new students taking classes the next session. Beat up copy? Bring it in! Cover missing? Bring it in! Coffee/beer stains? Bring it in! Duct Taped copy? Bring it in! New-ish copy? I’ll believe it when I see it… The more we get the better. Hopefully there are enough extras out there that we can help all the students who need a copy. Thanks in advance for your help, See you in the Store — Tim Joyce. ”

(Text courtesy of the oldtownschool.org page for the Different Strummer. Never visited? It’s just one of the many nooks and crannies of the website worth exploring).

Filed under: Interesting at Old Town by Skip | April 18, 2008 | Comments (0)

Putting on our International Travelin’ Shoes!

Remember last summer? Teachers from the School arrived in Moscow on July 4th (!), and spent the next few weeks teaching and jazz to Russians.

It turns out that was just the beginning. At a meeting early in 2008, Executive Director Bau Graves began exploring other possibilities. He connected with the Program in Traditional Music and Dance at the University of Newcastle in Britain, and the Folk Music Department of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. Thanks to the Illinois Arts Council, the School received funding for a reconnaissance trip.

The trip was in early April, and included Joe Filisco (harmonica), Steve Levitt (guitar), Boogie McClarin (dance), Maria McCullough (fiddle), Barb Silverman (clogging, washboard, guitar, vocals), and Robert Tenges (piano, voice, administration). The trip gave possible partners a chance to meet and experience the work of our teachers, and will result in teachers from Finland and Great Britain coming to Chicago. At the same time, by their several performances in each country, our teachers were promoting Chicago as an exciting destination for music-loving visitors.

Thanks, Illinois Arts Council!

Filed under: Interesting at Old Town by Skip | April 17, 2008 | Comments (0)