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, old, wonderful Mark Dvorak Album

Neat idea!

What a Wonderful World: A Family Folk Sampler brings together some of Mark’s best tracks, plus four new ones. In one place you’ll find eleven songs from Mark’s 1995 award-winning CD Old Songs & New People, three from the 1996 Just Something My Grandma Used to Sing, three more from 2000’s Weavermania! LIVE and one track from Use It Up, Wear It Out released in 1992 — plus four new tracks recorded with The Sons of the Never Wrong. Other musicians on the tracks include Michael Smith, Tom Dundee and Barbara Barrow, Rick Sherry from Devil in a Woodpile, old-time fiddle master Steve Rosen and John Williams on whistle and accordion.

In July, Mark was recognized for his broad, long-term contribution to the local and national folk community with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Woodstock Folk Festival. « Read more »

Filed under: Interesting at Old Town by Skip | August 27, 2008 | Comments (0)

Azul de Noches

If you missed the Latin Fest, here’s a taste of what you would have seen on the Jackson Stage — Azul de Noches, a band including percussion teacher Raul Fernandez and harp student David Kachalon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEJWZTOFfN0

Hot stuff!

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere,Teacher gigs by Skip | August 15, 2008 | Comments (0)

Mandragora Tango

This great concert began the Pena series for the fall. The Mandragora Tango quartet was featured in the 2008 International Chicago Tango Fest in a program that will include include the fest’s top tango couples.

The Pena Wednesday gatherings are our unique free-but-ticketed events: exciting Latin music to get your heart pumping and your spirit soaring. Why have tickets? The shows are so popular that we often fill up the 450 seat concert hall — having a ticket ensures that you won’t come and be turned away at the door. (Full schedule elsewhere on this oldtownschool.org site).

Filed under: Interesting at Old Town by Skip | August 14, 2008 | Comments (0)

Go fishing…courtesy of the Chicago Public Library?

« Read more »

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere by Skip | August 14, 2008 | Comments (0)

Amazing harmonica playing

Youtube now has a series of harmonica clips by Sam Hinton. The clips are from his harmonica instructional DVD – possibly the entire disk. This is old-time playing, including the “no hands” trick where the harp is held in his mouth (along with the secret of how he does it!). « Read more »

Filed under: Interesting elsewhere by Skip | August 14, 2008 | Comments (0)

Reading: The Rise of Rural Rhythm

Our enjoyment of music deepens when we know the history behind it: the people, the traditions, the institutions which gave rise to the music we love. That’s one reason why the Old Town School maintains its wonderful resource center — thousands of books, CDs, videos, records, tapes on a wide variety of musical traditions and styles.

Perhaps less known are the resources represented on the School’s the teaching staff. One example is Paul Tyler, fiddle teacher and local convener of the Fiddle Club of the World. Paul holds a doctorate in Folklore & American Studies/ Ethnomusicology from Indiana Unversity; he was the scholar behind the highly-praised Folk Songs of Illiniois, Volume 2, published last year. His most recent work is the lead article in “The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance,” a collection of essays on the nation’s most popular country music radio program during the 1930s and 1940s, just published by the University of Illinois. Paul’s contribution is “The Rise of Rural Rhythm,” covering the music of the Barn Dance from 1924-41. Other contributers cover the later years of the Barn Dance, Chicago during the depression, radio, immigration, western music, and related topics. Fascinating history!

For “The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance,” visit your local bookstore to find a copy or follow the link below — http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/87wfw5fp9780252033537.html. best: ask your local public library to order it!

Filed under: Interesting at Old Town by Skip | August 13, 2008 | Comments (0)

Disappointed?

As you’re reading this, you may be among those who were not able to get tickets to the Janis Ian concert on August 8th.

If you find that you missed getting tickets to this Old Town School show, and maybe other sold-out shows in the past, it may be because you’re not a member of the Old Town School of Folk Music. Members are notified of the “members only” advance sale period, when they can buy tickets before the general public – and at a discounted price.

If you’re taking classes, the timing is perfect: by signing up for September classes now, you’ll get both the early registration discount AND a members discount (and yes, another discount for your second class!) Yep, you can become a member right here at oldtownschool.org!

Filed under: Interesting at Old Town by Skip | August 2, 2008 | Comments (0)