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.

Truth about Old Town Revealed!

Read this now before it disappears!

The truth is that the “Old Town School of Folk Music” is NOT a school, at least by most traditional measures. Sure, some people come in, take a class, and go home. But they’ve missed the clues about what is really going on here; the “school” is really a cult.

People who enroll as students soon find out about the weekend concerts — which range from unknown international groups to big names. They learn that the concert hall is regarded as Chicago’s best music venue, so they start buying concert tickets and loving the shows. So far, so good. But before long they learn about the free Wednesday night concerts, supported by contributions, and think — why not check them out? Then in classes, they learn about the Thursday night free jams — the jams are free, so they stop by to play or sing. As their skills improve, someone tips them off to the Friday Six String Socials, and to the great weekend workshops that can bump them up to the next level in music or dance. These are so much fun that when they learn that classes are ALSO offered in the mornings and afternoons on weekdays, that there’s a free Wednesday Midday Jam, and afternoon study halls with free tutoring — well, by that time they’re tempted to give up their jobs and spend all their time at the so-called Old Town “School,” playing music and making new friends.

Be warned: this can happen to you! And unless you’re careful, you’re likely to become a member — someone whose annual contribution entitles you to early purchase of discounted tickets, discounts on classes and store purchases, and other special opportunities, with proceeds to help fund operations, including a $200,000 scholarship program.

Our forefathers often warned us about the dangers of music and dance, and the beguiling attraction of melody and rhythm. There’s no better example than what happens at the The Old Town “School” of Folk Music.

(OK, on the other hand, there’s no better place to have fun learning, playing, and enjoying music!)

Filed under: Interesting at Old Town by Skip | August 30, 2009 | Comments (1)


1 Comment so far

  1. Frank Hamilton on September 26, 2009 2:04 pm

    Skip this is great. Good to keep in touch with School’s activities.

    Frank

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