Concerts & Events

Jonas Friddle

Jonas Friddle is a singer, songwriter, and Old-Time banjo player whose songs have received the John Lennon Songwriting Award, First Place in the Great American Song Contest, and a nomination for Album of the Year in the Independent Music Awards. His tunes bear the marks of a musician who has done his time in pub sessions and square dance halls, and his writing is full of imagery, honesty and humor.

Friddle was raised in the mountains of North Carolina and learned to play guitar on a yard sale Harmony six string. He was already writing songs by the time he got to Kentucky at age eighteen. There, the bluegrass pickin' and old-time dances turned him on to the power and joy of traditional folk music. He added a mandolin, fiddle and banjo to his arsenal and got a job slapping bass with the college bluegrass band. After serving his time in higher education, he spent a year traveling around the world playing music in pubs and living rooms. In 2007 Jonas landed in Chicago, started the Barehand Jugband, the Sleepy Lou Old-Time duo, and began teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Since then he has released multiple studio albums under his own name and with the folk supergroup “The Majority.” During that time his music has won multiple awards and been featured online at American Songwriter, Huffington Post, and Paste.

Recent years have brought Friddle's focus back to songwriting and, with the release of his latest album “The Last Place to Go”, he puts out his best songs yet. A collection of sung stories backed by the sound of drums, fiddle, dobro, electric guitar, bass, organ, and trumpet.

“[Friddle] deftly explores just about every nook and cranny of modern folk, from revivalist antique appropriation to protest songs to modern love songs. The immaculate arrangements would sell it, if his lithe voice hadn't already given it away. Amazing stuff.”-Independent Clauses

https://jonasfriddle.com

Jodee Lewis

A native of the Missouri Ozarks, Jodee was raised on folk songs and honky-tonk, and her music reflects the best of both worlds. The Chicago Tribune says she is “a singer-songwriter whose outsized talent is as big as her voice,” and calls her first album, Whiskey Halo, an “impressive solo debut”.

In 2018, Jodee released her personal follow-up album, Buzzard's Bluff. No Depression says "Buzzard's Bluff is a survivor's guide to healing, through and through, and it deserves a spin or a hundred." And PASTE magazine calls the album “a cathartic release from deep within the Missouri Ozarks. The natural lush landscapes are home to beautiful views, but just like the numerous birds of prey, a dark secret is always circling."

Her music has been recognized by the Great American Songwriting Contest, Independent Music Awards (IMAs), and by the International Acoustic Music Awards (IAMAs).

Lewis trained in classical piano and began playing guitar and writing music after moving to Chicago in 1999 with her husband, Chad. Growing up in a small town, Lewis sang in her church gospel choir and with her grandfather's country band, eventually attending Washington University in St. Louis to study Chemical Engineering. After a career with companies such as Monsanto and Clorox, Lewis decided to focus on music and raising her three children in the big city.

She explores the themes of loss, heartache, and ultimately, finding hope and beauty during moments of challenge. Considered a true storyteller, Lewis uses music to connect with listeners through shared emotion and honesty. The Chicago Tribune says “With her gentle twang and crystalline soprano, she invests her songs with a palpable ache that recalls country thrush Lee Ann Womack”.

Jodee is joined by Katie Abernethy on fiddle and vocals, and Doug Zylstra on guitar and vocals. A classically trained violin player, Katie is a member of the Elmhurst Symphony, teaches violin lessons and is the mother of three small children. An extremely accomplished musician, Doug also works full-time as a structural engineer. Additionally, they are two of the nicest people in the world.

https://www.jodeelewis.com