From the dept. of Where're They Now?

Official Ticketmaster site. Richie Furay Band : Chris Hillman W/Herb Pedersen - Park West

Richie Furay Band : Chris Hillman W/Herb Pedersen
Sat, Jul 28 at 7:30pm
Great country-rock bands of the 70s were largely led by great bluegrass upstarts from the 60s. Chris Hillman is certainly a poster child for the lot of 'em - from the Byrds to the Burrito Bros. and beyond.

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Upcoming Events at Fitzgerald's

Open Mic in the Club
Tue, Jul 10 at 9:00pm
Once a month the open mic is on the big stage. If you ever wanted to check out Jack, Bob and Miguel ... or even better, join 'em ... under the hot lights and beefy sound system, this would be the night. It's still (almost) all acoustic, so grab your favorite stringed instrument and join the jam.

CJ Chenier & his Red Hot Louisiana Band
Fri, Jul 13
It's a Zydeco Party with one of the original and finest Creole Soul bands from the Bayou lands!

Sonny Landreth
Thu, Jul 26 & Fri, Jul 27
The electric bottleneck blues maestro is in town to tape a TV show. So he's playing two nights at Fitz's. The magic of seeing Landreth is his tasteful approach to electric slide guitar that remains free of "blooz bar band" cliches.

Jim Lauderdale
Fri, Aug 3
A true wordsmith, singer-songwriter, sometime producer and collaborator who has shared stage and studio with everyone from Ralph Stanley to Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris. Last year's bluegrass album was a critical success, but he's equally adept at classic country styles as well.

The Blasters
Sat, Aug 4
Back between 1980 and 1984 there were two neo-rockabilly bands vying for supremacy: New York's Stray Cats and LA's Blasters. Fans of each band practically came to blows (as did the members of the bands at one point). High energy, house-rockin' rockabilly is the rule of the night with Phil Alvin's amazing Teflon-throated singing.

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Korsakov - Flight of the bumble bee - by Alexander Dmitriev

Sayeth Jim Polaski - "Phew!"

Ben's new guitar ?!?!?

Sharp Rock: Angel Sword Guitar Plays Iron Maiden Songs, Slays Teen Pop Stars - Gizmodo

Bob Lopardo wants everyone to remember the upcoming Downer's Grove Heritage Festival. It's June 21 thru 24. Click the link below for a bunch of PDFs with lots details. Including ... Thursday's Child playing two sets on Saturday in Fishel Park. (See a complete line up of artists here.)



Downers Grove Heritage Fest Home Page

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The Ghosts Of Waldheim

Not a music video, but it concerns a very local site of historic importance - The Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park.

Old Town School 5th Annual Fiddle Championship

Chicago Folk & Roots Festival | Concerts & Events – Old Town School

The Midwest Fiddle Contest is a contest for music teams - a fiddler and a second lead player - that celebrates the diverse sounds of fiddling in the Midwest. Five Team Division finalists and three Youth Division finalists from earlier rounds will play for $1,250 in prize money on the Folk & Roots Festival Main Stage Sunday at 1pm.



This is part of the 10th Annual Chicago Folk & Roots Festival on Sat, 7/14 and Sun, 4/17 from Noon - 9:30pm at Welles Park (Lincoln and Montrose).



Entries must be received by Mon, 7/2. Entry is free.

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BBQ Drummer

Some folks I work with made this funny, strange, musical video. I'm diggin' it!

Kid's Day at the Farmer's Market in July

Farmers' Market Special Events - 2007

July 14 -- Kid's Day


We could work up a bunch of kid-friendly tunes for Kid's Day and perform a special set just for kids. Post tunes you want to play by writing comments on this blog and I'll compile a set list. Then I'll post that list here with links to tabs, etc.

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Wow! It's that time of year again! And we're counting down the days until we regroup under the old oak tree. Ah ... the sweet smell of donuts in the air. Opening day is June 2nd.

See the Village of Oak Park's official site here.

Help FolkAlley.com Save Net Radio!

On March 2, 2007, the federal Copyright Royalty Board released a decision that will have damaging consequences for public radio stations that stream music. The Board rejected decades of precedent by placing commercial royalty payment schedules and reporting requirements on public radio stations. This decision exposes the public radio system to huge increases in royalty payments and promises drastic curtailment of the programming diversity found on public radio stations' websites.

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FitzGerald's Calendar Listings
Friday, June 1 (BLUEGRASS) Cornmeal plus Tangleweed, 9:30pm
Cornmeal is "heavily influenced by American roots and folk music, Cornmeal was started as a side project over six years ago only to watch it grow into a Chicago institution. Info at cornmealinthekitchen.com

Warming up is Tangleweed, who combine high-energy performances, impeccable musicianship and a wide-breadth of influences to create a unique sound that is simultaneously modern and old-timey. More info at tangleweed.org

Also, Fitzgerald's is now smoke free!

Mighty Fine Streaming Documentaries ...

FolkStreams » Homemade American Music

"A history of rural southeastern traditional American music, as told and played by Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard. Mike and Alice recount their own involvment with this music, and briefly trace its history as we meet their mentors: the late Tommy Jarrell, Lily May Ledford, Roscoe Holcomb and Elizabeth Cotten."





Folkstreams is a collection of independently produced documentary films that have languished for decades. This one, "Homemade American Music," is one of dozens featuring blues, old time, bluegrass, Cajun and more.



You can't download them; they're for streaming only. But they are without equivocation mighty, mighty fine!

Mighty Wacked Out New Old-Time Favorites ...

The Avett Bros.

















5/30/07 Chicago, IL House of Blues 9:00 PM Back Porch Stage

I love these guys. They're nuts. Just guitar, mando and double-bass and more energy than a nor'easter.

Talk About Man Handling Your Guitar ...

glumbert.com - Guitar never seemed so hard

Thanks to Jim Polaski for finding this video. The hammer-on/pull-off technique is quite impressive. The jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan arrived on the scene in the early 1990s with an electric variant of this "finger-style" approach to the instrument. (See this video for "Willow Weep for Me" from back then - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8DCDrKX4_I).

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Folk Alley: Folk Music, Traditional Music, Celtic Music, and World Music



The Merlefest blog at FolkAlley.com as some great stories and photos from what is arguably the finest bluegrass festival out there today.



Did anybody from our group go this year? Please share stories and photos here!

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Don Sibley's Selling Two Fakebooks
He's got the Mandolin Picker's Fakebook and The Fiddler's Fakebook. Both are barely used. Contact Don at donsibley@earthlink.net for details.

Northlight Theatre :: 2006/07 Season :: Fire on the Mountain
From the acclaimed creators of It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues comes a poignant, passionate musical about the lives of coal miners in the Appalachian Mountains, featuring Mississippi Charles Bevel (Jeff Award-winner for Blues) and Dan Wheetman (former fiddle player for John Denver).

Alternately exuberant and soulful, joyous and gripping, this celebration of culture, lifestyle, hardships and heroics is gloriously relayed through the captivating rhythms of Appalachian bluegrass—a uniquely American art form that gained widespread popularity following the release of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Featuring authentic dancing, plus stunning fiddle and banjo licks and more than 30 songs, this spiritual triumph is sure to set spirits soaring.

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Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Mighty Fine Bluegrass at FitzGerald's on Thu, May 3rd
The Wayword Sons is one of the most interesting new bands in today's music scene. Combining the critically acclaimed songwriting of Benny Galloway (Yonder Mountain Stringband) and stellar musicianship within the unique instrumentation of keyboards, dobro, acoustic guitar and upright bass, The Wayword sound is truly something special.


Winners of the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition, Greensky Bluegrass is taking Michigan's blend of acoustic roots music on the road. Driving instrumentals and affecting lyrics contribute a fresh sound to an eclectic acoustic genre. GSBG is currently touring to promote the release of their sophomore album Tuesday Letter, produced by Tim Carbone from Railroad Earth.

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