Cody Diekhoff is the person behind the musical moniker Chicago Farmer; he has been performing under that name both as a solo act and as a band for over two decades. Chicago Farmer’s recently released album, “Homeaid” is an excellent collection of songs; Cody and his band the Field Notes deliver his stories of rural life, family, and midwestern history with passion and integrity.

In our conversation Cody discusses his life journeys and musical arc as he travelled from his small farm town in Illinois across the highways of America on tours, his time living in Chicago, and back down to the Illinois heartland again, all the while penning his working class folk songs.

We hear about what he learned from his friendship with the late Todd Snider, the use of humor and storytelling in his songcraft and performances, and losing a talent show to farmers shooting marshmallows out of their noses.