Live At the Grafton

Mark Dvorak, a performer, song writer, teacher and folk historian is the third son of four, born to a working class family on Chicago's southwest side. In 2008, he received the Woodstock Folk Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award. He performs with his band playing some classics from Pete Seeger and more.

Ted and Marcia Johnson discuss the history of the Old Town School of Folk Music, talk about their relationship through music, and play some great tunes. This is really special--and fun!--episode.

The Lucky Ducks are a duo from Chicago. Zoe Savage & Mike Jones take you through everything from blues shuffles to Cajun. They play Chicago Blues from Legend Little Walter and others, and also some Cajun music. Enjoy!

Rand is a longtime Chicagoan folk musician and humorist. Larry has performed on HBO, Comedy Central, Dr. Demento, and many more. He speaks on topics such as how he does his song writing, songs about politics in Chicago, songs that he did for a play, and other songs with stories of past times.

Krueger is a major songwriter that has recently won the Kerrville 2018 New Folk award. He has received worldwide critical acclaim for his music. His 15-song sophomore album, “NOWThen” will be coming out in October 2018. The album will be about two periods of his life, before (Then) he took a break from music for 20 years, and after coming back in 2017 (NOW). His music is very thought provoking, and it also might make you laugh as well. Overall, amazing musician!   

The Golosa Choir have been performing for over 20-years, having their anniversary in 2017. They are Chicago’s one and only Russian choir. The choir plays sacred and Russian folk songs in cappella form and perform all year long throughout the Chicago area. Golosa Choir is supervised by Artistic Directors Noel Taylor and Tamara Ghattas. They have traveled to Siberia twice and studied with Sud’binushka, which is one of the composers that changed Noel Taylor’s (founder) life.

Herula is a Chicago-born acoustic blues guitarist and singer who has a passion for Delta, country, and Chicago Blues. Highly known for playing the resonator guitar. She was named as one of the “top 10 up and coming resonator guitar players” by Guitar Magazine. Donna regularly performs at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago and has opened for Buddy Guy several of times. She is also a teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.

Bau Graves is Executive Director of the Old Town School of Folk Music, in Chicago, Illinois, the largest community school of the arts in the United States, and among the most active concert presenters in the Midwest.  During his tenure, the School has continued its remarkable expansion, opening a new, $17 million, technologically-advanced, acoustically-engineered, LEED gold-certified arts education facility in 2012. Bau Graves is the past Director of the Jefferson Center Foundation, in Roanoke, Virginia, and co-founder of the Center for Cultural Exchange in Maine, where he facilitated the creation of an extended series of programs in close collaboration with ethnic community groups and artists.  Bau’s work as a field researcher, arts presenter, community organizer, festival director, tour manager, recording and radio producer has been prolific, winning numerous awards.  He has performed and recorded with several jazz and traditional music ensembles, and toured extensively, both in the US and abroad.  He holds a Masters degree in ethnomusicology from Tufts University, has published essays concerning cultural issues in both the academic and popular press, and has appeared on and/or produced numerous recordings.  Bau Graves’ book about the arts and community, Cultural Democracy, was published in 2005 by the University of Illinois Press. 

Strictly Jug Nuts was organized in 2008 by long-time Old Town School teacher Skip Landt. The band includes key members of the jug band that won the 25th Annual Battle of the Jug Bands in Minnesota in 2007 and others whose music appears on collections and CDs including Jugs Across America, Hare of the Jug, Good For What Ail's Ya, and the Old Town School Songbook Collection.

Colby moved to Chicago in 1995 to work and travel with The Special Consensus bluegrass band. He rubbed elbows and shared the stage with many of his heroes like Tim O’Brien, Scott Nygaard, Sally Van Meter, Laurie Lewis, Slavek Hanzlik, J.D. Crowe and John Hartford. Along the way Colby studied fiddle with Missouri State Champion Charlie Walden and played for a short time in a duo with young banjo wizard Noam Pikelny.

In 1999 Colby moved on to teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music, and managing the teaching collection of books and recordings and concert archive at the School.  Colby also discusses, and plays from, the new Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook.