Skip Landt & Rick Sherry

Sometime in the late 1970s, Skip Landt walked into the Old Town School on Armitage to sing in the community chorus. Today he's been teaching harmonica at the school for over 30 years. Here he talks to student-turned-teacher Rick Sherry,...

John: "This is my neighborhood."

John Ford, a long-time client of EZRA's, sits down with a member of EZRA's Social Action team to discuss his experiences growing up as a Black man in Chicago, working with EZRA, and gentrification in Uptown, Chicago.

Steve Rosen & Mareva Lindo

Old Town School teaching artist Steve Rosen talks with his coworker and one-time fiddle student Mareva Lindo about his long tenure at the school. Steve is a member of long-running string band The Volo Bogtrotters, winner of the Midwest Fiddle...

Colby Maddox & John Huber

A conversation between friends, bluegrass musicians and fellow Old Town School coworkers Colby Maddox and John Huber. Colby has been managing the Resource Center and teaching mandolin at the school since 1999. John has been working at the school since...

Raúl Fernández & Camilo Rincón

Raúl Fernández talks with his bandmate and mentee Camilo Rincón about Chicago's Mexican traditional music community, its connections to the Old Town School, and their experiences together as part of the group Jarochicanos. Raúl has been involved at the school...

“What do you remember about growing up in Chicago?”

My Grandfather, John Grey, has had an interesting upbringing moving from place to place with his family. He was raised as a young child in Chicago Illinois, and later moved to Dallas Texas with his family. In this interview, Me...

Ed Holstein & Rick Weiland

Folksinger and Old Town School teacher Ed Holstein talks with his student Rick Weiland about growing up on Chicago's south side, stories of the city's folk scene over the past 50+ years, and memories of his brother and collaborator Fred...

Uncle Lou

My Uncle Lou grew up in the 40’s on the South Side of Chicago and was a school teacher for Chicago Public schools. This is a brief account of his childhood and pieces of his career as told by him.

Don Anderson (my dad!) interviewed by Annie Anderson (me!) on November 30, 2015 in Philadelphia, PA

Don Anderson discusses his childhood growing up in Chicago, what he is grateful for, and what kind of legacy he will leave to his children and grandchildren.

Family life interview with Martin Taylor

In this interview I speak with my dad about how growing up in his family changed him as a person as well as the influence brought onto him by his mother and neighbor. We speak of family traditions, origins from...