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A conversation between Joe Filisko, blues harmonica player and teacher, and Harlan Terson, touring and teaching bass player. Harlan remarks on his luck to experience the zenith of the blues era and working with several Chicago Blues Legends. Joe remembers...
A conversation between Charles Kim, Guitar and Songwriting teacher at Old Town School since 1999 and Kim Bellware, friend and student. Kim and Charles discuss the effect of YouTube on classes at Old Town School, and how people choose to...
A conversation between Jane Stracke Bradbury and Old Town School documentarian Mareva Lindo. Jane has been present at every incarnation of the school, even before it began. Daughter of Old Town School co-founder Win Stracke, she recalls memories of her...
Jon Langford and Sally Timms--of The Mekons and countless other projects--have been part of the Old Town School community in a myriad of ways since the 1990s. Just a few months after Langford was honored as a “Music Legend” by...
A conversation between partners and musical collaborators Gregg Ostrom and Tisa Batchelder, who met many years ago at the Old Town School, where they work. They share memories of their first encounters with the school, of their long courtship, and...
Born in St. Louis on August 6th, 1924, and raised on Chicago's South side, Ella Jenkins was the first person in line on the opening night of the Old Town School of Folk Music, December 1st, 1957. At the time,...
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,...
Friends Olivia Langby (26) and María Terrés (68) share a conversation about their starts in music, the music community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, memorable gigs, and how their music journeys have evolved.
Old Town School teachers Barb Silverman and Jess McIntosh talk about teaching at the school, experiences as women in a male-dominated music community, and reflections on their friendship over the years. Barb is a clogger and multi-instrumentalist who performs in...
Skip Landt, teacher at Old Town School, interviews Michael Miles, teacher and former Program Director at the Old Town School talk about Michael's early work at Old Town School. Michael discusses his hiring tactics, the culture shift at Old Town...
World-class Irish fiddler Liz Carroll talks with friend and bodhran player Mike Austin about the Irish music community in Chicago, Liz's ideas about learning music, and her time teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music in the 1980s....
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...
In 2018, a large group of Black banjoists and fiddlers, and their allies gathered at a farm near Orange, VA. These are their stories.
Ted and Marcia Johnson have been married almost as long as they've been a part of the Old Town School community. They met at an early 1960s anniversary concert for the Old Town School, where Marcia had been taking guitar...
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...
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...
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...
Michael O'Toole and Mike Blackburn share memories of how they first got into playing music and how they became involved with Old Town School of Folk Music. This conversation was recorded at the school on October 21st, 2017. Go to...
Friends and Chicago Tribune columnists Mary Schmich and Eric Zorn talk about their memories at the school, from taking lessons to co-founding the long-running holiday showcase and singalong, Songs of Good Cheer. This interview was recorded at the Old Town...
Steve Desroches (47) and Rod Vaughan (50) talk about Vaughan's background in opera performance and blue grass music, particularly as a banjo player, and how that morphed into the unusual band the Electric Milk Machine in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
A conversation between Mateo Mulcahy and Karima Daoudi. Mateo, the current director of Old Town School's World Music Wednesday series, remembers how his involvement with the Old Town School started when he was a 14 year old punk rocker who...
A running theme throughout Old Town School history is people finding deep connections and community, forging lifelong collaborations, friendships, and often falling in love. Jim DeWan and Elaine Moore are one such example. Married now for years, the two longtime...
A conversation between friends and bandmates Sandy Bykowski & Ray Ariaz. Sandy has been volunteering at the Old Town School for many years, while Ray's roots at the school go back to the folk chorus in the 1970s. This conversation...
Musician and musicologist Bau Graves was Executive Director of the Old Town School of Folk Music from 2007 to 2018, during which he was known for his humor, and as the director of the Mandolin Ensemble. IT director and instructor...