Joe Filisko & Harlan Terson

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...

Charlotte Bader

A conversation with Charlotte Bader. This conversation was recorded at the school on July 25th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

Tisa Batchelder & Gregg Ostrom

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...

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James Von Stein and Jason Von Stein

Jason Von Stein (36) talks and plays music with his father James E. Von Stein (66), a songwriter whose emphysema has stopped him from playing himself. The two reminisce and tell stories while playing.

Charles Kim & Kim Bellware

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...

Linda Salmons: Folk Musician

Meet Linda Salmons! Linda is the founder of “Picking On The Porch” at the Tuckerton Seaport. In this interview, she shares the best stories from her life as a folk musician. From meeting Taylor Swift to trading guitar lessons for...

Jon Langford & Sally Timms

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...

Jane Stracke Bradbury

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...

Ella Jenkins

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,...

Mateo Mulcahy & Karima Daoudi

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...

Ann Whitley-Singleton and Sarah Adams

Interview with Ann Whitley-Singleton, long-time(and recently-retired)curriculum director of Georgia Pick & Bow Traditional Music School, director of the annual Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week at Mars Hill University, and many other musical communities. Interviewed by Sarah Adams on August 28,...

Peggy Browning & Maura Lally

A conversation between Peggy Browning and Maura Lally. This conversation was recorded at the school on May 20, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

Jim DeWan & Elaine Moore

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...

Sandy Bykowski & Ray Ariaz

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...

Bau Graves & Gregg Ostrom

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...

Katie Lahiff & Erin Flynn

A conversation between Katie Lahiff, founder of the school's popular early childhood program Wiggleworms, and Erin Flynn, Old Town School Children's Program Manager. The two talk about their beginnings at the school, the joy of sharing music and movement with...

Marge Weber & Lara Weber

A conversation between Marge Weber & Lara Weber. This conversation was recorded at the school on May 8th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

Robbie Fulks & Steve Dawson

A conversation between Robbie Fulks & Steve Dawson. This conversation was recorded at the school on June 5th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

Mehran Jalili & Maya Tatiana

A conversation between Mehran Jalili & Maya Tatiana. This conversation was recorded at the school on July 25th, 2017. Go to www.oldtownschool.org/StoryCorps to hear selected excerpts from interviews collected as part of the StoryCorps-Old Town School partnership.

Mike Dunbar & Mark Dvorak

In 1978 Mark Dvorak took a guitar class with Mike Dunbar at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Today, Mike is a bandleader and multi-instrumentalist living in Nashville, Tenn., and Mark has just celebrated 30 years teaching at the...