This morning the Old Town School of Folk Music debuted its fancy new digs across the street from its other Lincoln Square location, and it started its 55-day celebration of the institution's 55-year anniversary. more ›

Featuring 127 tracks, Live from the Old Town School will be available Dec. 13. more ›

Sub-Pop label mates, Fruit Bats and Vetiver, played Lincoln Hall Thursday night, churning out their folky brand of back-to-basics songwriting and classic Americana rock ‘n roll to a sea of plaid shirt-wearing twenty-somethings. more ›

Teaching and honoring American and international music traditions is a year-round job for the Old Town School of Folk Music, but every summer it takes to the park for two days of play - the Chicago Folk & Roots Festival. The fest returns this weekend for its 14th year, filling Welles Park with the sound of music you’ll probably only hear once in your life. more ›

A few months back, we mentioned that U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley was aiming to get a Lakeview Post Office named after singer-songwriter Steve Goodman, most widely known for his song "City of New Orleans" but best known locally in these parts as the man behind the "Go, Cubs, Go" song that the team plays after wins (which hasn't been very often this season) and the (sadly) more realistic, "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request." Today, President Obama signed that proposal, paving the way for the post office at 1343 W. Irving Park to be named after him. Goodman studied at the Old Town School of Folk Music along with other folk heavy hitters like Roger McGuinn and John Prine. Goodman died in 1984 from leukemia. In a statement, Rep. Quigley said: more ›

It is part of growing up. You get older and you take on more responsibility. It is true for people. It is true for organizations. And, it seems to be true for Wiggleworms… more ›

On a recent trip to Woodstock, New York, we visited one of the best kitchen supply stores we've ever been in. Woodstock may be a fortress of hippitude - a tradition that dates beyond the 1969 festival (which, in any case, actually took place some forty miles away) to the 1902 establishment of the utopian arts colony Byrdcliffe - but, for just as long, the town has been a second home for many Manhattanites. These crowds coexist, even overlap, and the Gilded Carriage, a turn-of-the-20th-century house crammed with high-end wares (All-Clad, Le Creuset, etc.) and other specialty items, such as locally handmade soaps and candles, is this synthesis in microcosm. more ›

With our last stop on our week-long Stay-Home World Tour, we come almost full circle geographically with Tinariwen's performances this weekend at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Tinariwen's members are Tuareg, a Saharan culture which is historically nomadic but whose lives were uprooted during the region's colonization in the late 1800s and the subsequent independence in the 1960s, so the musicians have bounced between points all over north and west Africa, forming up in Algeria and somewhat more officially in a military training camp near Tripoli, Libya. more ›

Our next stop on the Stay-Home World Tour is Tuva, a small Russian republic that sits on a plateau between Siberia and Mongolia, as Huun Huur Tu plays a pair of shows this Friday night at the Old Town School of Folk Music. more ›

Chicago's largely coincidental tour of world music kicked off last night with Bela Fleck's Africa Project concerts at the Old Town School of Folk Music. The tour is a spinoff from the 2009 documentary "Throw Down Your Heart" about Fleck's 2005 trip to sub-Saharan Africa to explore the roots of his instrument - the banjo having made its way to America on slave ships - and the Grammy Award-winning album of the same name. more ›

Non-Western rhythms have throughout music history shown up as influences in the work of American and European artists. The Beatles, Paul Simon, the Rolling Stones and Rusted Root all nodded to worldly locales from India to South Africa, at some point in their careers. Modern indie artists have followed suit, co-opting world music, particularly pan-African influences, in a recent fever that suggests a budding trend. Fool's Gold, jj, Tanlines, The Very Best and Vampire Weekend are some of the forerunners utilizing African percussion and instrumentation to infuse pop/rock with the exotic flavors of faraway lands. more ›

The Old Town School of Folk Music is planning an $18 million expansion across the street from the school at 4543 N. Lincoln Ave. The Old Town School purchased the vacant land to build an additional facility with classrooms, dance studios and a 133-seat performance venue. Groundbreaking is expected later this year after additional fund-raising. more ›

The Old Town School of Folk Music presents its twelfth annual installment of the Chicago Folk and Roots Festival this weekend in Lincoln Square. The Festival, spread across Welles Park, brings a steady stream of activities to a usually friendly, laid-back crowd: performances by Old Town staff, open jam sessions by the gazebo, dance lessons with live music, and a tent for kids, although we should point out that that's an area with entertainment for children, not a place to store them. more ›

If you're not familiar with the marimba, check out the eight marimbists, bassist, and percussionist of Marimba Nacional de Concierto perform folk, popular, and contemporary music at the Cultural Center tonight and the Old Town School of Folk Music on Wednesday. more ›

If today's weather gives you the urge to belt out a tune, bust out of your cubicle and head to Lincoln Square tonight for the family-friendly First Friday, the Old Town School of Folk Music's monthly open house. more ›

Still looking for something to do tonight? The outstanding combo of Mavis Staples and Booker T & the MG's play the Harris Theater tonight for the Old Town School of Folk Music's annual benefit. Staples is also supporting her upcoming Live: Hope at the Hideout, a recording made this June at, well, the Hideout, that's out this Tuesday. FYI - the liner notes for the disc are by Time Out Chicago's (and former Chicagoist contributor) Scott Smith. As of post time, good tickets were still available. more ›

Harris Theater for Music and Dance celebrated the opening night of their fifth anniversary season to great fanfare last week, hosting a gala on Thursday night in Millennium Park to kick off their week-long engagement with the San Francisco Ballet while raising nearly $1.4 million to benefit the theater. more ›

It's been a season of milestones for the city-sponsored music festivals. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the World Music Festival. What started out as a small festival centered in Chicago's notable places for international music has evolved into a city-wide event, with artists performing throughout the city limits. WMF highlights Chicago's reputation as a city of neighborhoods. In incorporating most of the major club venues, WMF also does more to shine a positive spotlight on our vibrant music club scene in one week than venue owners often do themselves. Only the ongoing resistance to the promoters ordinance can unite club owners as well. more ›

We know you're getting all geared up for Lollapalooza, but it's time to start preparing for Life After Lolla. The Old Town School of Folk Music boasts an impressive lineup of fall shows, all of which go on sale tomorrow morning (Friday, August 1) at 9 a.m. Here are some of our picks. (Note: Unless otherwise noted, all shows are at the Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall, 4544 N Lincoln Ave.) more ›

"‘Transnormal skiperoo' is a name I invented to describe a strange new feeling I've been experiencing after years of feeling lost and alone and cursed," writes Southern Americana balladeer Jim White in his bio. "Now, when everything around me begins to shine, when I find myself dancing around in my back yard for no particular reason other than it feels good to be alive, when I get this deep sense of gratitude that I don't need drugs or God or doomed romance to fuel myself through the gauntlet of a normal day, I call that feeling 'transnormal skiperoo.’" more ›

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This Sunday, Old Town School of Folk Music is hosting a hootenanny! Kids are invited to come in their pajamas and tote along their favorite plushie for this twee pre-bedtime show featuring Wiggleworms teachers Lindsay Weinberg, Rob Newhouse, Elaine Moore and others. Chicago Children's Theater promises to bring their own, life-sized Teddy Bear to join in the festivities. Show starts at 5 p.m. at Old Town's Lincoln Square location, and tickets are $11 for members and $12 for everyone else. more ›