Plank Road Folk Music Society

Summer-July 2023| www.plankroad.org

The Old Town School of Folk Music

. . . and how folk music took over Chicago in the ‘60s.

It started as a living room guitar class in 1957, and turned into the legendary Old Town School of Folk Music — going stronger than ever, nearly 66 years later.

Back in the late 1950s and early 60s Chicago was already at the epicenter of the folk music craze that was sweeping the country. Or, as some people call it, “The Great American Folk Scare.” 

Memories of the school from Plank Road members . . .

George Mattson

“In the fall of 1988 I went to the Old Town School to learn how to play banjo, and Mark Dvorak was my instructor. I soon started going to the Friday night song circles and concerts that Mark was in charge of. My next banjo class was with Mike Miles (who was also the head of instruction at the school), and he hired me to teach weekly guitar classes for Guitar I, II or III in early 1989. 

I soon switched to teaching Guitar Repertoire where students could learn songs that utilized the basic skills they had developed in those first classes. I enjoyed those repertoire classes and always let the students pick the songs that they wanted to learn.

After moving to Downers Grove, driving into the city became more of a problem so I stopped teaching in 1993. 

The Two Way Street Coffee House and Plank Road then became my substitution for the OTSFM.”

Bill Lemos

“I took lessons at the Old Town School after retiring. I learned a lot from some wonderful instructors. But I especially remember learning new songs that I never would have considered doing on my own — either because they were “too difficult” or were a style or genre I hadn't considered before. 

The after-class “Second Half” sessions were great, as was Skip Landt’s weekly music jams at noon on Wednesday (which he still conducts). The Old Town School experience always left me inspired. And I completely agree with the Ed Holstein quote above about the ‘warmth and community’ of the School. That’s what it was all about.”

Wayne Oestreicher

“It was the early 1970s and I was teaching myself how to play guitar. I bought a guitar for $20 at a second-hand shop, and was learning by playing Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan songs. 

When I started taking lessons at the Old Town School I was astonished that there was a place where they were playing the songs I knew and loved. After the lessons I sat in on the “Second Half” sing-along with breathless wonder — and for the next 40 years I occasionally took lessons and attended OTS concerts.”  

Jen Shilt

“I absolutely love taking classes at the Old Town School! It has a such a welcoming and supportive atmosphere. I've taken guitar, old-time ensemble and fiddle classes through the years, always with excellent instructors. 

Cheryl Joyal and I started taking OTS fiddle classes on Zoom during the COVID years and now are enjoying taking classes together in person. I always leave class feeling energized and can’t wait for the next lesson.”

Dottie Lee

“I never actually took lessons from the Old Town School. But, the very positive influence of the School on my musical learning and enjoyment is nevertheless deeply felt through the wonderful times at the Jones Family Music Studio, taking lessons and participating in jams. 

As you know, Tom and Anne themselves learned a lot about playing and teaching folk music from their own time at the Old Town School, and we, their students, benefitted so much from the blend of the Old Town School methods and songs and the unique talents of Tom and Anne in passing on the appreciation and knowledge to their students along with their own ways of bringing songs to life.”

Article above includes excerpts from a story by Lara Weber

in the July 2, 2017 issue of the Chicago Tribune.

String Band gets a “sweet” gig at

Batavia’s Ice Cream Social. 

Photos provided by Jen Shilt and Gary Blankenship.

Plank Road will have our tent on-site where folks can meet up, jam under a shady tree, or take a break and visit with fellow Plank Roaders. You know there’ll be plenty of picking and singing!

Don’t miss this great music event!

Mark your calendar for Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend, September 3 & 4. The festival runs from 11 am to 6 pm both days, with extra evening events until 9pm on Sunday only.

For additional information and updates throughout the summer, visit fvfs.org, or use your smart phone on this QR code:

Volunteers are needed!



“We are reaching out for volunteers to make sure our first year back on the Island goes smoothly,” says Cheryl. They’re needed in all areas, including donations, hospitality and instrument check-in, merchandise tent, workshop stage sound and MCs, and many other areas. 

“If any folks from Plank Road can help out, even for an hour or two, it would be greatly appreciated! It is helpful to have long standing members of the local community as we welcome more new volunteers this year.”

If you, or someone you know, can help out, please use this volunteer QR code:

Gordon Lightfoot

Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian folk music laureate who crossed over to major pop fame in the U.S. during the 1970s, died May 1 in Toronto. He was 84 years old.

Lightfoot’s biggest hits included "Sundown," "If You Could Read My Mind," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Carefree Highway" and "Rainy Day People" during his mid-‘70s heyday.

Lightfoot rose to prominence in the mid-1960s, with such folk standards as "Early Morning Rain," "For Loving Me," "Ribbon of Darkness," and "Canadian Railroad Trilogy.” (Several of his songs are Plank Road favorites at our sing-arounds.)

His 1974 album Sundown — which contained the ominous title single — topped the charts here and in Canada.

Though the hits dried up during the ‘80s, Lightfoot remained a revered figure in folk circles. His songs have been widely covered by artists including Dylan, Peter Paul & Mary, Neil Young, Elvis Presley and more.

Lightfoot was born in Ontario in 1938. His mother encouraged his performing career, and by his teen years, he was playing guitar, piano and drums. In the early ‘60s, his interest in folk music deepened, and he performed solo and in folk groups and as a soloist in Toronto's coffee houses.

His big breakthrough came when Ian and Sylvia released "Early Morning Rain" in 1965. That song, and "For Loving Me," were soon covered by Peter Paul & Mary, reaching a huge audience.

He was signed to United Artists Records in 1965, but later signed with Reprise,

America's most progressive label at the time, firmly establishing Lightfoot in the top rank of singer-songwriters.

His life was never lacking in drama. Two divorces and a serious health issues sidelined him numerous times over the years. He suffered from Bell’s palsy, an aneurysm that led to a 6-week coma, extended hospitalization and surgery, alcoholism, a stroke, and emphysema. Yet he continued to tour into his eighties.

His last major U.S. hit was the somber "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Lightfoot considered the song his best work.

Harry Belafonte

Award-winning singer, actor and activist, Harry Belafonte, died April 25 at age 96. Across a groundbreaking seven-decade career, he became the first Black Emmy winner and recorded the first-ever million-selling full-length album by any artist.

Belafonte supported progressive political causes both at home and abroad. He was also a driving force behind “We Are the World,” the 1985 star-studded charity single that raised more than $60 million for Ethiopian famine relief.

He was born in Harlem, the son of Caribbean immigrants. He returned to his mother’s native Jamaica in 1935, fleeing to avoid paying back rent, and returning to New York in 1942.

Belafonte dropped out of school after struggling in his studies with undiagnosed dyslexia, and later joined the U.S. Navy during World War II — returning home to a job as a janitor’s assistant.

But that job turned into an unexpected windfall after he received free tickets to an American Negro Theatre production. The show transformed his life: Belafonte volunteered to work as a handyman and met a theater janitor named Sidney Poitier. They became lifelong friends, and were soon performing alongside Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.

Belafonte took acting lessons, and started singing in a jazz club. But he embraced folk music after seeing performances by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger at the Village Vanguard, where Belafonte performed for $70 a week.

In 1956, he made history — “Day-O (Banana Boat Song)” became a massive hit from Belafonte’s album Calypso, which sold an unheard of 1 million copies. Other hits included “Jamaica Farewell” and “Mary’s Boy Child.”

As an actor, he won a Tony Award in 1953, and his 1959 television special earned him an Emmy.

During the recording of his 1962 album Midnight Special, Belafonte brought in a recently transplanted Minnesota musician to play harmonica. The young man, named Bob Dylan, made his recording debut playing on the title track.

Tina Turner

Legendary soul and rock singer, Tina Turner, died May 24 in Switzerland after a long illness. She was 83. She had a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ‘70s — and was best known for songs including “Proud Mary,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Best,” and “Private Dancer.”

Born Anna Mae Bullock, Turner was brought up in Tennessee. Later in St. Louis, when she was just 16, she and her sister went to a nightclub act led by the Ike Turner — eventually becoming his protégée and lover.

Ike was impressed by her voice, and she became part of the band in 1957. They married in 1962, and Ike persuaded her to make Tina Turner her stage name — and together they formed the “Ike & Tina Turner Revue.”

Over the course of the 1960s, the pair grew into a successful soul-rock crossover act. Their biggest song, Creedence Clearwater’s “Proud Mary,” won a Grammy in 1972.

Despite her powerful stage presence, Turner suffered years of abuse during her marriage to Ike, finally fleeing after a violent fight in Dallas. They divorced in 1978, and while Ike kept most of their assets, Tina retained the rights to her stage name.

Her comeback began in 1981 when the Rolling Stones, who had been fans of hers since they were teenagers, asked Turner to open for them on a U.S. tour. Mick Jagger recently said, “She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her."

Turner won eight Grammys overall, and appeared in a handful of films. 

In 2013 she married German record executive Erwin Bach in Switzerland. In her 2018 memoir, she detailed a litany of health issues, including kidney failure. Her husband donated a kidney to her in 2017, saving her life.

Tina Turner’s unique brand of glamour and glitz became an essential ingredient to her performances. In 1985, Vogue wrote, “On stage she seethes sexuality — she screams, she sweats, she kicks up her famous stiletto-heeled legs.” Turner was like a “simmering pot about to boil over,” as one review stated.

Editor’s comment: I was lucky to see Ike & Tina at a midnight show in Las Vegas, in the late 1960s. It was a small room with few listeners, and we were only about 20 feet from the stage. I’ll never forget the incredible energy of the band, the dancers, and Tina’s explosive, erotic rendition of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.” So of course, I bought the album.

Bobby Osmond



In the span of less than a week, the bluegrass community lost two pioneering legends of the “high, lonesome sound.” Bobby Osborne and Jesse McReynolds died within mere days of each other.

Jesse McReynolds

McReynolds died June 23 at 93, while four days later, Osborne died at 91 on June 27. Both were renowned mandolin players and singers, whose melodic innovation and artistic integrity within bluegrass has echoed throughout the genre since its inception in the mid-20th century.

Osborne fronted the Osborne Brothers with his brother, Sonny (who died in 2021), while McReynolds teamed up with his brother, Jim (who died in 2002), to form the duo Jim & Jesse

“They were incredibly gifted singers and musicians,” says Ronnie McCoury, Grammy-winning mandolinist-singer. “Guys like Jesse and Bobby didn’t have many people to learn from. They were adapting the music they heard to the mandolin — they knew they had to be different.”

Both were also Korean War veterans in the early 1950s. While stationed in Korea, McReynolds joined up with Charlie Louvin of the Louvin Brothers, and the duo played for the troops. Osborne was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat.

McReynolds:

Hailing from rural Southwestern Virginia, the McReynolds boys began performing together in the late 1940s.

McCoury recalls it was the intricate, hard-to-replicate cross-picking that he most admired. “I would attempt some Jesse cross picking, but I just could not play it, especially at his speed."

Osborne:

Growing up in the desolate hollers of Southeastern Kentucky and later near Dayton, Ohio, the Osborne Brothers took the traditional bluegrass of Bill Monroe and pushed it across once-forbidden musical boundaries into popular country music. “Bobby played single-note picking, as opposed to Bill Monroe, who used a lot of down strokes,” McCoury says.

The Osbornes hits like “Rocky Top” and “Ruby, Are You Mad” became staples of the respective genres. (“Rocky Top” is a favorite at Plank Road’s Country/western sing-arounds.)

Please visit us at

Plank Road Folk Music Society

Questions? Please send us an email at:

plankroadfolk@hotmail.com