Plank Road Folk Music Society

Winter - January 2025 www.plankroad.org

In This Issue

40 years and going strong . . . Plank Road celebrates!

New merch . . . $10 t-shirts, and custom guitar picks!

Doris Ireland . . . long-time Plank Road member.

Everyone's creative . . . songwriting workshop.

Music Trivia . . . Answers to previous quiz and NEW quiz.

Remembering . . . Peter Yarrow, Etta Jenkins, Phil Lesh.

Plank Road Events

Please join us for our in-person get togethers — co-sponsored with Two Way Street Coffee House.

Sing-Around

1st & 3rd Saturday. | 2-4 pm

Vocal instrumental jam and sing-along with songbooks and leader.

Country & Western Sing-Around

4th Saturday. | 2-4 pm

Sing along with your favorite C&W songs. Songbooks provided.

Song Circle -- BYOS!

2nd Tuesday. | 7-9 pm

Bring Your Own Song! A monthly opportunity for folks to perform original or cover songs for each other, within a song circle.

Plank Road String Band Practice

2nd Sat. | 2:00-4:00 pm

First Church of Lombard

630-620-0688

An old-time string band practice for intermediate/advanced players, from September to April.

Next Barn Dance

Saturday, February 1 | 7-9 pm

Enjoy a fun-filled evening of music and dancing for the entire family. Doors open at 6:30.

Be sure to check the Plank Road and Two Way Street websites and Facebook pages for details about each event.

President's Message

Winter 2025

I hope you all had a nice holiday season! I am looking forward to 2025, and will begin my 16th year as President of Plank Road. This year will be significant to our organization, as it is the 40th anniversary of our founding; a remarkable feat!

Also, our main partner, Two Way Street Coffee House, will celebrate an amazing 55th anniversary. Congratulations to them on this great milestone. Dave Humphreys is the founder and was director for over 50 years; the current directors are Jen Ashley and Joel Simpson.

About ten years ago, my President’s Message in QuarterNotes addressed our relationship with Two Way Street, and an explanation of our relationship, as many people still think of us a one combined entity. We are two separate organizations, who often share a common meeting place and collaborate on many activities and programs.

Two Way Street has been a fixture in Downers Grove since 1970, and their signature activity is presenting Friday night concerts, where excellent musicians perform in a small, intimate room, where the audience sits close and can truly experience a closeness with the artist that is rarely achieved at a musical performance. The artists are treated with great reverence and respect. Two Way Street also co-sponsors several music workshops each year in conjunction with Plank Road.

Plank Road events are based on participation of our members. We present around 70 music events per year, which are interactive by nature, with a designated leader for each session. The main place for these get-togethers is at the Two Way Street Coffee House; they are generous in allowing us to use their space for many regular sessions. So we provide a place to meet, a session leader, song books and strive to make everyone feel welcome and appreciated. Our fabulous String Band meets and performs at a different time and place. Visit our website for details.

Happy New Year

Bob O'Hanlon

President

Welcome New Members!

Martine Ledesma
Dave Scholes & Dolly Connors

1985 - 2025 . . . Plank Road to celebrate 40 years!

What began four decades ago in suburban Brookfield has become

one of Chicagoland’s preeminent folk organizations.

Forty years of making music and making friends . . . hard to believe it all began that long ago, and is more vibrant today than ever!

In the months ahead we’ll bring you stories about the history of Plank Road in future issues of QuarterNotes and on the Plank Road website and Facebook page.

Here’s a little history to kick things off:

Back in the 1980s, the QuarterNotes newsletter had already been around for awhile. But it wasn’t until January, 1985 that Plank Road became an officially-recognized non-profit organization. And here’s the cover of that very first “official” newsletter . . .

Inside it read:

The Plank Road Folk Music Society has been formed. The legalities of filing the necessary papers for non-profit status have been performed. We’re ready to roll!

Our officers have been elected. They include Ray Kurek of Westmont as President, Marianne Mohrhusen as Recording Secretary, and David Reynolds as Treasurer.

The purpose of the society is the promotion and enhancement of the folk arts in the western suburbs through workshops, school programs and other special activities including the publication of The Quarter Notes.

The group meets every fourth Thursday of the month.

Well, things have certainly changed over the past 40 years . . .

As Bob O’Hanlon mentioned in his President’s message, Plank Road has dramatically increased the scope and frequency of our activities — 70+ a year, including not just our Saturday sing-arounds, monthly song-circles, and string band gigs, but participation in festivals, workshops, barn dances and more — most in conjunction with Two Way Street. Not to mention a membership of over 100 people, with new members joining every year.

Have some memories you’d like to share?

If you’d like to submit some thoughts or memories of your time with Plank Road, we’d love to hear them — and possibly include them in future issues of this newsletter. Same goes for any “vintage” photos. Just contact any board member (see below) or email to lemos.bill@comcast.net

How should we celebrate our 40th Anniversary?

Forty years as an active organization is something to be proud of, and deserves to be celebrated. Here are some ideas — but we want to hear yours!

Hold a function at the Log Cabin?
Celebrate at Two Way Street Coffee House with a sing-around or open mic?
Offer some commemorative Plank Road merchandise (t-shirt, hat, coffee mug, guitar case sticker, etc.)?
Sponsor a special concert?
Create a commemorative booklet about our history?

We welcome your thoughts!

Readers are invited to submit ideas to any board member, either directly (below), or informally at any of our regular Plank Road events.

+ Bob O’Hanlon reohanlon@gmail.com + Bill Lemos lemos.bill@comcast.net + Jen Shilt

+ Dottie Lee + Kristen Fuller + Bethany DeHann +Jim Gilroy + Dave Humphreys

Plank Road Merchandise — new for 2025

Limited quantity of shirts and guitar picks — plus an easy way to custom order t-shirts, any style, size or color!

Our original Plank Road t-shirts and hats are sold out. But we have a new supply of shirts available for just $10 each — in Large and X-Large sizes. Your choice of black w/white logo, gray w/black logo, and black w/gray logo. (Shown above.)

Also available:

Plank Road sport bottles, tote bags and guitar stickers.

NEW - Plank Road “Pick Pouch”

Carry your picks, capo, tuner and more. Includes zippered pouch, guitar sticker, and six guitar picks — choice of medium or heavy. Get ‘em before they’re gone!

CUSTOM T-SHIRTS NOW AVAILABLE

Now you can order your official Plank Road t-shirt just the way you want — choose the color, style and size you want, place your order, and receive it in just a few days.

Because these are one-at-a-time custom orders, these shirts are more expensive than the basic ones we have in stock. But if you want a certain color, or an extra small size for a child or toddler, or ladies style, now’s your opportunity!

Shirts are custom-designed locally. They can be shipped to you for an extra fee, or if it’s convenient, you can pick them up from the supplier in Wheaton.

Custom shirts run between $20 and $25. Below are examples of color options.

Contact Bill at lemos.bill@comcast.net if you have any questions, or would like him to place your order.

Click on the color grid above to enlarge.

Long-time Plank Road member

Doris Ireland

Doris Mae Ireland (Phillips) passed away on December 5 at the age of 101. “She was a ferocious dependable friend, as many can attest to,” according to her obituary. Jen Shilt remembers Doris as a “dear friend and longtime PRFMS member.”

According to her obituary, she was “just a farm girl that loved to play baseball, basketball, acrobatics”… and music.

During World War II she riveted sheets of aluminum onto airplanes, hoping that her older brother, a flyer in the Army Air Corps, might depend on those rivets. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1945, leaving Doris on her own with a baby boy. But by 1949 she had remarried and had a second son.

Doris and husband Don enjoyed both classical and country/western music. After Don’s death in 1989, she turned to music for comfort, bought an autoharp, and jammed with the Plank Road Folk Music Society crowd. She even cut a CD, Precious Memories.

In 2008 she moved in with her son Ken to help nurse his wife Norma after surgery. Although she said she was just staying “temporarily,” she spent the remainder of her life with Ken and Norma. Up until age 100, she visited her home almost daily to open her mail, but returned to her roost in the evening. “Until her last day, she reveled in the sunset and was in good spirits.”

Two Way Street Coffee House — Friday Night Concert Series.

Doors open at 7:30pm and concerts start at 8pm. You can also view concerts online — more information on Two Way Street Coffee House or Facebook.

Maple Street Concerts.

Enjoy live concerts at Maple Street Chapel in downtown Lombard. Please check the Maple Street website for concert listings.

Everyone is creative!

That was Jenny Bienemann’s message at her “Little Epiphanies” Songwriting Workshop.

Enthusiastic attendees enjoyed the fourth and final Fifth Saturday Workshop of the year on November 30. Award-winning poet, singer, songwriter, and visual artist Jenny Bienemann presented her unique take on the art of songwriting.

Jenny believes people are born to create, but don’t always know how to express it. Through a number of simple “challenges” to the workshop attendees, she brought out self realizations (epiphanies) that evolved into short poems — which became creative building blocks. In fact, by the end of the session, many of these personal epiphanies became concepts for possible future songs.

When asked how she creates melodies, once the lyrics are done, she says sometimes she starts out singing her lyrics along with any tune that comes to mind, even simple childhood melodies, experimenting with chords and fitting in her lyrics, until it all comes together as something completely unique.

More workshops to come!

Thanks to Two Way Street, in partnership with Plank Road, these workshops are presented in months that have five Saturdays — an event that comes around only a few times each year. The good news is Joel Simpson and Jennifer Ashley are already planning this year’s season of new workshops.

Once the new season is determined, you’ll be notified via this newsletter, plus emails, Plank Road and Two Street websites and Facetime pages.

Remembering . . .

Peter Yarrow

Singer-songwriter and social activist Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary fame, died this past January 7. He was 86.

Peter, Paul and Mary were known for hits like “Day is Done,” “Light One Candle,” and had a No. 1 hit with a cover of John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” One of their most popular hits was “Puff, the Magic Dragon” which was co-written by Yarrow.

They also recorded the popular cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” which they performed in 1963 at the March on Washington, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yarrow said his folk activism began after hearing The Weavers singing at Carnegie Hall. “I was stunned by the extraordinary effect ‘music of conscience’ can have on people, particularly when they sing those songs together.”

After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in psychology, Yarrow headed to Greenwich Village in New York City. It was there, while playing local coffeehouses as a solo act, that he met future bandmates Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers.

They made their debut as a trio at the Bitter End in 1961, and released their self-titled debut album in 1962 — which topped the charts, thanks to hits like “Lemon Tree” and “If I Had a Hammer.”

Over the years, the group won five Grammy Awards, notched six Top 10 hits, and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

They parted ways in 1970 — due in part to Yarrow’s serving three months in prison after he was accused of making sexual advances toward a teenage autograph-seeker in 1969. (He was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in 1981.)

Peter, Paul and Mary later reunited, and continued to perform together until Travers’ death in 2009.

In addition to the music, Yarrow was an activist. The group performed at both the March on Washington and the Selma-Montgomery march two years later. Over the years, Yarrow organized peace concerts protesting the Vietnam War, and was an advocate for hospice patients and children.

In 1996, he founded the Save One Child fund, which provides free neurosurgical treatment to children. In 1999, he launched Operation Respect, the anti-bullying educational nonprofit.

"People can overcome their differences, and when united, move toward a world of greater fairness and justice," said Yarrow.

Mary Travers died in 2009; Paul Stookey is 87 and resides in Maine.

Ella Jenkins

Known as the First Lady of Children’s Songs, singer, songwriter Ella Jenkins died November 9 in Chicago at the age of 100.

Jenkins was inspired by a lot of things — the folk tradition, the civil rights movement, the church, and children — once saying, “I learned a great deal from children.”

From her home in Lincoln Park, Ella Jenkins traveled the world, performing for generations of kids who never forgot listening to and performing with her.

In 2013, she told NPR that when it comes down to it, music is about sharing what you love. She said when you find music you really like, "listen to it, and listen to it often,” so that when you're sharing it, “someone else is going to think it's beautiful, too."

Jenkins was born in St. Louis in 1924, but she and her family eventually moved to the South Side of Chicago. It was there she developed one of her signature styles, known as call-and-response. "I say something, and you say it back to me," she explained.

One of the hottest acts in clubs at the time was

Cab Calloway. And in his famous song, "Minnie the Moocher," the "Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi" section is a call-and-response. "So I started doing it with his songs, and thought I would make up a few songs myself. Children can learn very easily by imitating, following the leader and then soon be able to teach it themselves."

She eventually moved to California and hung around music stores, spending hours in soundproof booths listening to records. “Then all of a sudden in college at San Francisco State, I was singing in coffeehouses for adults,” she said.

In 1952 she moved back to Chicago and began working as a program director for teenagers at a YWCA. While there, she came up with some innovative methods for teaching music and was asked to demonstrate them on a children’s show on WTTW. It was so successful that she got her own weekly segment, “This Is Rhythm."

Jenkins took four songs she had written to New York and met with Moses “Mo” Asch, founder of the Folkways label, who signed her on the spot. Her first album, Call and Response: Rhythmic Group Singing, came out in 1957 — and she eventually recorded 39 albums for Folkways.

She encouraged millions of kids to sing along with her in a career that spanned nearly 70 years. She received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and saw her work immortalized in the Library of Congress.

Jenkins frequently appeared at Ravinia and the Old Town School of Folk Music. Millions more watched her on TV, including “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and “Sesame Street.”

Phil Lesh

Founding member of The Grateful Dead, Phil Lesh, died October 25. He was 84. Lesh was known for developing a unique style of playing improvised six-string bass guitar — and was the Dead’s bassist throughout their 30-year career.

Lesh claimed that one of his earliest memories was of being “stunned” by hearing Brahms “Symphony No 1” — and his classical training and wide-ranging musical tastes ensured that his playing reached beyond the traditional confines of a bass guitar in rock music.

The Grateful Dead pioneered their own brand of improvisational music, and Lesh’s playing was imaginative enough to enable them to roam freely from rock, blues, country, and even folk tunes.

In high school Lesh became interested in avant-garde classical music and free jazz. Inspired by Beethoven and Charles Ives, he decided he wanted to be a composer. At a community college in San Mateo, he wrote arrangements for the college’s big band, and played trumpet.

In 1961 he transferred to the University of California in Berkley. While volunteering for a radio station as a recording engineer, Lesh met bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia, and invited him to perform on the station's Midnight Special show. Despite their different musical interests, they became friends.

In spring 1965 he saw Garcia's new band, the Warlocks, in concert — and a few weeks later Garcia invited him to become the group's bassist . . . although Lesh had never played bass.

In 1966 he moved with the group to San Francisco, where they signed a recording deal with Warner Brothers. Never having played bass before, Lesh learned "on the job" — which meant he had no preconceived ideas and was free to develop his own style.

He said he was influenced more by Bach’s counterpoint than by contemporary rock and soul bass players. (NOTE: Counterpoint is described as “the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically interdependent, yet independent in rhythm, commonly associated with the Baroque period.”)

Wait, this is the Grateful Dead, we’re talking about, right?? But in addition to Bach, Lesh also cited two rock bassists as influences, Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane and Jack Bruce of Cream.

After the group disbanded in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of Grateful Dead family music with a side project, Phil Lesh and Friends, which paid homage to the Dead's music as well as songs by his own group.

With a little help from our friends . . .

George Mattson Trio

gmtrio.com

Mark Dvorak

markdvorak.com

Cathy Jones

cathy@jonesfamilymusic.com

WDCB Folk Festival

Tobias Music

www.tobiasmusic.com

Music Trivia

Andy's Music Trivia Quiz

Hope you all had pleasant holidays. Hopefully you are enjoying this trivia.

Answers to October Quiz:

Q1. NAME THAT TUNE! - What song begins with the words "I bet you wonder how I knew, bout…?" Who sang the hit?

A1. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was written by Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong (“Money”) in 1966, and was a big hit twice. Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1967 took it to #1 BBR&B, & #2 BB100. Marvin Gaye's record in 1968, was #1 for 7 weeks on BBPOP.

Q2. NAME THAT TUNE! - What song begins with the words "My Latest Sun is Sinking?"

A2. "Angel Band " was initially a poem ("My Latest Sun is Sinking Fast") written by Jefferson Hascall around 1860. The poem became attached to a melody by William Bradbury, and “Angel Band” was born in 1862 (also known as “The Land Of Beulah”). The song became immensely popular during the folk revival of the 1960s, and is in our songbook.

Q3. What Lennon/McCartney song did Bobby Rydell take to #2 on the BBCashBox?

A3. "A World Without Love" was tied at #2 on BBCashBox in May 1964 with itself covered by both Bobby Rydell, and separately by Peter & Gordon.

Q4. Who played the guitar break in 1958 on Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me?"

A4. Chet Atkins

Q5. The Coasters had a #3 BB100 hit in 1957 with "Searchin." What TV/Movie characters are mentioned or referenced in the song?

A5. Reference to Northwest Mounted Police would be TV's "Sergeant Preston."

They mention: Sherlock Holmes; Sam Spade; Sergeant Friday; Charlie Chan;

Boston Blackie; and Bulldog Drummond. It also referenced several songs: Swim a river could be "Running Bear;" they mention "Blueberry Hill;" climb a mountain could be several songs: "Climb Every Mountain;" "Over the Mountain Across the Sea."

Q6. Name 2 (or more) British groups that scored multiple hits with Lennon/McCartney songs, and the names of the songs.

A6. - Billy J Kramer & the Dakotas made #9 with "Bad to Me" and #15 with "From a Window," both in 1964.

- Peter & Gordon made #1 with "A World Without Love," #12 with "Nobody I Know," and #16 with "I Don't Want to See You Again," all in 1964.

Q7. Who sang a prophetic hit song about a place where he was later severely injured? What was the song?

A7. In 1964 Jan & Dean took "Dead Man's Curve" to BB100 #8. Jan Berry was severely injured and disabled there in 1966.

Q8. How many times did Pat Boone win the National Amateur Hour? Name one of the songs he won with?

A8. He won 3 times. In June, 1954 he won singing “I Believe.”

Q9. The Raiders went to #1 with the song "Indian Reservation." Who sang it first?

A9. Marvin Rainwater was ¼ Cherokee, sang country/western songs, some of Indian heritage: eg: "Indian Reservation," "Half Breed."

Q10. What Ned Miller song was a flop when originally issued?

A10. "From a Jack to a King" stiffed in 1957 when originally released. Ned Miller had paralyzing stage fright, and could not perform it publicly. In 1963 a jukebox operator requested a copy of the record. The Fabor label re-released the song and it became a hit in 1963: #2 BBCW & #6 BB100.

Q11. Patsy Cline died in an airplane crash on March 5, 1963, with fellow performers Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Cowboy Copas. What was the last song she performed in concert and where?

A11. Patsy's last song was "Life's Railway to Heaven," sung in Kansas City the night before the crash.

NEW Trivia Quiz:

Q1. What early movie combines genres of western music and science fiction. (HINT: It Stars Gene Autry.)

Q2. Louis Walcott played a classical violin number at the age of 16 on the TV Amateur Hour? What is his later taken name?

Q3. What was Patsy Cline's first #1 BBCW hit?

Q4. NAME THAT TUNE! - What song begins with the words "Look at Me, I'm…"

Q5. NAME THAT TUNE! – What song begins with the words "I'm-a ridin’ on this train, I've…"?

Q6. What black vocal group was the first to make the BB100 Top 10, and what was the song?

Q7. What did Jimmy Clanton (“Venus In Blue Jeans”), Dale & Grace (“I'm Leaving It Up to You”), and Huey Piano Smith (“Don't You Just Know It”) have in common?

Please send responses to AndyM @

pictq@yahoo.com