Chicago Folk and Roots Fest

So not last weekend but the weekend before it was the Chicago Folk and Roots Festival, put on every year in Lincoln Circle by the Old Town School of Folk Music. This year was my first time going and only caught a bit of it, but it was a very good time. To start off with the food there was not bad by any means, yes you could get corn dogs and funnel cake but you could also get vegan tacos, African sausage, and some other interesting stuff that caught my eye that currently I cannot remember. The festival was composed of a main stage for larger acts, a stage for the school staff to play at, a gazebo for jam sessions, a dance tent, and a "nuestra musica" tent which was made to display some aspects of the research that the Smithsonian Institute had done on the Latin American community in Chicago with the help of the Old Town School, and its very own instrument petting zoo (no f'n joke).

The music was pretty interesting, I spent a bit of time at the staff tent trying to meet some faculty to interview for my research on the school, but I also witnessed a surprisingly virtuosic Grateful Dead jam at the gazebo, as well as a few shows at the main stage most notably Curley Taylor and the Zydeco Trouble and the Watcha Clan. The Zydeco trouble is, you guessed it a zydeco band from Louisiana. They were quite funky, and definitely down with The Summer of Soul, cause they pulled out some nasty James Brown and Sam Cooke covers.

Also there was this very interesting French-Algerian band fronted by a sephardic Jewish woman. Their music combined North African roots with drum and bass, that painted a pretty cool atmosphere among the setting sun of the festival. I managed to capture a video of part of a song I found interesting, it was a rendition of the famous poem by Israeli poet Hannah Senesh, Aylee Aylee.

Overall the most refreshing aspect of the festival was that, as opposed to the Wells St. Art Fair earlier this summer, I was able to enjoy myself without being elbow to elbow with wasted young professionals. The music was an eclectic mix of folk, rock, roots, soul (they had a jam at the gazebo); Comparable to in talent, but with less choices, which I can deal with, and if I wanted to be dancing or picnic-ing I had my choice without having to sacrifice being able to hear. Which is always a good thing.

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