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David Rovics in Kankakee September 30th

Singer/Songwriter David Rovics will make a stop in Kankakee on Tuesday night, September 30th, 2014 as part of his “Spies Are Reading My Blog” Fall Tour of the United States and Canada.

His concert benefits Feed Arts Center, and will be held at Feed commencing at 7 PM.

Come join us for an evening of songs of social significance with one of the great Folkies of our time. A donation of $10 per ticket will be accepted at the door, and seats are limited, so get there early!

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Next Singalong July 3rd

Greetings from Singalong Central.

Our next Key City Singalong will be held on Thursday evening, July 3rd, from 7 to 9 PM at Feed Arts Center.

We’ll return to a song circle structure this month, with everyone who would like to do so leading or choosing a song. Feel free to bring lyric sheets, songbooks and chord progressions to share.

This is the night before Independence Day, so come join us and start your celebration with some traditional American Music.

Kankakee Folk Music Singalong

 

Next Singalong June 5th

Greetings from Singalong Central.

Our next Key City Singalong will be held on Thursday evening, June 5th, from 7 to 9 PM up at Feed.

We plan to have a special segment of kids’ songs this month, plus revisit some requests from last time that we weren’t able to sing then.

There will also be plenty of time for new requests and jamming, so bring your lyrics sheets or songbooks.

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Open Mic June 11th at Feed

ACOUSTIC MUSIC AND SPOKEN WORD
Feed Arts Center – Downtown Kankakee

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One of the principles of our singalongs is participation. We want them to be events where everyone takes part, and the division between “musician” and “audience” is thrown out the window.

Yet, there is some music that doesn’t lend itself well to a singalong. Songs that are a bit more complex and unfamiliar don’t always work with a large group that hasn’t rehearsed.

In the interest of exploring the Folk tradition further in a format that allows for “performance” as well as group singing, on the evening of June 11th, we’ll be hosting an open mic. This will be an opportunity for budding musicians to get some more experience playing publicly in an environment that is welcoming and supportive. It’ll also allow “old hands” to share some of their favorite songs, try out new ones and generally get together and jam. As with our singalongs, the notion that music can be non-commercial will be paramount.

We’ll also devote some time to the spoken word, welcoming poets, thespians and orators to the stage to share readings or original works.

Join us at 7 PM on June 11th for an evening of acoustic music and words of the people.

Our First Song Circle

We gathered at FEED on the evening of International Workers’ Day for our very first singalong.

Michael Costanza had asked that I say a few words at the onset about the idea behind what we were doing there, so here is what I said (more or less).

The main idea behind what we are doing is pretty plain. It’s a joy to raise our voices together in song! We used to do more of it before the days of mass media, but over the last century, for more and more people, music has become just another commodity to be bought and sold, like a pair of sneakers. It’s something that we pay 99 cents for on iTunes, or it’s something that some people get rich making or selling, or something that people dream of getting rich making or selling. Our very sick society tells us that if we don’t place a monetary value on something, that it has no value. So this beautiful, rich, ancient tradition of singing together has been stolen from us.

“What we’re doing here tonight,” I said “is stealing it back.”

We began with Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land and ended with John Tams’ Rolling Home. In between we went around the circle each in turn, singing everyone from Graham Nash to Pete Seeger to Jeff Tweedy to James Taylor. We even spent a little time with Pink Floyd.

Dylan, of course…

Also, we sang a few traditional songs, like Old Joe Clark and The Farmer In The Dell – and a couple of old union songs, too, in honor of the day.

It was nice that everyone who wished to do so had an opportunity to choose or to lead a song. We were a mess on some, but it was fun anyway. There were some beautiful harmonies, great energy and lots of smiling faces throughout the evening. Some of us brought lyric sheets to share. Some of the songs we looked up in songbooks or on the Web. Some, we simply sang along with the leader as best we could.

Future singalongs may be conducted differently, with a little more structure at some times and a little less on others, but however we structure things, I hope that the spirit of our first singalong will remain.

Because on the night of May 1st, 2014, thirty-one souls in Kankakee (from toddler to senior citizen) remembered and proclaimed that the music belongs to all of us.

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P.S.: If you’re on Facebook, you can find some photos of our first gathering here.

Once Upon A Time

“Once upon a time, wasn’t singing a part of everyday life as much as talking, physical exercise, and religion? Our distant ancestors, wherever they were in this world, sang while pounding grain, paddling canoes, or walking long journeys. Can we begin to make our lives once more all of a piece? Finding the right songs and singing them over and over is a way to start. And when one person taps out a beat, while another leads into the melody, or when three people discover a harmony they never knew existed, or a crowd joins in on a chorus as though to raise the ceiling a few feet higher, then they also know there is hope for the world.”

– Pete Seeger (from the Introduction to Rise Up Singing)

Pete Seeger and the Power of Song