Plank Road Folk Music Society | |
5th Saturday workshop features “The Troubadour Experience” with Mark Dvorak. | | |
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How you can be better prepared for your next open mic performance . . .
Mark Dvorak led an informative and entertaining workshop June 29, at Two Way Street Coffee House. It was the second in a series of workshops organized by Two Way Street in partnership with Plank Road.
Mark tailored the workshop to amateur performers who participate in open stage events, such as the ones sponsored by Two Way Street and other venues around Chicagoland.
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As Mark explained, there’s no right way or wrong way to perform your music. And no single set of instructions can prepare you for the many circumstances you might encounter. But there are things you can do to be better prepared.
Know your songs . . .
Mark emphasized the responsibilities of a performer, first to the music itself, then to the audience, and to other performers and staff, such as the MC, sound person, and other staff people.
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Being fully prepared is crucial. This includes really knowing your songs — the lyrics, the chords, the arrangement — through practice and rehearsing.
Mark explained the difference between “entertaining” and “engaging” an audience — the importance of getting the audience to focus on you through your music. And the best way to do that is by choosing the right material. “Most open mics only let you do two or three songs, so the ones you choose should be songs that you love,” says Mark, and “ones you are completely comfortable with.”
Your opening song — and how you present it — are key . . .
Mark says don’t walk on stage and start talking to the audience. Adjust your mic, your capo, your tuning (if necessary), then go right into your song.
- Choose one that’s strong or lively — a song that “makes a statement” and encourages the audience to focus on you.
- Follow with a selection that shifts gears a little, maybe a different tempo, feeling, or genre. In other words, “don’t play two waltz tunes in a row.”
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Want to briefly chat with the audience? Mark says do it after your first song.
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A lot more was covered in the first hour, followed by participants practicing what they had just learned, on stage, in a “mock open mic.”
A follow-up recital took place at Two Way Street on July 7, featuring a number of workshop attendees who performed on stage, utilizing the techniques learned at the workshop.
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More 5th Saturday Workshops ahead!
Workshops are presented in months that have five Saturdays — an event that comes around only a few times each year. All workshops offer a choice of in-person or virtual attendance. Two more workshops remain in 2024 . . .
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Saturday, August 31, at 2pm – Spencer and Rains will present an old time music workshop for guitar, fiddle and mandolin players. https://www.spencerandrains.com/
| Look for additional details and registration information on the Plank Road and Two Way Street websites and Facebook pages. Email updates will also be sent to Plank Road members. | |
In memoriam . . . two longtime friends of Plank Road | |
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Cathy Robel
Longtime Plank Road member Cathy Wrobel-Sorensen passed away peacefully on June 9, after a long battle with ALS.
We all knew her by her “stage name,” Cathy Robel — and remember her for her extraordinary vocal stylings at our Saturday sing-arounds.
But that was just one side of her musical talent. Cathy was equally at home on stage as she was in the recording studio. She performed at many weddings, churches and dances, was featured in many TV and radio jingles, and performed in shows at venues including Great America and Opryland. She could sing pop tunes along with rock, oldies, country and standards.
Known for her beautiful singing voice, Cathy always had a love of music, which she studied through high school and college. Over the years she performed at Six Flags Great America and Opry Land in Nashville. For decades she sang around Chicagoland with her band, Music Plus. Cathy also recorded commercials, acted in plays, and recorded two CDs. Cathy was an opening act for Dionne Warwick, and toured the United States with country legend Kenny Rogers as part of his Christmas show.
Cathy’s song . . . “Two, two, two!”
At our sing-arounds we knew when it was Cathy’s turn to choose a song, the odds were good that she’d say “Two, two, two!” And we all knew what that meant: “The Circle Game” by Joni Mitchell. As Fred Spanuello recalls, “That was Cathy’s song — number 222 in the song book.”
But she had many favorites, more recently her hauntingly beautiful “Ode To Billy Jo,” which she accompanied on her guitar. Another of Cathy’s signature songs was “Blue Bayou,” which is featured on Down the Old Plank Road - Vol. 3 which she recorded even while struggling with her illness. (Click to listen.)
Cathy was very active with both Plank Road and Two Way Street. Dave Humphreys recalls, “She volunteered at 2WS beginning in 2013, and performed on the 2WS concert series in 2014 with another Plank Road and 2WS volunteer, Stephen Davis. We’ll miss her.”
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Stephen recalls that event. “I'm not sure how we sounded, but we had a good time! I was always happy when Cathy was able to make it to the sing-arounds where we could harmonize on John Denver tunes. This is very sad — Cathy was young.”
Russell, her husband of almost 40 years, first saw her when she was in her element — singing. They started out as friends and over time it evolved. Cathy and Russ loved working together as the “Dynamic Duo” at ministries in the U.S. and Canada.
In addition to her husband Russ, she is survived by her children Sam and Becky, and brothers David, Bob, Joseph, Stan and Rick.
A memorial visitation was held June 29th in Darien.
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“We will miss her at our Plank Road weekly song sessions. Her choice of songs and beautiful voice were highly anticipated and greatly appreciated, as well as her friendly and loving personality. We are all very sad — and sang a tribute song (“The Circle Game”) in her honor at a recent Saturday sing-around. Our condolences to her family.”
- Bob O'Hanlon
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“Cathy always had a love of music, which she studied through high school and college. She was strong and tough to the very end, always standing up for others and what she thought was right. She was effortlessly funny and loved to laugh.
Cathy was also a deeply spiritual person, with a vibrant interest in the mystical nature of consciousness. As a mother, she inspired and encouraged her children to pursue the arts as she did. She always had a love of children, and after her kids had grown, she pursued a certificate in early childhood development, later working for a daycare center, delighting the children with guitar and singing.
A longtime lover of folk music, she enjoyed singing in the sing-along at the Two-Way Street coffee house in Downers Grove, continuing over Zoom during the pandemic. She loved to share joy and happiness.”
- Excerpts from her obituary
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Save the date!
Plank Road’s Annual Log Cabin Party is September 22.
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Our popular Annual Meeting & Party at the Lombard Log Cabin is back!
Mark your calendar for Sunday, September 22, from 2-4 PM.
As always, they’ll be plenty of music with George Mattson leading us in song. Bob O’Hanlon will take a few minutes to review the status of Plank Road’s current membership, finances, and upcoming events.
And of course, there’ll be food and beverages, and a chance for everyone to socialize.
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Pat Lagerstrom, a member of Plank Road for many years, passed away June 13. She and her husband Ken were loyal regulars at Plank Road sing-arounds and Log Cabin parties.
According to her daughter Jill, Pat had an unexpected stroke and passed away quickly in her sleep.
Jill added, “I thought I'd let you know since she really loved going to the Two Way Street sing-arounds with my dad when he was able. We may have an open house type event at some point and I'll keep you informed.”
From Pat’s obituary:
Patricia “Pat” Lagerstrom, age 76, passed away peacefully on June 13, 2024. Beloved wife of 54 years to Kenneth Lagerstrom. Loving mother of Jill (Peter Shoemaker) Lagerstrom and Kathleen Lagerstrom. Cherished grandmother of Erik Shoemaker.
Born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, Pat was the first in her family to graduate from college at North Park University in Chicago where she met her husband, Ken.
An avid scholar of literature and theater-goer, Pat was a valued member of many Chicago area book groups and continuing education classes at the Newberry Library and the Graham School of the University of Chicago. She could be found reading from her extensive book collection on the deck with the family dog, Blue.
With her husband Ken, she loved camping in Door County, going to Stratford, Ontario to see plays, and car trips to the East Coast to visit her family there and go to museums.
Pat enjoyed joining her family for folk music get-togethers with the Plank Road Folk Music Society.
Pat’s garden was one way she immersed herself in nature – she marveled at the Moon – and loved Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford.
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“So sorry to hear that. I know she really missed being able to come to the sing-arounds as Ken's mobility declined. She was great fun and loved to talk about the poetry and books she was reading. Bless her!”
- Jim Gilroy
“So sorry to hear this news. Pat was a kind and lovely person.”
- Jen Shilt
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Keep on dancin’
Kristen and Paul celebrate 10 years of marriage at — where else? — a barn dance!
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It all started 15 years ago at a Plank Road Barn Dance… Kristen Fuller (Kristen Shilt back then) met Paul.
The String Band knew a good thing, and according to Kristen, “they kicked me out of the band to go dance with him for a few dances.”
They met again in early 2010 at a Fox Valley dance at Fermi Lab. “We danced some more and after that dance, we exchanged names and numbers and started talking. We never had an official first date — our friendship just morphed into us dating.”
They dated for 2 years and moved to Lombard in 2012. “Paul proposed at the barn dance at Fermi Lab in 2013 and we were married April 26, 2014.”
So it was only appropriate that they celebrated their 10th anniversary at the Plank Road/Two Way Street Barn Dance on April 27 — complete with refreshments!
Since then they adopted Rusty, their dog, at the end of 2015. “And five years later we were blessed with our baby girl, Abbie, in late 2020 and Benjamin close behind in early 2022. Both kids keep us very busy with preschool and park district programs and trips to the pool.”
“We love to barn and contra dance and can't wait till our kids get just a bit older to introduce them to it as well!”
Congratulations Kristen and Paul!
|  | Above: That's Kristen and Paul in the background. | |
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"Spider" John Koerner
When Bob Dylan enrolled as a teenager at the University of Minnesota in 1959 he went to check out the Minneapolis music scene near campus. And there, in a “beat coffee house” he met a tall, gangling figure with a driving guitar style and a love of the blues, whose long legs had earned him the name “Spider” John Koerner.
Koerner was an influential country blues artist both as a guitarist and a singer-songwriter, with a rousing style that was driven by his stomping boots. He died May 18, at age 85.
Born in Rochester, New York, Koerner moved to Minnesota in 1956 to study aeronautical engineering at the University of Minnesota. However, his path soon shifted towards music, where he became a fixture in the Twin Cities music scene — and a mentor to a young Bob Dylan.
Those were pivotal years for American music, as young white musicians across the US became fascinated by the early country blues players. Koerner played a key role in that scene.
In Dylan’s 2004 memoir he recalled that he and Koerner hit it off right away. "When he spoke he was soft-spoken but when he sang he became a field holler shouter. Koerner was an exciting singer and we began playing a lot together.”
He became a folk scene celebrity, not with Dylan, but as a member of the trio Koerner, Ray & Glover, with 12-string guitarist Dave “Snaker” Ray and harmonica player Tony “Little Sun” Glover. A self-styled “fun-loving trio of misfits,” they did not always work together, but in 1963 they recorded a massively influential album, Blues, Rags and Hollers.
In 1964 John Lennon said that album was a personal favorite of his. David Bowie praised it in 2016 for "demolishing the puny vocalizations of (non-authentic) 'folk' singers.”
Koerner, Ray and Glover gained more stature through mid-1960s appearances at the Newport Folk Festival, where they performed alongside old blues heroes like Muddy Waters and Son House, and witnessed Koerner’s old pal Dylan's infamous "going electric" set in 1965.
Their records were the type that didn't sell too well, but according to one account, “seemingly every musician who was anybody at the time owned them and devoured them.”
Koerner played a big-body 12-string acoustic guitar whether at the Newport Folk Festival or a Minneapolis folk bar. And he sang many of the same old-school folk and blues songs at every gig for more than six decades — from Leadbelly and Memphis Minnie tunes to some of his own wry-and-weary originals.
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Here’s what Bonnie Raitt had to say:
“I’m heartbroken at the loss of one of my dearest friends, Spider John Koerner. We’ve been close friends since we met in ‘69, hung out in Cambridge in the early 70’s and in all the decades since. John, along with Dave Ray and Tony Glover, comprised one of the greatest and most influential blues groups from the mid-Sixties. From the first time I heard their seminal "Blues, Rags and Hollers” album, I’ve been completely under his spell.
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Listen to music by Mark Dvorak, George Mattson Trio, Ashley & Simpsonand the Plank Road String Band, plus tunes by other Plank Road Members — FREE on most streaming sites.
Just look for Down the Old Plank Road Volume 3. (Be sure to enter the complete title.)
* Apple Music * iTunes * Spotify
* Pandora * Amazon Music
* YouTube Music * Bandcamp
* And many others!
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Clarence Henry, one of New Orleans’ best known old-time R&B singers, died April 7. He was 87. Henry gained the nickname, “Frogman,” after imitating the voice of a frog on his debut hit, “Ain’t Got No Home” in 1956 — at the age of 19. The song later brought Henry renewed fame when it was featured on the “Forrest Gump” soundtrack.
By 1958, Henry’s popularity waned and he began playing nightclubs on Bourbon Street. But in 1960, a new song, “I Don’t Know Why But I Do” by Cajun songwriter Bobby Charles and arranged by Allen Toussaint, brought Henry renewed success.
With the Bill Black Combo and the Jive Five he opened for the Beatles for 18 dates in 1964 during their first U.S. trip, (See photo above) and toured extensively.
Henry was born in New Orleans in 1937, and started playing the piano at age 8. He played the trombone and piano in his high school band. “When I was going to school, I wanted to be Fats Domino,” according to Henry. He said his nickname, “the Frogman” mimicked Fats Domino’s “the Fatman.”
Henry’s national fame faded but he remained popular in Louisiana. He was a Bourbon Street fixture until 1981, when he retired from the grueling club circuit. But he never gave up music, and continued to be an annual crowd pleaser at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
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Duane Eddy
Rock ‘n roll guitarist Duane Eddy died April 30 at age 86. In the late 1950s and early 60s he had a string of hits which were noted for their “twangy” guitar sound — selling over 12 million records by 1963.
Eddy began playing guitar at age five, after hearing Gene Autry. By age 16 he had left school and started playing in local bars. In 1957, Eddy had a weekly showcase on a Phoenix radio station, followed by a slot on a weekly TV show. It was there he met Arizona-based disc jockey, songwriter and music publisher Lee Hazlewood, who produced the duo's first single.
They teamed up to produce Eddy’s early music, co-writing some of them. (Hazelwood later gained fame as the producer and singing partner of Nancy Sinatra on their hit album Nancy & Lee.)
Eddy was not happy with his singing voice, and devised a technique of playing lead lines on his guitar's bass strings to produce a low, reverberant "twangy"
sound. Hazelwood’s studio had no echo chamber, so he bought a 2,000-gallon water storage tank to use as an echo chamber to accentuate Eddy’s guitar sound.
In 1958 “Rebel Rouser” became Eddy's breakthrough hit, reaching number 6 on the Billboard 100 chart, selling over a million copies — and earning Eddy’s first Gold Record. His debut album, Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel, reached number five on the album chart and remained there for many weeks.
His version of Henry Mancini’s "Peter Gunn" was a Top 10 hit around the world, winning the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental. His records were especially popular in England, influencing the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and many others.
In the 1960s Eddy also appeared in several films and TV shows. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 — and continued to record, produce and perform as late as 2018.
Eddy married singer Jessi Colter in 1961, and recorded a gospel album. They were divorced in 1968, and Coulter later married Waylon Jennings.
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More legendary guitars . . .
In the last issue we reviewed Buddy Holly’s leather-clad guitar, on display at the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle. Here are two more:
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Woody Guthrie’s 1936 Martin 000-18
Woody’s plain-spoken lyrics and simple melodies resulted in some of the most eloquent compositions in American music. He played this guitar in Los Angeles in the late 1930s. At some point Guthrie carved “This Machine Kills Fascists,” along with his name, into the back of this Martin, making it the first known instrument bearing his iconic “threat” against totalitarian evil.
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Hank Williams’ 1951 Gibson Southerner Jumbo
The original King of Country Music played this 1951 Gibson during the final two years of his troubled and too-short life. Hank was known to have written many of his greatest songs riding in the back seat of a Cadillac, playing along on a guitar as he traveled between shows.
- Photographed at the Museum of Pop Culture.
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George Mattson Trio
gmtrio.com
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Mark Dvorak
markdvorak.com
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Tobias Music
www.tobiasmusic.com
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Andy's Music Trivia Quiz will resume next issue. | |
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A Special Thanks to our Membership Contributors!!
Sustaining Members
- John J. Allan
- Dan Anderson
- Carol & Fred Spanuello
Supporting Members ($50 - $199)
- Betsy & Dan Anderson
- Anonymous
- Bill & Mary Boylan
- Fred& Helene Clarke
- Bob Cordova
- Bethany DeHaan
- Vicki & Rich Ingle
- Tony & Ann Janacek
- Steve & Jan Langford
- Dottie & Gerry Lee
- Bill & Connie Lemos
- Andrew Malkewicz
- Chuck & Susan Maltese
- Bill & Sandhya Matthews
- George Mattson
- Gregg & Betty Ann Morton
- Bud & Mary Jane O'Connor
- Bob & Mimi O'Hanlon
- Keith Olson
- Rich Pawela
- Charles Pettit
- Joe & Pam Schumacher
- Thomas Seputis
- Jennifer Shilt
- James Videbeck
- John Wolaver
If you would like to become a member or just need to renew, here is a link to the renewal form you can print and mail.
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Bob O'Hanlon - President
reohanlon@gmail.com
(630) 702-0150
Bill Lemos - VP, Secretary
lemos.bill@comcast.net
2024 Board Members
- Bethany DeHaan - Treasurer
- Dottie Lee - Technical Support
- Dave Humphreys
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Kristen Fuller
- Jennifer Shilt
- Jim Gilroy
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Bill Lemos - Editor
Dottie Lee
Bob O'Hanlon
Andy Malkewicz
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