Friday night concert timeline / Concessions for sale, including beer & wine

7:00-8:15 PM Concert (no intermission)
8:15-8:45 PM Conversation with artists

Jonas Friddle is a singer, songwriter and Old-Time banjo player whose songs have received The John Lennon Songwriting Award, First Place in the Great American Song Contest and a nomination for Album of the Year in the Independent Music Awards.  

Friddle was raised in the mountains of North Carolina and learned to play guitar on a yard sale Harmony six-string. He was already writing songs by the time he got to Kentucky at age eighteen. There, the bluegrass picking’ and old-time dances turned him on to the power and joy of traditional folk music. He added a mandolin, fiddle and banjo to his arsenal and got a job slapping bass with the college bluegrass band. After graduating, he spent a year traveling around the world on a Watson Fellowship, playing music in pubs and living rooms. In 2007 Jonas landed in Chicago, started the Barehand Jug band, the Sleepy Lou Old-Time duo and began teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Since then, he has released multiple studio albums under his own name and with the folk supergroup “The Majority.” Jonas now splits his time between performing and teaching classes on traditional music at both the Old Town School of Folk Music and Chicago Public Schools.

Anna Jacobson is a musician of diverse talents, from orchestral horn player to an old-time fiddler. She sings, trumpets, and fiddles with award-winning folk/Americana songwriter Jonas Friddle, and teaches fiddle and brass classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music. A dedicated chamber musician, she is a founding member of V3NTO Brass Trio and also plays with the Alloy Horn Quartet. On the horn, Anna has played with the Chicago Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, South Bend Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Dubuque Symphony, and many others across the Midwest.  

Bassist Andrew Wilkins has spent roughly equal parts of his life in St Louis, Dallas, and Chicago, where he currently resides. Throughout his musical journey, studying jazz and classical music at the University of North Texas and playing in a variety of jazz, rock, blues and Americana bands, Andrew has always stayed close to improvised music. Noteworthy artists he has performed with include Jonas Friddle, Frank Catalano, Bill Longhorse, and Laura Doherty. Andrew continues his work as a music educator, teaching privately and as a faculty member at Chicago’s beloved Old Town School Of Folk Music.

Tony Abboreno is an Oak Park artist. Keith Haring’s graffiti, Stuart Davis’ “American Cubism” and Andy Warhol’s pop imagery have been a major influence in Tony’s work. He works mainly in acrylic on canvas and watercolor. He uses images of contemporary iconic figures incorporating calligraphic line designs. The graffiti-like expressions awaken the viewers’ interest in beauty in all aspects of the visual scene and the persistence of memories unique to American
life. His works continue to develop and include realistic works that honor American industry.

Joe Abboreno is an Oak Park artist who creates whimsical icons, designs, and paintings influenced by the games, snacks, pop-culture, and worlds that he loves. His whimsical, cartoon style creates an experience where his visuals merge with the viewers ideas and fantasies. Joe’s informal and empowering creations are meant to bring a bit of joy to viewer’s life. If more people can smile early and smile often we can create a world in which we lift each other up and do amazing things. He believes that if we give people a reason to smile, we might just get to smile too.