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Counter-cultural undercurrents still linger in the school's agenda.

Friday May 04, 2001.     By Stephanie Hoops

Music Feed

In 1957 the Soviets launched Sputnik and the Washington Post published the top-secret Gaither Report, which sent chills down the spines of Americans fearful that the United States was on a frightening course to becoming a second-class power. That was the same year the Old Town School of Folk Music opened its doors. The folk music scene was for the subversive, and the Old Town school was a part of that culture. Anyone who wanted to hang out, play music and discuss socially conscious, liberal causes was invited to come to the school.

A lot's changed politically since 1957, and the school has too. Today it's considered a respectable Chicago institution rather than a beatnik organization. It's developed a legend for embracing diversity and satisfying a community's shared need for musical self-expression. But it's still cool.

Counter-cultural undercurrents still linger in the school's agenda. The difference is that yesterday's Cold War concerns have become today's cyberspace issues. The school offers a refuge from the virtual and opportunities to focus on the actual. It's all about human interaction and having a place to create, grow and connect with the human spirit by doing rather than by observing.

The school's 1998 move to an old art-deco library in Lincoln Square brought them four times the space of their former Armitage location. The Lincoln Square venue boasts a concert hall designed from a gutted, closed-stack library with a stage installed where the old circulation desk sat. Careful work with an acoustician and sound company lead to the concert hall's unique, neutral sound that doesn't reverberate. The school's director of advertising and public relations, Bob Medich, describes the sound as resembling what you'd hear from your stereo at home. It's a very fine listening experience and is probably one of the city's best spaces to hear live music.

Attending one of the school's concerts is a worthy experience not only because of the acoustics, but also because of the hip atmosphere. The space is equipped with cafe tables as well as auditorium-bench seating; the beauty of which is that you get the relaxed atmosphere of a bar along with the great acoustics. Here it's not unusual to go to a show and see several 20-somethings drinking beer next to 5-year-olds downing milk and cookies. The set up is perfect because it does what folk music does -- caters to the people.

The rest of this four-floor school is remarkable as well. Two giant murals painted in the 1930s depicting the American community were taken from the original building's reading room and incorporated into the renovation. And the hallway walls are plastered with a variety of artwork, including the photographs of David Sutton. The basement studios are segregated and have been constructed with thick walls to allow for louder, amplified instrumentation that won't disrupt other classes. And the dance room boasts sprung-wood flooring.

The school's classes are too numerous to do justice here, but here's a sampling: guitar, drums, yoga, theater, songwriting, ballet, choir, Grateful Dead, Latin Dance, Irish tin whistle and banjo. There are even classes for 2-year-olds, appropriately called the "Wiggleworms."

If you're interested in making a career in music, the school may be able to help you, just as it did graduates like Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc and John Prine. Or if you just want to play and be with people, the school has a place for you too. It teaches by group instruction, which begins with the notion that anybody can play. The focus is on making music, just for the sake of it.

For more info, check out the school's venue and event listing.