Studio5's 3-Day Down Home Weekend With Music, Dancing

EVANSTON, IL — Studio5 in Evanston will present Down Home Weekend, a three-day music and dance event running June 12 to 14 at the performing arts center.

The lineup includes folk, bluegrass, Americana and Cajun music, along with two open jam sessions, performances by local singer songwriters, a fiddle workshop and two interactive dancing events. Some events will be free and open to the public, while others will cost between $15 and $58.

“At Studio5, we usually focus on presenting jazz music,” said Steve Rashid, co-artistic director of Studio5. “Our live shows are recorded and aired on ‘Chicago Jazz Live’ on WDCB, so we’ve developed this little jazz ecosystem at Studio5. But at heart I am a musical omnivore, and especially to celebrate our 10th anniversary season, we thought it would be fun to have a special weekend to showcase other types of American music. And we knew that adding live dancing would make it especially memorable. We hope audiences really get in on the fun!”

The weekend opens Friday, June 12, with a salon-style presentation of local songwriters from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Singer-songwriter and claw hammer banjo player Jonas Friddle will perform from 7 to 8 p.m. According to the announcement, Friddle has 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.

From 8 to 9 p.m. Friday, altfolk trio Sons of the Never Wrong, made up of Bruce Roper, Sue Demel and Deborah Lader, will perform. On Saturday, June 13, Studio5 will host a free bluegrass jam from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., followed by performances by The Sullivan Sisters and Don Stiernberg and the Bluegrasstics.

The Sullivan Sisters are Luciya, 18, who recently graduated from Evanston Township High School, and Soraya, 20. The pair are working on their first album with Dark Shadow Recording in Nashville, according to the announcement. Don Stiernberg will return to bluegrass music for the show, joined by bassist Jim Cox, singer-guitarist Ben Benedict and banjo player Ben Wright.

Sunday, June 14, shifts toward audience participation. The day begins at 3 p.m. with live contra dancing called by Jo Mortland and set to music by Fred Campeau's Old T Blue and the Shipmates. At the same time, musicians can join a free old-time music jam session in another room.

At 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., audiences can take a Cajun fiddle workshop and a Cajun dance lesson, followed by a 7 p.m. performance by The Cajun Strangers. “We don’t often have interactive dancing at Studio5, but if you’re going to have Cajun music, you just have to dancing as well,” Rashid said. “Could there be a better way to end our Down Home Weekend than dancing with friends on a crowded floor? Umm... no.” Separate tickets will be sold for each day, with one ticket covering all events that day. Contra dancing tickets are $15 and will be sold separately. Tickets include all taxes and fees and are available at studio5.dance/calendar.