Folk singer Dvorak brings songs, stories and banjos to Prospect Heights Oct. 6
The Prospect Heights Public Library will present Chicago’s “official troubadour” Mark Dvorak in a special performance, “Once I Had an Old Banjo,” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6. The library is located at 12 N. Elm St., Prospect Heights.
“Once I Had an Old Banjo,” is Dvorak’s exploration into the origin and evolution of the five-string banjo.
“The five-string banjo is truly an American instrument,” said Dvorak who will show and play about a dozen banjos from his collection.
“The sound of the five-string banjo captures something in the foundation of American roots music. It’s an essential voice in our shared history,” he said.
“I’ve been rehearsing up material for an all banjo record,” said the singer. “I’ve had a lot of requests for it over the years, and it feels like the right time.”
The five-string banjo is said to be America’s only original folk instrument. Though its development coincides with the early history of the United States, scholars now agree that the five-string banjo originated in Africa. When Africans were brought to North America as slaves, they naturally brought with them the ability to make crude banjos out of common materials. Thomas Jefferson noted that the banjar was the chief instrument played by slaves on his estate.
A Virginian named Joel Sweeney is credited with developing the modern banjo as we know it around 1831. When traveling minstrel shows became popular at the same time, the sounds of the five-string banjo were carried across America.
By the late 1890s, popular culture had grown tired of the banjo and minstrel shows all but disappeared. But, the five-string banjo had found a new home in the lonesome hollers of the Southern mountains. Mountain fiddlers worked at the contraption and a brand of music emerged that was neither African American nor minstrel style, nor an exact transcription of their own old-time fiddle tunes, but a wonderful, musical mixture of them all.
The Chicago Tribune calls Mark Dvorak “masterful,” and the Fox Valley Folk Festival describes him as “a living archive of song and style.” In 2012, WFMT 98.7 FM Midnight Special host Rich Warren named him “Chicago’s official troubadour.”
Dvorak is celebrating his 21st recorded release, “Live & Alone,” and his fourth collection of essays, “31 Winters: Finding the Folk Way.” He has won awards for journalism, and was honored with the 2013 FARM Lantern Bearer Award from Folk Alliance International. In 2008, he received the Woodstock Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award.
For information, phone (847) 259-3500 or visit phpl.info.
For more about Mark Dvorak, visit his homepage at markdvorak.com.