Performers were having a “dialogue” with their audiences Sunday during the 39th annual Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival nestled along the banks of the Fox River on Island Park in Geneva.
“Music reaches into the emotional side of our brains and connects it with the spirit in ways words cannot,” blues artist Scott Ainslie said.
The singer and songwriter said the power of music is partly what pulls audiences and performers together for such musical celebrations.
“I wanted to join in the dialogue,” he said.
The two-day festival for Labor Day weekend features performers with diverse backgrounds representing a spectrum of “roots music,” including bluegrass, Cajun and Delta blues.
Dance and storytelling performances fill out the festival’s eight stages. There also are interactive music workshops for aspiring artists and puppet-making classes for children. Performances and workshops continue through Monday.
Ainslie, from the artsy town of Brattleboro, Vermont, performed a selection of songs on a 1931 National resophonic, one of the first self-amplified steel guitars.
He insists music has been part of his life ever since he began picking out melodies on the family piano from records his mother listened to.
For his Sunday performance he plucked a one-string handmade diddley bow (a cigar box guitar) to intrigue audience members.
“Music is a calling — you make it with whatever instrument and influences surround you,” he said.
Ainslie performs on stages across the country, Canada and Europe.
“Geneva is a nice town,” he said of his first impression. “I am a very good cook, so naturally my first stop was the spice shop.”
A day earlier, he was among several musicians who performed for a live WFMT radio broadcast of a “Midnight Special” concert in the Unitarian church in downtown Geneva.
The gentle creak of floor boards and blue and white stained glass windows of the 173-year-old sanctuary were a refreshing contrast from the usual venues of these artists.
“The acoustics are amazing here,” songwriter and musician Joe Crookston said during a sound check for the sold-out concert.
Crookston made the two-day trip from Ithaca, N.Y., to perform in Geneva.
“I am inspired by the human potential — people tapping into who they really are and then expressing that. The world becomes a more beautiful and magical place,” he said.
Diane Dirksen, formerly of Naperville, in town from St. Louis for a family wedding, said she felt a calling to return to her beloved folk festival.
“It’s hearing the lyrical simplicity of life that has gotten so complicated that I find comforting,” Dirksen said.
Others found comfort in Island Park’s brick pavilion, participating in shape note singing using hymn books with different shapes added to the note heads. The practice dates back to the 1800s.
“I get a wonderful feeling that everything in life is good,” said Jim Helke, of Homewood.
Margaret Nelson, of Evanston, is a full-fledged folk festival aficionado, having performed ballads from England, Scotland and the Appalachian mountains on her autoharp. This year, she was a listener.
“I am taking every opportunity to sing along — the park is a bucolic place to enjoy the festivities,” Nelson said.
Alexia Kennedy, 11, of Lombard, played her violin with an impromptu group playing traditional Irish music.
“It is so much fun to play with other people,” the budding violinist said.
Anna Stang, of Blue Island, has been coming to the festival for three decades. This year she was intrigued with the European puppet-making workshop.
“I am curious to see how this puppet turns out,” she said.
Michael Prais, of Geneva, brought his king-size umbrella for refuge from the sun.
“I have been attending the festival for 25 years. I have always liked folk music, so to have it a couple of blocks from my house makes it all the more beautiful,” Prais said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.
