Old Town School Archives

07/01/2020

One of the highlights of making the La Peña series was getting to talk to former Old Town School teacher Roberto Arce. If you, like us, want to hear more from Roberto, you can watch a performance of him and his group performing the Peruvian song "Las P***s Matan" at La Peña in 1995:

To watch other videos and hear concert audio from the Old Town School’s La Peña series please visit http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/p16614coll9...

06/17/2020

"La música lo aparta uno de muchas cosas malas que hay en la vida." / "Music has the ability to remove you from many of the hardships of life."

Parting words from Roberto Arce at the end of our final podcast, Ep 26 - La Peña, Part 4: Desde La Peña hasta World Music Wednesday: https://soundcloud.com/oldtownschool/ep-26-la-pena-part-4-desde-la-pena-hasta-world-music-wednesday?in=oldtownschool/sets/the-archives-podcast

En la parte final de la serie, La Peña comes to a close, and makes room for a new and broader concert series, which continues to this day: World Music Wednesday. In this episode we hear stories--en inglés y español--from Juan Dies, Mateo Mulcahy, and Roberto Arce, alongside música latina from the archives.

A message from The Archives creator and producer Mareva Lindo: "It's hard to believe, but this is the final episode of the podcast for the foreseeable future. I can't think of a more fitting message to conclude with. I hope that the music and stories in the nearly 7 hours of podcasts we've made over the years offer some small respite from the hardships of life. Thank you for listening."

❤️

06/03/2020

ANNOUNCEMENT: We decided to postpone the final La Peña podcast to 6/17, to allow time and space for Black voices
to be centered.

06/02/2020

We stand in solidarity with protesters in Chicago, Minneapolis, and around the country who are demanding justice for Black lives. Chicago organizations to support today:

Black Lives Matter Chicago
Chicago Freedom School
Chicago Torture Justice Center
Brave Space Alliance
Chicago Community Bond Fund
My Block, My Hood, My City
BYP 100
I Grow Chicago

In Minneapolis you can donate to the Minnesota Freedom Fund.
In Louisville you can donate to the Louisville Community Bail Fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund/

We leave you with some recommended listening, from the Studs Terkel Radio Archive's Bughouse Square podcast: Episode 1, featuring a conversation between Studs Terkel and James Baldwin, and a conversation between host Eve Ewing and Darnell Moore, author of the book No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America. Listen here: https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/bughouse-square

WFMT’s Studs Terkel Radio Archive, in partnership with the Chicago History Museum, invites you into the history books with the new podcast Bughouse Square with Eve Ewing.

05/27/2020

Un vídeo más del archivo de La Peña, con el trio Los Duques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfaqTAE-ecY&list=PLwqCBMiep-hcBa_oFMBv4T4OjiYNCtSLS&index=7&t=0s

Just one more week until the release of the fourth and final episode of The Archives Podcast series on La Peña! Heart-react if you have memories of La Peña. ❤️

To watch other videos and hear concert audio from the Old Town School’s La Peña series please visit http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/p16614coll9...

05/24/2020

.They briefly discuss coal mining in Appalachia, specifically Blackey Kentucky. Includes an interview with Joe Begley a coal miner from Blackey, Kentucky (Title: 333, File ID: 399).

05/22/2020

You've heard the story of la primera noche de La Peña en el podcast más reciente. But did you know you could also watch a video of that night? Escucha y mira el flamenco de Manteca Colorá, desde 909 W Armitage en 1995: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i2ZNegIsG4&list=PLwqCBMiep-hcBa_oFMBv4T4OjiYNCtSLS&index=2

Click through to see more videos of interviews and archival concert videos on YouTube, recently digitized and made publicly accessible for the very first time through a grant from the Illinois Digital Archive!

To watch other videos and hear concert audio from the Old Town School’s La Peña series please visit http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/p16614coll9...

05/06/2020

“I think some people came because they could eat the empanadas. You know, and then, the music.”

Escucha el nuevo podcast, "La Peña, Part 3": https://bit.ly/2yy9o9s

En la tercera parte de la serie, we hear how the La Peña concert series finally came to be. In this episode we hear stories--en inglés y español--from Jim Hirsch, Juan Díes, Luis Jahn, and Roberto Arce, alongside música latina from the archives. Comparta, por favor!

04/23/2020

Exciting news!

04/16/2020

"He said, 'I want to take you to see some guy that you won't believe.' That night they went to the Earl of Old Town to see John Prine."

LISTEN to "60 Years of Folk, Part 3: Folk clubs and all-night parties": https://soundcloud.com/oldtownschool/ep-15-60-years-of-folk-part-3?in=oldtownschool/sets/the-archives-podcast

We've been thinking a lot about John Prine these days. We recently recalled this episode from our 2017 oral history project with StoryCorps in Chicago, in which Eddie Holstein shared a few memories of the school--including the night Steve Goodman took Kris Kristofferson to see his friend John Prine at the Earl of Old Town. Features a live archival recording of John performing "Six O'clock News," as well as many other stories and archival recordings from the Old Town School community in the 1970s.

04/09/2020

Thank you, Stephen. ❤️ We’ll miss you, John.

04/01/2020

"The school was in dire straits."

LISTEN to La Peña, Part 2: https://soundcloud.com/oldtownschool/ep-24-la-pena-part-2-the-school-was-in-dire-straits?in=oldtownschool/sets/the-archives-podcast

In the early 1980s, the Old Town School came the closest it ever has to shutting its doors. How did they manage to stay open? Escucha la historia en la segunda parte de la serie La Peña. In this episode we hear stories--en inglés y español--from Juan Díes, Jim Hirsch, Michael Miles and Roberto Arce, alongside música latina from the archives.

In the early 1980s, the Old Town School came the closest it ever has to shutting its doors. How did they manage to stay open? Escucha la historia en la segunda parte de la serie La Peña. In this episo