Singer/Songwriter Chris Vallillo to perform at Atlanta Public Library

[February 07, 2019]   Popular singer/songwriter Chris Vallillo will perform a program entitled “The Farmer is the Man” in the Loft at Union Hall, 114 Arch Street in Atlanta, on Friday, February 8.

The event begins with dinner catered by the Palms Grill Café at 5:30pm and continues with the performance at 7:00pm. Admission to the concert is free with dinner. There is a $10.00 charge for the concert only. This event is part of the Atlanta Library & Museum’s Smithsonian Museum on Mainstreet project and is supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. For reservations, call 217-648-5077.

Vallillo makes the people and places of “unmetropolitan” America come to life in song. Having spent the last 30 years in the rural Midwest, he has a natural affinity for American roots music. Performing on six-string and bottleneck slide guitars and harmonica, Vallillo weaves original, contemporary and traditional songs and narratives into a compelling and entertaining portrait of the history and lifestyles of the Midwest. Folk Wax Magazine said Vallillo’s guitar playing “flows like warm honey and is a true aural delight.”

From 1990-1998, Vallillo served as the performing host and co-producer of the nationally distributed and award-winning public radio performance series Rural Route 3. He has twice served as the Illinois State Scholar for the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit on roots music.

In 2016, Vallillo’s latest recording, Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement charted at Number 6 on the folk music charts. He recently completed the sound track for a series of videos for the Illinois Freedom Project for the Lincoln Home Historic Site and the music for the nationally syndicated radio program Lincoln In Words and Letters for the WFMT radio network.

Community programs of the Atlanta Public Library are supported in part by a grant from the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation Mirza Arts and Culture Fund.

[Catherine Maciariello]