2024 White Oak Festival Lineup
HARMONICA HINDS
Harmonica Hinds has performed in the Chicago land area since the early 1970s. He performed in the house band at Theresa’s Lounge. Other members of the band included Junior Wells, Sammy Lawhorn, John Primer, Earnest Johnson, Nate Applewhite and Muddy Waters Jr .Hinds made appearances on the albums of Koko Taylor, Brenda Taylor, Lefty Dizz, Moose Walker, John Primer, Eddie Taylor Jr., Mud Morganfield , Willie Buck and Shun Shunsuke Kikuta, and Bruce Felten. He can be seen on a regular basis at Buddy Guy’s Legends. His performances remain up-beat and soulful. He remains vibrant and enthusiastic as he sings tunes heavily influenced and taught by Little Walter, Louis Myers, James Cotton, and Sonny Terry.
PAUL KAYE
Paul is a very respected soloist and sideman in the professional Blues community. He has put in the time and he has paid his dues. Whether it be a night of solo acoustic blues that will bring the room to an appreciative hush, or a Honeyboy-to-Hendrix electric night with the Legendary Blues Cartel Trio that will bring the house down, Paul Kaye consistently delivers.
He has appeared on stage at House of Blues (Chicago), Buddy Guy's Legends (Chicago), The Hideout (Chicago), Inwood Ballroom (Spillville, IA), Checkerboard Lounge (Chicago), Harmony Bar (Madison, WI), Aragon Ballroom (Chicago) and Mercury Lounge (New York City) and hundreds of other venues throughout the country. He has also played many Midwest and Blues and Folk festivals such as Chicago Blues Fest, Kalamazoo Michigan Blues Festival, Paramount Music Festival, Crossroads Blues Festival and Simply the Blues Festival (Iowa).
SWEET SHEIKS
Sweet Sheiks is a toe-tapping five-some inspired by the popular music of the teens, twenties, and thirties. Led by the vintage vocals of Jen Lauren, the lineup includes guitar, tuba, banjolin, clarinet and trombone. They bring a modern flair to early jazz, blues, and Americana classics. Sweet Sheiks’ acoustic stylings are compelling, diverting, and are best summed up in two words, “refreshingly vintage.”
JOYBIRD
Joybird is the songwriting project of Chicago fiddler, multi-instrumentalist, visual artist, and arts educator Jess Baldissero. Backed by Chicago's busiest traditional and experimental musicians, Jess writes songs informed by her background in social work and time living in both the heart of Appalachia and the City of Big Shoulders. "An excellent storyteller, with an impressively direct, matter-of-fact way of looking at our world" (Chicago Crowd Surfer), Jess and the band create music that is "spare and rootsy" (No Depression). "At times playful, at times immersed in longing, their music is fiercely hopeful and deeply communal" (Abigail Zimmer, Lettered Streets Press).
PANCHROMATIC STEEL
Founded in 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin, Panchromatic Steel has blazed an entirely new trail in the city’s music scene, fusing island styles with pop hits, rock and jazz into a high-energy blend that is hard to categorize but easy to love. With top-shelf multi- instrumentalism and wide-ranging appeal, Panchromatic’s music brightens any day, transports listeners to their happiest moments in the sun, and threads the needle by being artful yet accessible to virtually everyone.
Bat-Ochir's Mongolian Youth Ensemble
JONAS FRIDDLE
Jonas Friddle is a singer, songwriter and Old-Time banjo player whose songs have 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. His tunes bear the marks of a musician who has done his time in pub sessions and square dance halls, and his writing is full of imagery, honesty and humor.
THE STOP AND LISTEN
Formed in Madison in 2023, the Stop and Listen bring unique instrumentation and high-energy fun to a range of American traditional music. Hot fiddle tunes, jug band blues, hillbilly songs, and more. Featuring Daniel Plane (cello, fiddle), Calvin Woodring (harmonica), Adam Helt-Baldwin (bass), and Mike Tiboris (banjo). Stop, listen, and let 'er rip!
REBECCA JASSO
Chicago native Rebecca Jasso is a singer/songwriter who playfully writes around the themes of love, loneliness, and fantasy, skillfully weaving her melodies into the harmonic fabric of her fingerstyle guitar playing.
Music has had a strong hold over Rebecca since childhood. At age 10, she took up the guitar, and from the very beginning, sought to write good songs. Despite learning at this young age, it wasn’t till after college that she worked up the confidence to take her music to the stage. For years, she oscillated between playing solo and in bands, with each wave bringing her closer to chiseling out a style that would be her very own.
THE PARRISHES
The Parrishes are Catherine and Ted Parrish, an acoustic duo from Viroqua Wisconsin. They write original songs that cross the bridge between folk and blues, using musical knowledge honed through decades of performing, recording, and teaching. Catherine’s soaring vocals are the focal point of all the songs, with their multi-instrumental skills deployed on whichever instruments each song requires, whether guitar, ukulele, mandolin, banjo, or flute.
THE PARSNIP FACTORY
United by a shared love of bluegrass, old-time, community, slow-roasted roots, and the ever-hustling possum, the Parsnip Factory defy the traditional definition of a folk band. Their kaleidoscopic yet oddly cohesive musical jamboree exuberantly fills the stage with unusual instrumentation and virtuosity. It’s not often you’ll see a bluegrass band featuring a washtub bass, accordion, two banjos and upward of six fiddles!
From their humble roots of three friends going to open-mics together, the Parsnips have grown into a ten-plus member, multifaceted supergroup, and feature regularly in farmers markets, brunches and backyards across northern Chicago.
BARBARA SILVERMAN
"Folk festival in a box" Barbara Silverman has performed in concerts, festivals and workshops across the land. Dubbed a stunning vocalist early on by the Old Time Herald, she ever displays an engaging presence, bluesy vocals, clever originals, solid swing guitar, spirited piano back-up and washboard pyrotechnics. She is also a proclaimed “master teacher” of music and dance. To this day Barb is ever vibrantly teaching and performing. Find her recordings and appearances at www.silverbeammusic.com in her many incarnations.
KINDLED COMMUNITY SAUNA
KINDLED is born from a dream of leading people toward wellness and toward connection with others.
Sauna has the ability to strip us down both mentally and physically. Lighter clothing, fewer screens, more vulnerability, limited status symbols. Facing the heat and overcoming it fosters grit, resilience, and relaxation.
KINDLED will be there hosting 60 min. wood-fired sauna + cold plunge sessions! Sign up directly through the website HERE
MANDY KREY
My name is Mandy Krey. I am a physical therapist and a 200 hour certified yoga teacher. I completed my yoga teacher training with Inner Fire Yoga in 2020. My personal yoga journey began in 2015. I wanted to become more flexible. When I went to my first class, I realized yoga was very challenging. My competitive nature came out and I kept going to get better. As I continued to go, I started to experience the mental and emotional benefits of yoga. These benefits are what made me excited to teach. I want everyone to have access to the mindfulness of movement. I have been a PT for 15 years with primary specialty of sports medicine and incorporate breathwork and yoga movement into my treatments.
This class will be a traditional vinyasa flow. Vinyasa focuses on breath with movement. All levels are welcome to join!
DR. LUKE LEISMAN
Dr. Luke Leisman is an astronomer, author, and entrepreneur, and a seeker of light in the universe around us. He writes regularly about the night sky and our lives on substack, and also can be spotted playing fiddle with the Parsnip Factory.
JASON MCINNES
Create a one-of-a-kind keepsake celebrating the natural wonders and easygoing community of the White Oak Savanna and Festival. Your guide, artist, musician and educator Jason McInnes, will open the workshop with simple sketching warm ups to shake off any hesitancy and then we’ll be off to fill our journals with majestic oaks, favorite rocks, boisterous clouds and perhaps the elusive circle of jamming musicians in their natural habitat. All the while Jason will be there as an encouraging guide for folks that are new to, and experienced in, putting pen to sketchbook. Journals and drawing tools will be provided. In addition, you are very welcome to bring your own favorite journal and supplies.