Woodstock Folk Festival Celebrates 40 Years
July 01, 2025
For Immediate Release
Contact: Carol Obertubbesing
Email: info@woodstockfolkfestival.org
WOODSTOCK FOLK FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 40 YEARS ON SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2025
BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH MUSIC
Come to the 40th Annual Woodstock Folk Festival on Sunday, July 20, 2025, from Noon to 6 p.m. on the historic Square in Woodstock, Illinois, about 50 miles northwest of Chicago. The Festival continues to present local, national, and international musicians who perform in a variety of styles. This year performers from Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as well as Guatemala, will present traditional and contemporary folk music, Americana, singer-songwriter, country, blues, Appalachian, and Latin music at the Main Stage. The Open Mic Stage offers an opportunity for audience members to share their talent. More information is on the Festival website, woodstockfolkfestival.org. A one-hour video sampler will be available anywhere in the world via the Festival website Gallery Page after the in-person Festival.
NEW THIS YEAR - In the spirit of giving back to our community, we invite attendees to bring shoes or boots to donate to Warp Corps. They need slightly worn but still usable pairs of children’s and adult everyday shoes (no flip-flops, sandals, or fancy shoes). See our website for more information about Warp Corps.
RETURNING THIS YEAR for the first time since the pandemic began is the Children’s Area, newly named in honor of “The First Lady of Children’s Music,” Ella Jenkins, who died in Chicago last year at the age of 100. The Ella Jenkins Children’s Area will feature performances and hands-on activities.
The Festival will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to the legendary Tom Rush. (See bios for Tom and other performers and award recipients below. Photos
are available on their websites.). The Festival will present “Woody” Awards to Andy Andrick and Leslie Cook, Marilyn Rea Beyer, and Ron Lewis.
This year’s Festival Main Stage will be co-hossted by WFMT Folk DJ Marilyn Rea Beyer and long-time Festival MC Chuck VanderVennet. Main Stage performers will include a mix of previous Lifetime Achievement Award recipients - Tricia Alexander, Anne Hills, and Corky Siegel; Northern Illinois supergroup The LeftOvers which includes Rich Prezioso, who received the Award with his wife Jacquie Manning (known as the duo Small Potatoes), as well as Pete Jonsson, Brian Murphy, Laurel Palma, Joe Pesz, Jim Seidel, and Les Urban); and performers new to our area - Joy Clark, Mercedes Escobar, Seth Glier, and Carla Gover.
The Open Mic Stage will feature Blind Hills (Dee Lee and Chuck VanderVennet) and Carla Gover’s Appalachian Flatfooting Workshop. It will be hosted by Mark Lyons. Sign-up for the Open Mic begins at 12:05 p.m.
The Ella Jenkins Children’s Area will feature performances by Tricia Alexander, Joan Hammel, and Mark Lyons & Jean Adaskevich; an Ella Jenkins story read by Lynn Orman; and hands-on activities with Diane Wlezien and her miniature therapy horse Sunny.
In case of rain, the Festival will move to Unity Spiritual Center of Woodstock, 225 W. Calhoun St., corner of Tryon, 2 blocks southwest of the Square.
The suggested donation for the all-day Sunday Festival is $40/individual and $50/ family. There is no pre-registration. More info at woodstockfolkfestival.org.
The Festival is grateful to Off Square Music for providing sound at the Festival. Board members are musicians in their own right and understand the needs of musicians. They give generously of their time throughout the year to other community events and they sponsor open mics and concerts. For more info, go to offsquaremusic.org.
The Festival is a 501(c)(3) Illinois non-profit organization, made possible in part by Radio Partners WDCB, WFMT, and WNUR, the City of Woodstock, Real Woodstock (realwoodstock.com), and Sponsors Steve and Margaret Mikus, but the Festival’s main support comes from individual donors. The purpose of the Festival is to bring quality folk music – local, national, and international – to Northern Illinois. We build community through music. The Woodstock Folk Festival began as a one-time event, co-founded by Amy Beth and Melodee Ladd in 1986, and quickly became an annual event held on the third Sunday of July on Woodstock Square.
PERFORMER AND AWARDEE PROFILES
Tom Rush
The legendary Tom Rush will receive the Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. For over 60 years this singer-songwriter-guitarist has been performing folk and blues. Known for his own songs such as “No Regrets,” Tom has also helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters. His early recordings introduced the world to the work of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor. Through his Club 47© concerts he brought artists such as Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin to wider audiences. Through his weekly Sunday morning online show, “Rockport Sundays,” he continues to offer other performers a platform on which to perform. His distinctive guitar style, wry humor, and warm expressive voice have made him both a legend and a lure to audiences around the world. His shows are filled with rib-aching laughter of terrific storytelling, the sweet melancholy of ballads, and the passion of gritty blues.
Tom began his musical career in the Boston-Cambridge area while he was a student at Harvard. He had released two albums by the time he graduated. Whether he’s performing solo or with a five-piece band, his shows are always memorable. Beginning in 1982 he brought together established artists and newcomers in an annual holiday show at Symphony Hall in Boston. He later took these shows on the road and they’ve been broadcast on PBS and NPR stations.
Tom continues to tour and will perform at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Festival Eve. He released his latest CD Gardens Old, Flowers New in 2024. For more info, go to tomrush.com.
“Woody” Award Recipients
Andy Andrick and Leslie Cook
Andy Andrick and Leslie Cook met through the Woodstock music community. Andy Andrick has served on the Board of the Woodstock Folk Festival and Off Square Music. He has continued to help the Festival by handling sound at the Festival’s Open Mic Stage and he’s also hosted both in-person and virtual Open Mics for Off Square Music. He is a singer-
songwriter-musician and performs solo and with other performers. His warm, welcoming personality continues to attract regulars and newcomers to our community events. Along with Jeremy Simon, he has co-hosted Off Square Music’s Every Saturday Virtual Open Mic for 5 years. Leslie Cook established Expressly Leslie Cafe on Woodstock Square and for a number of years presented music on Friday nights. At other events she was known for her delicious soups. She revamped the Festival’s website in 2020, helped us establish a social media presence, and helped us create our Woodstock Wednesdays series which ran from July 2020 to May 2021. She has also helped Off Square Music with their website and online activities. This couple has been invaluable to our community.
Marilyn Rea Beyer
Marilyn Rea Beyer grew up in Lansing, Illinois. Concerts at Orchestra Hall, the Earl of Old Town, and Navy Pier fueled her passion for folk music. Meanwhile, her lifelong love of musical theatre grew while she studied performance at Purdue and Northwestern Universities. After moving to New England, she became an on-air folk radio host and music director at Boston’s WUMB and served on the Board of the legendary Club Passim. Her varied professions include education, high-tech, and PR. In 2019, she returned to Chicago and became the host of “The Midnight Special” and “Folkstage” on WFMT>. She’s also a poet and storyteller. We are very grateful to Marilyn for co-hosting the Festival with Chuck VanderVennet since 2023 and being part of our “What’s Your Story?” Spring Benefit Concert last year. Like her predecessor at WFMT, Rich Warren, she has graciously featured one or more Festival performers in a preview on Festival Eve. This year she will present Joy Clark and Mercedes Escobar on “Folkstage” on Saturday night, July 19 from 8-9 p.m. Central Time on WFMT/98.7FM/wfmt.com. We are grateful for the promotional support she offers the Festival and our performers.
Ron Lewis
Ron Lewis has been one of the rotating hosts on WNUR’s Sunday morning “Folk Show” for many years. He also hosts a Saturday morning show, “Breakfast With Bagels.” We are very grateful for the promotion Ron has offered to our Festival and performers. “The Folk Show” also introduces us to artists we may not have heard before. You can hear Ron on Sunday mornings between 10 a.m. and Noon/Central Time on WNUR/ 89.3FM/wnur.org.
Tricia Alexander
Tricia Alexander is an award-winning Performing & Healing Artist with a 50-year professional career in the arts. She is also a Reiki Master Teacher, BodyTalk Practitioner, Spiritual Mentor, and Facilitator of Creativity & the Expressive Arts.
Tricia received the Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. To date, she has released 7 music and spoken word CDs and 5 poetry chapbooks. Whether she is giving a concert, a workshop, a talk, guiding a meditation for spiritual gatherings or a private healing arts session, Tricia’s mission is the same: to educate, nourish, and inspire.
Tricia will host and perform at the Festival’s Ella Jenkins Children’s Area and will lead the All-Sing Finale for the Festival. For more information, go to triciaalexander.com.
Joy Clark
Joy Clark is an acclaimed New Orleans singer-songwriter-guitarist. She is a proud queer Black woman. After a childhood steeped in music from the church, Joy left the confines of that experience to find her true community. After becoming a sought-out side player in New Orleans, her musicianship and tenacity landed her a regular spot playing with Grammy winner Cyril Neville, mesmerizing audiences in the U.S. and abroad. Her songcraft, sophisticated progressions, and themes of freedom, love, and self-acceptance gained her notice on the national folk and Americana scene. She was offered a spot in Allison Russell’s backing band The Rainbow Coalition, earning her the chance to jam with stars such as Brandi Carlile and the Indigo Girls.
She impressed audiences and critics with her debut CD Tell it to the Wind. She has performed at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, the Kennedy Center, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. For more information, go to joyclarkmusic.com. Joy Clark will perform at the Main Stage and will be on “Folkstage” on WFMT on Festival Eve.
Mercedes Escobar
Guatemalan singer Mercedes Escobar has created a unique genre which blends the rawness of old blues and country vocals and guitar with the intensity of magical realism lyrics and the sonic traditions of her home culture. She does this while staying true to her modern values against prejudice in music, race, and gender. She calls this “Latin Americana.”
Mercedes has shared the stage with artists such as Gaby Moreno, Ruben Albarran, and Malacates Treble Shop. She is also featured on the soundtrack of acclaimed independent films Temblores (2019) and Cadejo Blanco (2022; the latter also credits her as music supervisor). After receiving a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music and graduating in May 2024, Mercedes is working on an upcoming bilingual album, produced by Grammy-winning producer and artist Gaby Moreno. It’s set for release in Fall 2025. After selling out her first headlining shows in the U.S., including one at Club Passim, she received a nomination as Latin Artist of the Year at the 2024 Boston Music Awards. Recently, Mercedes became a member of Club Passim’s Folk Collective 2024-2026 cohort. For more information, go to mercedesescobar.com. Mercedes will perform on the Main Stage and on “Folkstage” on WFMT on Festival Eve.
Seth Glier
Seth Glier is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, guitarist, and activist. This Grammy-nominated artist from Western Massachusetts channels nature's longing for communion with humanity into song. His new album Everything is a collection of eight songs inviting listeners to imagine a future in which humans and the planet are re-aligned into mutual restoration.
Seth has an innate curiosity and a fierce desire to connect with other people. He has worked as a cultural diplomat of the U.S. State Department and collaborated with musicians in Ukraine, Mongolia, China, and Mexico. He has shared the bill with a diverse list of artists ranging from Ronnie Spector to James Taylor, Ani DiFranco to Glen Campbell. As a producer, music director, or studio musician, he has collaborated with Tom Rush, Sophie B. Hawkins, Antje Duvekot, Richard Shindell, and Cyndi Lauper.
Seth is a five-time Independent Music Award winner and received a Grammy nomination for his album The Next Right Thing. With a commitment to using songwriting as a tool for positive change he has
written with the students in Parkland, Florida for the “Parkland Project,” co-written with soldiers at Walter Reed, and is an advocate for autism awareness citing his autistic brother Jamie as his greatest non-musical musical influence.
For more information. Go to sethglier.com. Seth will perform with Tom Rush and will also have his own set on the Main Stage.
Carla Gover
Carla Gover is an eighth generation Kentuckian who hails from a small coal town in Eastern Kentucky, and her rural sensibilities permeate the work that she does and the music that she plays. She has performed and recorded with artists such as Jean Ritchie, Dirk Powell, and Bruce Molsky and her songs have been sung by other artists and used in film and documentary soundtracks. She was selected as Master Artist in both Traditional Flatfoot Dancing as well as Appalachian Music by the Kentucky Arts Council. She performs with various groups and is the Artistic Director of both Cowan Creek Mountain Music School and the Cornbread & Tortillas Artist Collective.
She has won First Place at the Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Contest. She’s performed at many venues from the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago to the Glasgow Royal Hall in Scotland, from the Kennedy Center to the Copenhagen Blues Festival. Doc Watson said of her, “God, that gal can sing.”
Carla will perform at the Main Stage and will lead an Appalachian Flatfooting Workshop at Stage Left Cafe. She will also perform at Two Way Street Coffee House on Friday night, July 18. For more information and photos, go to carlagover.com.
Anne Hills
Anne Hills is a singer, songwriter, actress, writer, musician, and social worker. Whether she is singing one of her own songs, singing a song set to poetry, or singing a folk classic, her warm, lively, and humorous performances will touch
your heart and your soul. Anne was born in India, raised in Michigan, spent many years in the Chicago area where she co-founded Hogeye Music, and now resides in Pennsylvania.
Her wide-ranging repertoire has brought accolades and a large fan base. From children’s song to the poetry of James Whitcomb Riley, from traditional folk to performances with a symphony orchestra, from songs about the Civil War to songs about refugees, Anne’s music has touched many lives. In addition to her outstanding solo career, she has also performed with Jan Burda, Bob Gibson, Tom Paxton, David Roth, and Michael P. Smith as well as with Priscilla Herdman and Cindy Mangsen.
She has received many awards including the Kerrville Music Foundation’s Outstanding Female Vocalist of the Year Award and the Woodstock Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award.
Anne will perform at the Main Stage. For more info, go to annehills.com. The LeftOvers
Pete Jonsson, Brian Murphy, Laurel Palma, Joe Pesz, Rich Prezioso, Jim Seidel, and Les Urban are all great solo performers but they are even better together as The LeftOvers with their eclectic repertoire. They have been performing together in Woodstock since 2009. With their mix of rock, pop, country, jazz, and blues, they are the perfect band to open the celebration of the 40th Annual Woodstock Folk Festival. Band member Rich Prezioso received the Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award with his wife and musical partner Jacquie Manning (known together as Small Potatoes) in 2017.
The LeftOvers will open the Festival at the Main Stage. Some members may also accompany other Festival artists. Laurel, Joe, and Rich are also part of Off Square Music and will be assisting with sound at the Festival; Les will be assisting at the Open Mic Stage at Stage Left Cafe.
For more information about The LeftOvers, go to Facebook.com/Stageleftovers or simsam@me.com.
Corky Siegel
Corky Siegel is known internationally as one of the world’s great blues harmonica players, blues pianist, singer-songwriter, band leader, and pioneering composer of blues-classical forms. He created Chamber Blues. Corky’s professional music career began when he founded the now legendary Siegel Schwall Band in Chicago in 1964 with guitarist Jim Schwall. The group was a major component of the young generation of white blues artists who learned the historic Chicago Blues style at the feet and hands of such towering figures as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, and Sam Lay. The group moved to San Francisco where acts such as Janis Joplin, Santana, Steve Miller, and Joni Mitchell opened for them.
Corky then collaborated with Seiji Ozawa, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and William Russo on blues-classical compositions. Corky continues to perform with his Chamber Blues group.
He has received the French Government's Grand Prix du Disque, the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest/Meet the Composer National Award for Chamber Music composition, and the Woodstock Folk Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other honors. Corky continues to tour and record and released his
latest album, Symphonic Blues No. 6, last year. Last year he started a new project Jingles for Democracy.
Corky will perform on the Main Stage. For more info, go to corkymusic.com. Blind Hills
Blind Hills is the duo of Dee Lee and Chuck VanderVennet. Dee is known for his deft and dynamic guitar work, and great stories, delivered with a warm clear voice. As a certified arborist, he brings a unique perspective to his music. He creates songs with keen observations about our natural world. You can feel it in the deep chords and melodies he plays on his Taylor guitar, where joy and sadness meet. His theme song “Folk Festival” is used regularly during the “Folk Festival” radio show on WDCB (a Festival Radio Partner) hosted by Lilli Kuzma every Tuesday night from 8-11 p.m.Central Time.
Chuck VanderVennet is the long-time host/co-host of the Woodstock Folk Festival. He is a Past President of the Lake County Folk Club. Also a performer in his own right, he has performed solo and with Compass in addition to this duo. Chuck has received the Festival’s “Woody” Award. Since Chuck moved to South Carolina a couple years ago, this is a rare opportunity to hear this duo.
Blind Hills will be the Featured Performer at the Open Mic Stage. For more info about Dee Lee, go to deeleetree.com.
Joan Hammel
Joan Hammel is a singer-songwriter in the Chicago area. She has been nominated five times for Pop Entertainer of the Year by the Chicago Music Awards. She was part of the team that won an EMMY for Best Children’s Special for “It’s Fun to be Fit!” She was chosen for a 9-day USO tour to entertain the troops including New Year’s Eve in Cuba. She was a headliner during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and has worked around the globe. She’s received numerous writer’s awards and has served as an Artist in Residence for the National Park Service. She’s done work in theater, advertising, tv, radio, and film. She is the mom to athlete Adam Hammel.
Joan will perform at the Ella Jenkins Children’s Area. For more info, go to joanhammel.com.
Mark Lyons and Jean Adaskevich
Mark Lyons and Jean Adaskevich deliver a rollicking musical montage with a high-energy performance that’s sure to please both young and old. With Jean on guitar and Mark on guitar, ukulele, and kazoo, these two will leave you and your children with a song in your heart, laughter in your belly, and a smile on your face! They have been performing together as Mark & Jean since 2000, entertaining audiences young and old with their eclectic musical mix of folk and
novelty tunes sprinkled with their warm, engaging personalities and dry sense of humor.
Mark & Jean will perform in the Ella Jenkins Children’s Area. For more info, go to https://www.facebook.com/MarkandJeanMusic. When he’s not in the Children’s Area, Mark will host the Open Mic Stage at Stage Left Cafe.
Lynn Orman Weiss
Lynn Orman Weiss is a producer, publicist, writer, photographer, print and broadcast journalist, event organizer, and founder of the Women of the Blues Foundation. based in the Chicago area. She was a friend of and publicist for Ella Jenkins and was instrumental in the Festival receiving permission to name our Children’s Area in Ella’s honor.
Lynn will read a story by Ella Jenkins in the Children’s Area. For more info, go to ormanmusicmedia.com.
Diane Wlezien
Diane Wlezien is a poet, artist, vocalist, lyricist, and has worked as a fine arts instructor and lecturer. She does volunteer work with hospice organizations, memory care centers, nursing homes, elder care groups, women’s shelters, and seriously challenged and at risk youth. She lives on her farm, Angel’s Acres, in Woodstock with her husband and their lively menagerie of rescued animals. At the Festival she will be accompanied by Sunny, a miniature horse whose special comfort visits have brought smiles to all age groups during challenging times. Sunny resides in Woodstock with her many equine friends that include mammoth donkeys, quarter horses, miniature horses, and her best friend, a miniature donkey named Estes.
The Ella Jenkins Children’s Area will include hands-on activities with Diane and Sunny. You can read some of Diane’s poetry in A Little Comfort: Healing Poems About Sunny the Miniature Horse.
Contact: Carol Obertubbesing
Email: info@woodstockfolkfestival.org
WOODSTOCK FOLK FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 40 YEARS ON SUNDAY, JULY 20, 2025
BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH MUSIC
Come to the 40th Annual Woodstock Folk Festival on Sunday, July 20, 2025, from Noon to 6 p.m. on the historic Square in Woodstock, Illinois, about 50 miles northwest of Chicago. The Festival continues to present local, national, and international musicians who perform in a variety of styles. This year performers from Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as well as Guatemala, will present traditional and contemporary folk music, Americana, singer-songwriter, country, blues, Appalachian, and Latin music at the Main Stage. The Open Mic Stage offers an opportunity for audience members to share their talent. More information is on the Festival website, woodstockfolkfestival.org. A one-hour video sampler will be available anywhere in the world via the Festival website Gallery Page after the in-person Festival.
NEW THIS YEAR - In the spirit of giving back to our community, we invite attendees to bring shoes or boots to donate to Warp Corps. They need slightly worn but still usable pairs of children’s and adult everyday shoes (no flip-flops, sandals, or fancy shoes). See our website for more information about Warp Corps.
RETURNING THIS YEAR for the first time since the pandemic began is the Children’s Area, newly named in honor of “The First Lady of Children’s Music,” Ella Jenkins, who died in Chicago last year at the age of 100. The Ella Jenkins Children’s Area will feature performances and hands-on activities.
The Festival will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to the legendary Tom Rush. (See bios for Tom and other performers and award recipients below. Photos
are available on their websites.). The Festival will present “Woody” Awards to Andy Andrick and Leslie Cook, Marilyn Rea Beyer, and Ron Lewis.
This year’s Festival Main Stage will be co-hossted by WFMT Folk DJ Marilyn Rea Beyer and long-time Festival MC Chuck VanderVennet. Main Stage performers will include a mix of previous Lifetime Achievement Award recipients - Tricia Alexander, Anne Hills, and Corky Siegel; Northern Illinois supergroup The LeftOvers which includes Rich Prezioso, who received the Award with his wife Jacquie Manning (known as the duo Small Potatoes), as well as Pete Jonsson, Brian Murphy, Laurel Palma, Joe Pesz, Jim Seidel, and Les Urban); and performers new to our area - Joy Clark, Mercedes Escobar, Seth Glier, and Carla Gover.
The Open Mic Stage will feature Blind Hills (Dee Lee and Chuck VanderVennet) and Carla Gover’s Appalachian Flatfooting Workshop. It will be hosted by Mark Lyons. Sign-up for the Open Mic begins at 12:05 p.m.
The Ella Jenkins Children’s Area will feature performances by Tricia Alexander, Joan Hammel, and Mark Lyons & Jean Adaskevich; an Ella Jenkins story read by Lynn Orman; and hands-on activities with Diane Wlezien and her miniature therapy horse Sunny.
In case of rain, the Festival will move to Unity Spiritual Center of Woodstock, 225 W. Calhoun St., corner of Tryon, 2 blocks southwest of the Square.
The suggested donation for the all-day Sunday Festival is $40/individual and $50/ family. There is no pre-registration. More info at woodstockfolkfestival.org.
The Festival is grateful to Off Square Music for providing sound at the Festival. Board members are musicians in their own right and understand the needs of musicians. They give generously of their time throughout the year to other community events and they sponsor open mics and concerts. For more info, go to offsquaremusic.org.
The Festival is a 501(c)(3) Illinois non-profit organization, made possible in part by Radio Partners WDCB, WFMT, and WNUR, the City of Woodstock, Real Woodstock (realwoodstock.com), and Sponsors Steve and Margaret Mikus, but the Festival’s main support comes from individual donors. The purpose of the Festival is to bring quality folk music – local, national, and international – to Northern Illinois. We build community through music. The Woodstock Folk Festival began as a one-time event, co-founded by Amy Beth and Melodee Ladd in 1986, and quickly became an annual event held on the third Sunday of July on Woodstock Square.
PERFORMER AND AWARDEE PROFILES
Tom Rush
The legendary Tom Rush will receive the Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. For over 60 years this singer-songwriter-guitarist has been performing folk and blues. Known for his own songs such as “No Regrets,” Tom has also helped launch the careers of other singer-songwriters. His early recordings introduced the world to the work of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor. Through his Club 47© concerts he brought artists such as Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin to wider audiences. Through his weekly Sunday morning online show, “Rockport Sundays,” he continues to offer other performers a platform on which to perform. His distinctive guitar style, wry humor, and warm expressive voice have made him both a legend and a lure to audiences around the world. His shows are filled with rib-aching laughter of terrific storytelling, the sweet melancholy of ballads, and the passion of gritty blues.
Tom began his musical career in the Boston-Cambridge area while he was a student at Harvard. He had released two albums by the time he graduated. Whether he’s performing solo or with a five-piece band, his shows are always memorable. Beginning in 1982 he brought together established artists and newcomers in an annual holiday show at Symphony Hall in Boston. He later took these shows on the road and they’ve been broadcast on PBS and NPR stations.
Tom continues to tour and will perform at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Festival Eve. He released his latest CD Gardens Old, Flowers New in 2024. For more info, go to tomrush.com.
“Woody” Award Recipients
Andy Andrick and Leslie Cook
Andy Andrick and Leslie Cook met through the Woodstock music community. Andy Andrick has served on the Board of the Woodstock Folk Festival and Off Square Music. He has continued to help the Festival by handling sound at the Festival’s Open Mic Stage and he’s also hosted both in-person and virtual Open Mics for Off Square Music. He is a singer-
songwriter-musician and performs solo and with other performers. His warm, welcoming personality continues to attract regulars and newcomers to our community events. Along with Jeremy Simon, he has co-hosted Off Square Music’s Every Saturday Virtual Open Mic for 5 years. Leslie Cook established Expressly Leslie Cafe on Woodstock Square and for a number of years presented music on Friday nights. At other events she was known for her delicious soups. She revamped the Festival’s website in 2020, helped us establish a social media presence, and helped us create our Woodstock Wednesdays series which ran from July 2020 to May 2021. She has also helped Off Square Music with their website and online activities. This couple has been invaluable to our community.
Marilyn Rea Beyer
Marilyn Rea Beyer grew up in Lansing, Illinois. Concerts at Orchestra Hall, the Earl of Old Town, and Navy Pier fueled her passion for folk music. Meanwhile, her lifelong love of musical theatre grew while she studied performance at Purdue and Northwestern Universities. After moving to New England, she became an on-air folk radio host and music director at Boston’s WUMB and served on the Board of the legendary Club Passim. Her varied professions include education, high-tech, and PR. In 2019, she returned to Chicago and became the host of “The Midnight Special” and “Folkstage” on WFMT>. She’s also a poet and storyteller. We are very grateful to Marilyn for co-hosting the Festival with Chuck VanderVennet since 2023 and being part of our “What’s Your Story?” Spring Benefit Concert last year. Like her predecessor at WFMT, Rich Warren, she has graciously featured one or more Festival performers in a preview on Festival Eve. This year she will present Joy Clark and Mercedes Escobar on “Folkstage” on Saturday night, July 19 from 8-9 p.m. Central Time on WFMT/98.7FM/wfmt.com. We are grateful for the promotional support she offers the Festival and our performers.
Ron Lewis
Ron Lewis has been one of the rotating hosts on WNUR’s Sunday morning “Folk Show” for many years. He also hosts a Saturday morning show, “Breakfast With Bagels.” We are very grateful for the promotion Ron has offered to our Festival and performers. “The Folk Show” also introduces us to artists we may not have heard before. You can hear Ron on Sunday mornings between 10 a.m. and Noon/Central Time on WNUR/ 89.3FM/wnur.org.
Tricia Alexander
Tricia Alexander is an award-winning Performing & Healing Artist with a 50-year professional career in the arts. She is also a Reiki Master Teacher, BodyTalk Practitioner, Spiritual Mentor, and Facilitator of Creativity & the Expressive Arts.
Tricia received the Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. To date, she has released 7 music and spoken word CDs and 5 poetry chapbooks. Whether she is giving a concert, a workshop, a talk, guiding a meditation for spiritual gatherings or a private healing arts session, Tricia’s mission is the same: to educate, nourish, and inspire.
Tricia will host and perform at the Festival’s Ella Jenkins Children’s Area and will lead the All-Sing Finale for the Festival. For more information, go to triciaalexander.com.
Joy Clark
Joy Clark is an acclaimed New Orleans singer-songwriter-guitarist. She is a proud queer Black woman. After a childhood steeped in music from the church, Joy left the confines of that experience to find her true community. After becoming a sought-out side player in New Orleans, her musicianship and tenacity landed her a regular spot playing with Grammy winner Cyril Neville, mesmerizing audiences in the U.S. and abroad. Her songcraft, sophisticated progressions, and themes of freedom, love, and self-acceptance gained her notice on the national folk and Americana scene. She was offered a spot in Allison Russell’s backing band The Rainbow Coalition, earning her the chance to jam with stars such as Brandi Carlile and the Indigo Girls.
She impressed audiences and critics with her debut CD Tell it to the Wind. She has performed at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, the Kennedy Center, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. For more information, go to joyclarkmusic.com. Joy Clark will perform at the Main Stage and will be on “Folkstage” on WFMT on Festival Eve.
Mercedes Escobar
Guatemalan singer Mercedes Escobar has created a unique genre which blends the rawness of old blues and country vocals and guitar with the intensity of magical realism lyrics and the sonic traditions of her home culture. She does this while staying true to her modern values against prejudice in music, race, and gender. She calls this “Latin Americana.”
Mercedes has shared the stage with artists such as Gaby Moreno, Ruben Albarran, and Malacates Treble Shop. She is also featured on the soundtrack of acclaimed independent films Temblores (2019) and Cadejo Blanco (2022; the latter also credits her as music supervisor). After receiving a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music and graduating in May 2024, Mercedes is working on an upcoming bilingual album, produced by Grammy-winning producer and artist Gaby Moreno. It’s set for release in Fall 2025. After selling out her first headlining shows in the U.S., including one at Club Passim, she received a nomination as Latin Artist of the Year at the 2024 Boston Music Awards. Recently, Mercedes became a member of Club Passim’s Folk Collective 2024-2026 cohort. For more information, go to mercedesescobar.com. Mercedes will perform on the Main Stage and on “Folkstage” on WFMT on Festival Eve.
Seth Glier
Seth Glier is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, guitarist, and activist. This Grammy-nominated artist from Western Massachusetts channels nature's longing for communion with humanity into song. His new album Everything is a collection of eight songs inviting listeners to imagine a future in which humans and the planet are re-aligned into mutual restoration.
Seth has an innate curiosity and a fierce desire to connect with other people. He has worked as a cultural diplomat of the U.S. State Department and collaborated with musicians in Ukraine, Mongolia, China, and Mexico. He has shared the bill with a diverse list of artists ranging from Ronnie Spector to James Taylor, Ani DiFranco to Glen Campbell. As a producer, music director, or studio musician, he has collaborated with Tom Rush, Sophie B. Hawkins, Antje Duvekot, Richard Shindell, and Cyndi Lauper.
Seth is a five-time Independent Music Award winner and received a Grammy nomination for his album The Next Right Thing. With a commitment to using songwriting as a tool for positive change he has
written with the students in Parkland, Florida for the “Parkland Project,” co-written with soldiers at Walter Reed, and is an advocate for autism awareness citing his autistic brother Jamie as his greatest non-musical musical influence.
For more information. Go to sethglier.com. Seth will perform with Tom Rush and will also have his own set on the Main Stage.
Carla Gover
Carla Gover is an eighth generation Kentuckian who hails from a small coal town in Eastern Kentucky, and her rural sensibilities permeate the work that she does and the music that she plays. She has performed and recorded with artists such as Jean Ritchie, Dirk Powell, and Bruce Molsky and her songs have been sung by other artists and used in film and documentary soundtracks. She was selected as Master Artist in both Traditional Flatfoot Dancing as well as Appalachian Music by the Kentucky Arts Council. She performs with various groups and is the Artistic Director of both Cowan Creek Mountain Music School and the Cornbread & Tortillas Artist Collective.
She has won First Place at the Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest and the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Contest. She’s performed at many venues from the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago to the Glasgow Royal Hall in Scotland, from the Kennedy Center to the Copenhagen Blues Festival. Doc Watson said of her, “God, that gal can sing.”
Carla will perform at the Main Stage and will lead an Appalachian Flatfooting Workshop at Stage Left Cafe. She will also perform at Two Way Street Coffee House on Friday night, July 18. For more information and photos, go to carlagover.com.
Anne Hills
Anne Hills is a singer, songwriter, actress, writer, musician, and social worker. Whether she is singing one of her own songs, singing a song set to poetry, or singing a folk classic, her warm, lively, and humorous performances will touch
your heart and your soul. Anne was born in India, raised in Michigan, spent many years in the Chicago area where she co-founded Hogeye Music, and now resides in Pennsylvania.
Her wide-ranging repertoire has brought accolades and a large fan base. From children’s song to the poetry of James Whitcomb Riley, from traditional folk to performances with a symphony orchestra, from songs about the Civil War to songs about refugees, Anne’s music has touched many lives. In addition to her outstanding solo career, she has also performed with Jan Burda, Bob Gibson, Tom Paxton, David Roth, and Michael P. Smith as well as with Priscilla Herdman and Cindy Mangsen.
She has received many awards including the Kerrville Music Foundation’s Outstanding Female Vocalist of the Year Award and the Woodstock Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award.
Anne will perform at the Main Stage. For more info, go to annehills.com. The LeftOvers
Pete Jonsson, Brian Murphy, Laurel Palma, Joe Pesz, Rich Prezioso, Jim Seidel, and Les Urban are all great solo performers but they are even better together as The LeftOvers with their eclectic repertoire. They have been performing together in Woodstock since 2009. With their mix of rock, pop, country, jazz, and blues, they are the perfect band to open the celebration of the 40th Annual Woodstock Folk Festival. Band member Rich Prezioso received the Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award with his wife and musical partner Jacquie Manning (known together as Small Potatoes) in 2017.
The LeftOvers will open the Festival at the Main Stage. Some members may also accompany other Festival artists. Laurel, Joe, and Rich are also part of Off Square Music and will be assisting with sound at the Festival; Les will be assisting at the Open Mic Stage at Stage Left Cafe.
For more information about The LeftOvers, go to Facebook.com/Stageleftovers or simsam@me.com.
Corky Siegel
Corky Siegel is known internationally as one of the world’s great blues harmonica players, blues pianist, singer-songwriter, band leader, and pioneering composer of blues-classical forms. He created Chamber Blues. Corky’s professional music career began when he founded the now legendary Siegel Schwall Band in Chicago in 1964 with guitarist Jim Schwall. The group was a major component of the young generation of white blues artists who learned the historic Chicago Blues style at the feet and hands of such towering figures as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, and Sam Lay. The group moved to San Francisco where acts such as Janis Joplin, Santana, Steve Miller, and Joni Mitchell opened for them.
Corky then collaborated with Seiji Ozawa, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and William Russo on blues-classical compositions. Corky continues to perform with his Chamber Blues group.
He has received the French Government's Grand Prix du Disque, the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest/Meet the Composer National Award for Chamber Music composition, and the Woodstock Folk Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other honors. Corky continues to tour and record and released his
latest album, Symphonic Blues No. 6, last year. Last year he started a new project Jingles for Democracy.
Corky will perform on the Main Stage. For more info, go to corkymusic.com. Blind Hills
Blind Hills is the duo of Dee Lee and Chuck VanderVennet. Dee is known for his deft and dynamic guitar work, and great stories, delivered with a warm clear voice. As a certified arborist, he brings a unique perspective to his music. He creates songs with keen observations about our natural world. You can feel it in the deep chords and melodies he plays on his Taylor guitar, where joy and sadness meet. His theme song “Folk Festival” is used regularly during the “Folk Festival” radio show on WDCB (a Festival Radio Partner) hosted by Lilli Kuzma every Tuesday night from 8-11 p.m.Central Time.
Chuck VanderVennet is the long-time host/co-host of the Woodstock Folk Festival. He is a Past President of the Lake County Folk Club. Also a performer in his own right, he has performed solo and with Compass in addition to this duo. Chuck has received the Festival’s “Woody” Award. Since Chuck moved to South Carolina a couple years ago, this is a rare opportunity to hear this duo.
Blind Hills will be the Featured Performer at the Open Mic Stage. For more info about Dee Lee, go to deeleetree.com.
Joan Hammel
Joan Hammel is a singer-songwriter in the Chicago area. She has been nominated five times for Pop Entertainer of the Year by the Chicago Music Awards. She was part of the team that won an EMMY for Best Children’s Special for “It’s Fun to be Fit!” She was chosen for a 9-day USO tour to entertain the troops including New Year’s Eve in Cuba. She was a headliner during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and has worked around the globe. She’s received numerous writer’s awards and has served as an Artist in Residence for the National Park Service. She’s done work in theater, advertising, tv, radio, and film. She is the mom to athlete Adam Hammel.
Joan will perform at the Ella Jenkins Children’s Area. For more info, go to joanhammel.com.
Mark Lyons and Jean Adaskevich
Mark Lyons and Jean Adaskevich deliver a rollicking musical montage with a high-energy performance that’s sure to please both young and old. With Jean on guitar and Mark on guitar, ukulele, and kazoo, these two will leave you and your children with a song in your heart, laughter in your belly, and a smile on your face! They have been performing together as Mark & Jean since 2000, entertaining audiences young and old with their eclectic musical mix of folk and
novelty tunes sprinkled with their warm, engaging personalities and dry sense of humor.
Mark & Jean will perform in the Ella Jenkins Children’s Area. For more info, go to https://www.facebook.com/MarkandJeanMusic. When he’s not in the Children’s Area, Mark will host the Open Mic Stage at Stage Left Cafe.
Lynn Orman Weiss
Lynn Orman Weiss is a producer, publicist, writer, photographer, print and broadcast journalist, event organizer, and founder of the Women of the Blues Foundation. based in the Chicago area. She was a friend of and publicist for Ella Jenkins and was instrumental in the Festival receiving permission to name our Children’s Area in Ella’s honor.
Lynn will read a story by Ella Jenkins in the Children’s Area. For more info, go to ormanmusicmedia.com.
Diane Wlezien
Diane Wlezien is a poet, artist, vocalist, lyricist, and has worked as a fine arts instructor and lecturer. She does volunteer work with hospice organizations, memory care centers, nursing homes, elder care groups, women’s shelters, and seriously challenged and at risk youth. She lives on her farm, Angel’s Acres, in Woodstock with her husband and their lively menagerie of rescued animals. At the Festival she will be accompanied by Sunny, a miniature horse whose special comfort visits have brought smiles to all age groups during challenging times. Sunny resides in Woodstock with her many equine friends that include mammoth donkeys, quarter horses, miniature horses, and her best friend, a miniature donkey named Estes.
The Ella Jenkins Children’s Area will include hands-on activities with Diane and Sunny. You can read some of Diane’s poetry in A Little Comfort: Healing Poems About Sunny the Miniature Horse.
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Contact:
Carol Obertubbesing, President and Producer
info@woodstockfolkfestival.org
