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On Sundays, Bill’s morphs
into a Folk
Club.
The afternoon begins
with the
LilFest "Your Turn"
Open Mike.
Come for the 3:45
PM sign-up. It is
a first-come,
first-served sign-up
for a fifteen minute
performing slot
(includes your set-up
time). The room is
smoke-free and family
friendly all day. Every
genre of music, spoken
word and performance is
welcome. This mike is
particularly
entertaining fun to
watch, from Irish a
cappella singing to
drum soloists, cover
bands to trad
singer-songwriter
guitarists, student
jugglers to
storytellers.
Nancy
Emrich
created the LilFest
“Your Turn” Open Mike
at Bill’s Blues, to
showcase the depth and
breadth of talent in
and around Evanston,
Chicago and the
Midwest. Along
the way it’s become a
stopping point for
musician and performing
travelers from points
as far flung as Italy,
Montana, Massachusetts,
and Texas to name a
few.
The Open Mike is held on
most every Sunday. Periodic
"LilFest Selects" Sunday
Night Folk Concerts feature
top Open Mike performers at
the 7:00 Sunday Night Folk
Concerts. Some Open Mikes
feature touring guest
hosts, and bands may
sign-up by making an
appointment. The band
slot will be first, with
set-up at 3:30 pm, and then
the equipment stays and is
available to others until
6:30. The Open Mike usually
ends at 6:30 as the set up
and sound checks begin for
the Sunday Evening Folk
Concert
Series.
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The Sunday Evening Folk
Concert
Series
was founded
along with Bill’s Blues.
This is a smoke-free,
family friendly evening and
the volume levels are a lot
lower than the rest of the
week. Bill's Blues has
hosted some of the top and
up-and-coming roots,
Americana,
singer-songwriter and folk
artists in the country,
including Tricia Alexander,
Ray Bonneville, Andrew
Calhoun, Bill Camplin,
Cooper, Nelson and Early,
Jim Craig, Bianca De Leon,
Tom Dundee, Mark Dvorak,
Kat Eggleston, Bill Isles,
Radoslav Lorkovic, Buddy
Mondlock, Pete Morton, Dave
Moore, Lee Murdock, Jamie
O’Reilly, Claudia Schmitt,
Barb Silverman, Chris Walz
and Andy White. Hosted
by
Nancy
Emrich
, the Sunday
Evening Folk Concert Series
at Bill's Blues provides a
unique experience -
marvelous voices lifted in
song, a fine glass (or two
or three) of wine, a warm
community of live folk and
roots music enthusiasts all
in a great listening
room.
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On Sunday afternoons,
by
appointment,
Nancy
Emrich
has
specially
designed
a
performance time
for youthful
musicians
.
The goal of the
Unsigned Monkeys
(named by a high
school freshman!)
on Saturdays is
to provide a
great sound
system, a
professional
music room
experience, and a
short consultancy
in music
marketing to
students
of all
kinds of
music
.
Email
Nancy
Emrich
if you, your student,
your son or daughter,
or your young friend
has
a 30
minute or more
repertoire
and
professional
aspirations, even
just beginning
to. We’ll
open up for your
friends, design a
poster and a
session to learn
about marketing
and everyone will
have fun and a
great learning
experience.
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