0 Comments 4th Annual WFMT Midnight Special Folk Festival Slated for September 20

Grammy Award-winning folk, roots, and country music singer Kathy Mattea will be the special guest at the fourth annual WFMT Midnight Special Folk Festival on Sunday, September 20, 2009, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., in Skokie, Ill. 98.7WFMT has announced a lineup of seven artists of national and international stature for its four-hour extravaganza to be presented on a single stage at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard. Rich Warren, producer and host of WFMT’s the “The Midnight Special” program, assembled the festival’s talent roster, which includes Mattea, John McCutcheon, Michael Smith, Claudia Schmidt, Randall Williams, Haines & Leighton, and the Austin Lounge Lizards. “Our goal was to choose a musically diverse group of artists who are incredibly good at connecting with individual listeners,” Warren says. “All these people have mastered the craft of entertainment.”

Mattea‘s 2008 CD, “Coal” (Captain Potato Records), a heartfelt album of mining and mountain songs, is the West Virginia-born singer’s tribute to her Appalachian coal mining heritage. “Coal” was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Traditional Folk category.

McCutcheon, an acclaimed singer-songwriter, has been compared to folk icon Pete Seeger for his musicianship, stage presence, and commitment to social and economic justice. An icon of the 70s Chicago folk scene, Smith has written songs recorded by Steve Goodman and other luminaries. Schmidt is a versatile singer-songwriter whose discography embraces fourteen albums of mostly original songs. Williams, a 30-something performer who trained as a classical singer at a European conservatory, is an audience favorite at folk festivals around the country.

The humorous and engaging Canadian duo of Mark Haines and Tom Leighton perform original and traditional songs influenced by their Celtic and North American folk roots. The Austin Lounge Lizards, a rollicking quintet of satirical folk, bluegrass, and country gadflies, recently released a single inspired by government bailouts.

Tickets are $25 for balcony seats, $55 for main floor seats, and $125 premium main-floor seats with admission to a backstage VIP reception. Tickets are available by phone at (847) 673-6300 and online. Free on-site parking is available behind the theater. Public transportation: El: Yellow to Skokie, then bus: 97 Skokie (Old Orchard). The all-ages festival will also air live over WFMT 98.7 FM, with a simultaneous live Webcast at www.wfmt.com.