Songs of the Illinois Freedom Road

Award-winning folk musician and folklorist Chris Vallillo brings the music and the stories of the Underground Railroad in Illinois to life in this engaging and powerful show featuring first-person accounts of Freedom Seekers as well as performances and insights into the music that drove this historic movement. “While traditional accounts of the underground railroad generally dismiss Illinois, our state had more miles bordering slave states than any other” said Chris, “and those borders were rivers which made for excellent escape routes.”

Chris Vallillo is a singer/songwriter and roots musician who 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. He weaves original, contemporary, and traditional songs and narratives into a compelling and entertaining portrait of the history and lifestyles of the Midwest.

Free tickets will be distributed to those present at 2:30 pm.