For Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Valerie June, playing the Evanston Folk Festival wasn’t just another gig — it had been on her “performance wish list” for a while.
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After organizers reached out to her, she said “I was kind of just shocked, like any wish that comes true in your life, aren’t you shocked?”
June, whose genre-bending sound draws influence from psychedelic folk, indie rock, Appalachian blue grass and soul, to name a few, took one of three stages Saturday evening, joining a star-studded lineup of more than 30 folk artists for the lakefront festival’s return to Evanston.
The third-annual celebration brought 12,000 concert-goers to Dawes Park over the Sept. 12 and 13 weekend, according to Jake Samuels, director of music at 16″ on Center, which manages Evanston SPACE and parent company SPACE Presents, the festival’s presenter. He said more than 6,000 attended Sunday and more than 5,000 Saturday.
“The weather did not slow us down one bit,” Samuels said of Sunday’s scattered showers. Guests came early, “hung out through the drizzle” and stayed through the evening’s headliner set, Indigo Girls, he added.
This year’s folk headliners were Trampled by Turtles and Indigo Girls. Other names on the festival lineup with the biggest draws included Kathleen Edwards, Josh Ritter, Tift Merritt, Sierra Hull and James McMurtry.
“We’ve played in Evanston many times,” Emily Saliers and Amy Ray of Indigo Girls told Pioneer Press shortly before the duo’s Sunday evening headlining performance.
“They invited us to come back and we loved the idea of it. There are so many great people playing here this weekend,” Ray added.
“Festivals just, they make you feel good. It’s a beautiful night. Sometimes we’ll make a set list and then if we feel like the vibe is different in the crowd, we might shift it during the middle of the set, but I mean this is a folk festival, so we’ll be playing some folk music for sure,” Saliers said with a laugh.
Several of the festival’s top-billed performers spoke of the joy they get from playing at events like this, especially in an era of increasingly digital and virtually-connected listening.
“Music is something that brings people together from all walks of life and all ideologies and that’s a very rare thing these days,” songwriter Josh Ritter, who took the Main Stage Sunday, said of performing at open-air festivals.
“I think it’s important to recognize that we’re all coming together for one thing, and it’s a beautiful thing.”
“Small festivals are where it’s at,” Grammy-nominated artist Tift Merritt said prior to her Sunday afternoon performance on the Dawes Stage.
“I don’t want to be a part of the touring industrial complex, I want to be a part of the community.”
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Given the 45-minute show cut off time, some artists spoke of the challenge in picking a set list that strikes the perfect chord among a broad spectrum of listeners.
“It’s hard to pare it down to only eight or nine songs, but also it’s kind of nice to just sort of plan on playing the songs that you think represent the best of your work,” Canadian musician Kathleen Edwards said.
“For lack of a better word, you kind of play the greatest hits, and sometimes that’s really fun too because you’re sort of hoping you’re playing to a lot of people who’ve never heard of you before.”
One of those crowd favorites, the title track off of Edwards’ third studio album, “Asking For Flowers,” she said would surely make the cut.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever played a show where I haven’t played [Asking For Flowers] since I wrote it,” Edwards said with a laugh. “ I love that song and it means a lot to me…the people who’ve heard it before, it means something to them too.”
First-time festival goer Betsy Storm, and friend Chris Johnston, both of Evanston, told Pioneer Press they couldn’t imagine a better weekend for the event’s activities.
“It’s so well-organized, everybody’s got a great vibe,” Storm said with a smile. “There’s not one thing that’s not perfect about this day.”
Jenny Schevers of west suburban Wayne noted as the skies opened up Sunday evening that she and her husband traveled over an hour to see Josh Ritter play live.
“I’m the folk music lover,” Schevers said. “My husband’s just a really good sport.”
Samuels, the organizer, said inspiration for the relatively new concert series came from years of the venue’s listening room success and a desire to provide opportunities for singer-songwriters.
“There are a million great festivals in and around Chicago, but not a ton that specifically focus on folk music and singer-songwriters specifically,” Samuels said.