FitzGerald’s celebrates American music
BY LILLI KUZMA Contributor June 28, 2011 3:44PM
Marcia Ball | Photo by Mary Keating Brunton
Fitzgerald’s 31st Annual
American Music Festival
FitzGerald’s Night Club, 6615 Roosevelt Road (Route 38), Berwyn
July 1-3; doors open at 4:30 p.m. Friday, noon on Saturday and Sunday
$30 each day, early bird discount of $5 off the admission price for the first hour each day. Children 12 and under are welcomed until 9 p.m. for just $5 each. No single-day advance tickets will be sold; 3-day passes for $75 available only through ticketweb.com
(708) 788-2118 or www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com
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Updated: November 24, 2011 2:59AM
“I like a good old-fashioned summer festival,” said Bill Fitzgerald, “I grew up with the classic riverside festivals, in Cincinnati and Cleveland, also remember well the Petunia Festival in Dixon.”
As owner of FitzGerald’s Night Club in Berwyn, he knows a great deal about music and festivals. FitzGerald’s 31st Annual American Music Festival is July 1-3.
“Having it on the Fourth of July weekend is kind of an unusual time for a club festival, when a lot of other places will cut back. I figured, it’s kind of a noisy week anyway with fireworks, so maybe the best time to do this, and I do enjoy the patriotic thing. We decorate, will have flags everywhere. We’ve made it into a destination event,” said Fitzgerald.
With three days of live music going on inside the club and outside under the tent, this year’s festival includes performances by: The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Marcia Ball Band, Tracy Nelson, The Hobart Bros., Chicago Salty Dogs, Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones, Cathy Richardson & the Macrodots, The Iguanas, Michelle Malone, Susan Cowsill & Russ Broussard, Bottle Rockets, Jeff & Vida, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Harrison Street Ukulele Players, Junior Brown, Joe Pug, Special Consensus, Tributosaurus as The Neville Bros.
Also on the schedule: Dave Gonzalez & the Stone River Boys, Go Long Mule, Jon Dee Graham, The Tillers, Sarah & the Tallboys, Chicago Grandstand Big Band, Reckless Kelly, Paul Cebar, Bunkertown, Dave Kay Band, Roddy Romero & the Hub City All-Stars, Les Bassettes, Uncle Lucius, Whitey Morgan & the 78’s, and the Spaminato Bros. Full schedule and more information at www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com.
Ballads from Ball
Known for her rollicking party music, Marcia Ball is also adept at both penning and singing a moving ballad. A stand-out on her CD “Roadside Attractions” is Ball’s “This Used To Be Paradise,” a song about the BP oil spill and the urgent need to repair and protect the wetlands.
“My music can be described as ‘rambunctious,’ and I can make ’em dance. But it you really want to make an impression, you have to make them cry,” she said.
Ball was raised in Louisiana, but has lived in Austin since 1970.
“Austin is a beautiful, cool, mellow, and very liberal place to live in the south,” she said.
Austin was where Ball got her name out, became established as an artist, and connected to a booking agent who secured her first record deal.
“Back in the day, you made a 45, and would take it around to the clubs, to try to have it put on the jukeboxes, or played at the radio stations,” said Ball. “I gave a record to Carlyne Major, at the Soap Creek Saloon in Austin, and she took me on as a client and worked for me for 12 years, including negotiating a deal with Rounder Records.”
Ball was signed to Chicago-based Alligator Records in 2001, and thoroughly appreciates her northern label along with the venues and audiences north of home.
“I used to say ‘north in the summer and south in the winter,’ ” said Ball. “But I’ve changed my mind about that, ever since FitzGerald’s asked me to play in December or January and, at first, I thought this would be crazy, worried whether people would come out in bad weather, because if it snows even an inch in Austin we’ll close the schools. But the audience was great, and the audiences in the north are a lot like the audiences in the south.”
New Orleans jazz
With no concerns about snow for the American Music Festival, Fitzgerald looks forward to hosting Ball and the other artists for his special annual event. He was especially excited about the inclusion of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
“This band rarely tours or plays clubs,” he said. “It’ll be great to see them in the confines of FitzGerald’s, the ambiance of a small wood room, and in a building where traditional jazz has had a great history.”
Fitzgerald also enthused about the food available at the fest, noting that Tom Cimms’ Louisana BBQ menu offers smoked duck gumbo, swordfish po’boy, andouille po’boy, jambalaya, cochon de lait, shrimp creole, brats, hot dogs, and vegetarian items.
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