Songs of the Illinois Freedom Road is the powerful new musical performance featuring the songs, stories, and struggles of the Illinois Underground Railroad. The program was developed by Looking for Lincoln to be performed in conjunction with communities hosting the ‘Journey to Freedom Illinois’ Underground Railroad’ traveling exhibit.
The show features rare first-person accounts of freedom seekers who passed through Illinois. Highlighted stories include John and Mary Little, who traveled on foot 140 miles to Chicago, and George Burroughs, a black Canadian who worked on the Illinois Central Railroad where he helped smuggle escapees to freedom.
Vallillo extensively researched the subject using primary source documents such as the 1857 Slave Narratives of Canada and the WPA Slave Narratives as well as the most recent scholarship on the subject. Vallillo combines these powerful stories with eleven historic songs that were sung by the enslaved to inspire and share knowledge among themselves.
There is no cost to attend the performance, and no reservations are required. This event is partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
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Chris Vallillo is a singer/songwriter and roots musician who makes the people and places of “unmetropolitan” America come to life in song. He weaves original, contemporary, and traditional songs and narratives into a compelling and entertaining portraits of history. Having spent the last 30 years in the rural Midwest, he has a natural affinity for American roots music.
Always a project-oriented artist, in the early 2000’s Vallillo began creating one man shows using music as the vehicle to explore a subject or theme. His 2008 project, titled "Abraham Lincoln in Song," received the endorsement of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the CD reached #10 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Album Chart. In 2016, his recording, "Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement" charted at # 6 on the folk charts and the show was staged with a band and full choir at Western IL University. That show was video taped and syndicated on Illinois Public Television.
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