Country and Midwestern Part 1: Uptown & West Loop, featuring the Texas Rubies

Country and Midwestern: Part I, Uptown & West Loop, featuring the Texas Rubies

Country and Midwestern: Part I, Uptown & West Loop explores the migration of Appalachians to Chicago early last century and the music that followed. Conversation, archival footage, and live performance bring this history of struggle and resilience to life. 

Featuring a reunion by the Texas Rubies (Kelly Kessler and Jane Baxter Miller), a pioneering country duo that emerged during Chicago’s punk era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. With historian Paul Durica and journalist Mark Guarino.

In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the WLS Barn Dance in 2024, the Hideout presents a series of events focusing on different chapters of Chicago country and folk music history, Country and Midwestern: Exploring Chicago’s Role in Country Music History.

The foundation of the series is Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival (University of Chicago Press) by local journalist Mark Guarino. The book, a 10-year project, is the first to track this nearly 100-year history in Chicago and features revelations undocumented until today.

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