How do you get to the Steppenwolf Theatre? Like Carnegie Hall, practice, practice, practice … and shamelessly knocking on doors and not giving up.
That persistence has led renowned folk songwriter and singer Chris Vallillo of Macomb to the venue of his dreams, the famed legendary Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. Take a musical journey with Vallillo of Macomb as he takes the stage at The Steppenwolf Aug. 8-9. Tickets can be purchased at steppenwolf.org/tickets--events/lookout/26-summer/forgottonia.
Vallillo will present 'Forgottonia,' an evolution of the people and places in rural Midwestern America, accompanied by images from award-winner rural photographer Tim Schroll of Colchester. The performance is described by Vallillo as an audio-visual love letter to the region's past, present and future.
In 'Forgottonia,' the storied musician draws on almost 40 years of original material to create a show that tells the story of rural Illinois, and of west central Illinois, an area that, for years, the residents have referred to the region by that name.
The name “Forgottonia' first came to be in 1972 when 16 counties, led by self-appointed governor, Vietnam Veteran Neil Gamm, declared the tonguein cheek creation of the 'independent nation' of Forgottonia, with its capitol being Fandon, Illinois, in protest of the lack of tax dollars returning to the region.
During Vallillo's performances at The Steppenwolf next month, which also will feature noted Chicago musicians Don Stiernberg on mandolin and Marc Edelstein on bass, he will perform several of the songs he has composed that pay tribute to west central and rural Illinois. From 'Silhouette Against The Stars,' which is dedicated to family farms and the farm crisis; 'The Walnut Fiddle,' which was a result of Vallillo's interview with a pre-radio musician in western Illinois, Homer Bedenbender, who was an old-time farmer, blacksmith and fiddle player who made a walnut fiddle in 1930s when he couldn't afford to buy one; and 'The Final Harvest,' which was written about a situation in northern Illinois when a farmer was killed in a rollover accident and the community showed up to harvest fields, with the money going to the family, Vallillo uses his music to tell the story of our region.
'Forgottonia is the hook, but this is really a story about the people, places and culture of old-time Forgottonia,' Vallillo said, as he also starts off the show.
'Forgottonia' is the culmination of four years of worth of work,” he explained. He received funding for the project from the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) Foreground Rural Initiative Grant in 2022, and the show premiered in 2024 in Western Illinois University's Hainline Theatre. Vallillo got together with his old friend, Schroll, a well-known rural landscape photographer, when he was putting together the IH grant application. Schroll was starting to move away from photography, but Vallillo convinced him to take the cover shot for the CD he was recording at the time.
'This idea had been simmering for two years. I'd done numerous historical- based programs in the past. I had just finished a show dedicated to the songs of the Civil Rights era when I decided to shift gears and get back to my original music, my true love,' he shared. 'I looked at what I've written over the past 40 years and most of my songs were about people of rural Illinois, so I hit upon that idea of using those songs to tell the story of the changes rural Illinois has gone through over the years.'
Vallillo had worked with Schroll before, and he knew he wanted to do a project with his friend because what he does visually is what Vallillo does musically.
'I had to convince him to take the cover shot for the CD but after I got the grant, I convinced Tim to give me access to about 40 of his images and it just grew from there. In the process, I was able to get Tim fired up about photography again. I don't get to work creatively with an artist of Tim's caliber very often and it was a wonderful experience. Eventually, Tim gave me access to over 2,000 of his shots to choose from,' Vallillo explained. 'I pulled together several hundred possible shots, and we got together in his dark room and I played the music and we looked for images to find exactly the right fit. We had a rule that we both needed to agree for a shot to be in the show and we never once disagreed!'
Since that 2024 premiere at the Hainline Theatre in Macomb, Vallillo has been touring “Forgottonia.' across the Midwest. While he has performed the show at least eight times so far, he really was interested in getting into a Chicago venue. However, for a downstate musician, that is no small feat.
'I was going to booking conferences, and was showcasing to theaters, with little luck. It got to the point where I was looking at renting a Chicago theatre and self-producing the show like I did at Hainline,' he said. 'At one point, I asked some people at Illinois Humanities if anyone knew the Chicago theatre scene, and Senior Director of Public Engagement Jane Beachey connected me with Steppenwolf's Creative Producer, Patrick Zakem. That connection opened up the door.
'The Steppenwolf presents 'The Lookout Series,' which produces works from up-and-coming artists. I had a phone interview with Patrick, and then I drove to Chicago, met with Patrick and his staff to see the space and make the pitch,' Vallillo added. 'It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to work there. Without the IH connection and the shameless beating on the doors, it would not have happened. When you live downstate, you have to constantly promote yourself and do whatever you can.'
The Lookout Series is celebrating its 10th anniversary this summer, and the theatre itself is celebrating its 50th, so it's a banner year for Vallillo's work to debut at the Steppenwolf. He'll be performing in the theatre's new black box theatre, a smaller, intimate venue.
“The Steppenwolf is my Carnegie Hall. If I had a dream of performing in a Chicago theatre, it would be the Steppenwolf. They are internationally-known for creating and supporting new work,' Vallillo said. 'It's such a huge honor. The Steppenwolf has the best staff in Chicago for staging and lighting, and it's a rare treat to get to work at this level. This is a dream come true.'
From the Steppenwolf, he's taking his act on the road in September to Milwaukee's Midwest Arts Expo, a major booking conference for the Midwest, where he'll stop in 'Forgottonia' around to theaters and performing arts centers across the Midwest. Then it's back to downstate with the show for an Oct. 2 performance at The Legacy Theatre in Carthage. He'll also be performing the show at the Goldfarb Center for Performing Arts Feb. 6, and is currently working with the Carbondale Varsity Center to write a grant to host the show in March.
What's next for this musician/songwriter/storyteller who has been touring, performing, hosting shows and cutting albums for over four decades? Vallillo said while he's always thinking about projects, at this season of his life, 'Forgottonia' is the culmination of his work over the years and might be the last 'biggie.' But fans – new and old – need not fear as Vallillo plans on continuing to perform.
“I'll definitely continue writing and performing after the Steppenwolf show,' Vallillo said. “I've been directly involved producing my own work for my entire career and I have no intention of stopping. As I always say, if they don't let you in the front door, kick in the basement window.'
About Chris Vallillo Having spent the last 40+ years in the rural Midwest, he has a natural affinity for American roots music. A master of finger style and bottleneck slide guitar, Vallillo weaves original, contemporary, and traditional songs and narratives into a compelling and entertaining portrait of the history and lifestyles of the Midwest. Perhaps the archaeology degree Vallillo earned at Beloit College (BA Anthropology, 1976) helped him see the important little details of life which imbue his songs with a sense of history. His prairie poet style has been compared to Edgar Lee Masters and Vachel Lindsay and you can hear the strains of the Carter Family and Jimmy Rogers reflected in his writing.
Photography by Tim Schroll
A recipient of a 1986 Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship Award for music composition, Vallillo was a nominee for the Illinois Arts Council’s 1987 Governor’s Award for Individual Artist. In 1987, he conducted the Schuyler Arts Folk Music Project to document the last of the pre-radio generation. These recordings were accepted into the American Folklife Collection at the Library of Congress. From 1990 through 1998 he served as the performing host and co-producer of the nationally distributed, award-winning public radio performance series Rural Route 3 where he performed next to (and with) a virtual who’s who of contemporary and traditional folk musicians.
Always a project-oriented artist, in the early 2000s Vallillo began creating one-man shows using music as the vehicle to explore a subject or theme. His 2008 project, Abraham Lincoln in Song, received the endorsement of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and the accompanying CD of music reached #10 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Album Chart. In 2016, his latest recording, Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement charted at #6 on the folk charts and 2018 the show was produced as a fully theatrical performance featuring a band and a live choir.
He twice served as the Illinois State Scholar for the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit on roots music New Harmonies. In 2013, he released The Last Day of Winter, (#14 on the Folk DJ Charts) and produced the double CD set “Midwest Folklife Festival” for the Illinois Arts Council. He also scored and recorded the music for the documentary film “Witness to History” all while maintaining a full touring schedule. In 2016, his latest recording, 'Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement' charted at # 6 on the Folk DJ charts. In 2018 he produced Oh Freedom! as a theatrical performance featuring a full band and a 42 voice choir. That show was videotaped and syndicated on Illinois Public television.
