Saturdays at 8:00 pm
Put yourself in the room where live folk music thrives
Folkstage is a one-hour concert series featuring the finest traditional and singer-songwriter talent in folk music. Each year, some two dozen concerts come to you live from local venues or WFMT's studio. Previous live performers include Dom Flemons, Connie Kaldor, Bonnie Koloc, Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards, Jim & Susie Malcolm, Abby Posner, and many more. Additional episodes feature selections from 45 years of archival performances, including from the Old Town School of Folk Music. Become a Folkstage supporter today.
You might also like The Midnight Special, a thematic mix of folk music and more every Saturday night from 9 pm to midnight after Folkstage.
Folkstage is available for free streaming in two different ways – live during the broadcast and on demand via the rights-compliant 5-hour, non-interactive player below within two weeks of the broadcast.
Ariane Lydon From the Archives
June 6, 2026, 8:00 pm
Music wafts like a summer breeze through a greening garden in a 2005 performance by Ariane Lydon.
Bob Franke from the Archives
November 23, 2024
No one sings about Thanksgiving with as much depth and feeling as Bob Franke. This 2004 visit to Folkstage from an old friend became the album, “The Other Evening in Chicago.”
Songs of Connie Converse Live from WFMT
November 16, 2024
For the 100th birthday of elusive songwriter Connie Converse, Chicago vocalist Emmy Bean and arranger-composer Ronnie Kuller present an exclusive broadcast performance of “Her Only Light,” a vocal and chamber ensemble exploration of Converse’s folk music and art songs. Converse vanished in 1974.
Small Potatoes from the Archives
November 9, 2024
Highlights from Folkstage performances by Small Potatoes, the sweethearts of the Chicagoland folk scene.
Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards Live from WFMT
November 2, 2024
An all-woman trio featuring singer/songwriter Laura Cortese on fiddle and guitar and cellists, Kaitlyn Raitz and Valerie Thompson performing originals and re-energized traditional repertoire.
“Make it a double!” From the Archives
October 26, 2024
Excerpts from past Folkstage concerts featuring duos such as Lowen & Navarro, Lou & Peter Berryman, The Barn Birds, Leela & Ellie Grace, and Sons of Town Hall. And a second chance to become a Folkstage member and join us for upcoming broadcasts with a seat in the live studio audience when you designate your gift as a “Folkstage Membership.” ...
Highlights from the Archives
October 19, 2024
Live broadcasts “then & now” with selections from our most recent shows plus performances by Peggy Seeger, Jack Hardy and David Massengill, and by Garnet Rogers and Archie Fisher who turns 85 this month. Learn how to join Folkstage and be in the live audience!
Jim & Susie Malcolm Live from St. Tim’s
October 12, 2024
Jim and Susie Malcolm from Perth, Scotland, deliver originals and Scots traditional songs spiked with plenty of laughs in a long-awaited live broadcast from St. Tim’s Coffeehouse in Skokie, IL.
Amy Speace from the Archives
October 5, 2024
Amy Speace performed her expansive, lyrical, and sometimes other worldly songs at WFMT in 2014.
Kate MacLeod Live on WFMT
September 28, 2024
Neo-trad folksinger and gifted string player, Kate MacLeod has a vast knowledge of folk music’s roots and writes precision-crafted songs. Hear new songs including one Kate has recorded with her current ensemble Mind the Gap. Kate’s repertoire is full of traditional roots and new shoots.
1st Annual Folkstage Comedy Hour Live on WFMT!
September 21, 2024
Spirits are high as we present a live concert of funny songs from Bill Larkin, Jamie Shriner, and WFMT’s Robbie Ellis who co-hosts.
Spuyten Duyvil from the Archives
September 14, 2024
Revisiting the rousing sounds of Yonkers, NY, band Spuyten Duyvil whose jangly zeal ranges from old-time, to blues, to contemporary folk music. This performance first graced our airwaves in 2015.
Ella Jenkins 100th Birthday Party Live from WFMT
September 7, 2024
Our Folkstage celebration will focus on Ella Jenkins’ lifelong civil rights and social justice activism with performances by Juan Dies, Bucky Halker, Susie Lofton, Shanta Nurullah, and special guest commentator Fred Koch.
Connie Kaldor Trio Live at WFMT
August 31, 2024
Esteemed Canadian songmaker Connie Kaldor – her awards are too numerous to list! – and her trio appear on Folkstage as a preview to the two-day Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival in Geneva, Illinois. Connie’s presence is riveting.
Zoe Mulford and more From the Archives
August 24, 2024
Harpeth Rising, Zoe Mulford, Ben Bedford, Bob Bovee & Pop Wagner, et al., played together in 2013 ahead of the Fox Valley Folk Festival that year.
Darryl Purpose & Paul Zollo From the Archives
August 17, 2024
It was a festival of friends when songwriters Darryl Purpose and Paul Zollo were joined by Daryl S and the Seidenberg family on Folkstage in 2014.
Abby Posner Live from WFMT
August 10, 2024
Abby Posner’s originality, musical expertise, imagination, and curiosity can be summed up in one witty phrase: genre fluid. She will move you in unexpected directions.
Alastair Moock from the Archives
August 3, 2024
Torch bearer for Woody Guthrie-style activism, clever lyricist, and groundbreaking young people’s musician, Boston songwriter Alastair Moock made his Folkstage debut in 2019.
Brother Sun from the Archives
July 27, 2024
An encore performance showcasing the refreshing harmonies and outstanding songs of Brother Sun – Greg Greenway, Joe Jencks, and Pat Wictor – recorded live in 2011 on their debut album tour.
The Paper Birds w/Jeff Talmadge Live from WFMT
July 20, 2024
The Woodstock Folk Festival live preview features The Paper Birds. The frolicsome foursome will be joined by special guest Jeff Talmadge.
Chris Walz Live from WFMT
July 13, 2024
Chris Walz is poised to release a new solo album. Hear the songs live! Walz is Chicago folk royalty as a one-time Special Consensus member and master of country blues infused with Woody Guthrie’s spirit.
