Songwriters and Storytellers Open Mic Benefit

Songwriters and Storytellers Invited to Join Open Mic
to Benefit Lincoln Square Friendship Center
Lincoln Square Presbyterian Church invites the community to attend and participate in an open mic event on March 6 at 6 p.m. at Waters Elementary School on 4540 N. Campbell Avenue. The open mic for songwriters and storytellers will be centered on the theme of “hunger,” as this event will include an opportunity to donate to the Lincoln Square Friendship Center and the church will match the amount donated. No admission will be charged, and the event is open to the public.
The Lincoln Square Friendship Center opened in September 2013 as an additional location for the Friendship Center that had begun serving the North Park and Albany Park neighborhoods in 1970. An estimated 5,500 people are food insecure in the areas the Lincoln Square location serves, says the Friendship Center Web site. This neighborhood food pantry provides free food, clothing, and household goods to neighbors in Lincoln Square, Ravenswood and West Ridge.
Doors will open for this night of music and storytelling at 5:30 p.m. and anyone interested will then be able to sign up to share one song or a five-minute story. Everyone who signs up for an open mic slot will be entered into a drawing for a complimentary four-hour recording session with Stray Dog Recording Company in Lincoln Square. Stories must be true and all songs and stories must be original. A limited number of open mic slots are available.
The night will start off with four featured Chicago artists: Paula Carter, Paul van der Bijl, Sue Fink and David Barish. Paula Carter, a freelance writer and storyteller based in Chicago, is a company member with the storytelling organization 2nd Story and has performed at This Much is True, The Moth and Essay Fiesta. Paul van der Bijl is the worship director at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Bucktown and he has been involved in the Chicago music scene for more than 10 years. Singer/songwriter Sue Fink, whose genre is acoustic/folk with a hint of jazz and a large dollop of humor, has been entertaining audiences since 2001 with her quirky tales of love gone awry. David Barish has been a featured teller for many events in the Chicago storytelling scene including Story Sessions, Story Club, Serving the Sentence, Thread, and Side Project’s Festival of Storytelling.
The event is not affiliated with Waters Elementary School. For event information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/tellitslant2016.