Chicago Farmer & The Fieldnotes
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With Special Guest: Erin Zindle (The Ragbirds)
November 10, 2021 @ 8:00 pm
$20
Please Note: Proof of Vaccination is required for admission. By purchasing a ticket you agree that you and your guests will comply with all laws, orders, ordinances, regulations and health and safety guidance adopted by the State of Michigan, the County of Washtenaw and The Ark, including any guidelines in place at the time of the show. Attendees who do not comply will be asked to leave. Policies will be updated as circumstances and requirements change in our community. Please review The Ark’s current COVID-related information before attending a show.
Says Todd Snider about Chicago Farmer: “I love Chicago Farmer’s singing and playing and songs, but it’s the intention behind the whole of his work that moves me to consider him the genuine heir to Arlo Guthrie or Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. He knows the shell game that goes on under folk music … which is sacred to me. Chicago Farmer is my brother; if you like me, you’ll love him.” Chicago Farmer is Cody Diekhoff, who came from the Illinois farming community of Delavan. Many of his songs are in the Woody Guthrie vein, populist as well as autobiographical. Cody logged plenty of highway and stage time under the name Chicago Farmer (originally the name of a group) before settling in the city in 2003. He listened to punk rock and grunge as a kid before discovering a friend’s dad playing Hank Williams, and it was a revelation. Profoundly inspired as well by fellow Midwesterner John Prine, he’s a working-class folk musician to his core. Cody writes music for the “kind of people that come to my shows. Whether in Chicago or Delavan, everyone has a story, and everyone puts in a long day and works hard the same way,” he says.
Opening is Erin Zindle, the songwriter, fiddler, and leader of the nationally-touring folk-rock band Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds. With a genre-bending hybrid of indie-pop melodies, global-infused beats, rock guitar riffs, conscious lyrics and virtuosic fiddling, Erin Zindle & The Ragbirds deliver something that’s hard to define. Her voice is both earthy and ethereal, full of character and texture with lyrics that point to the daily paradox of intentionally cultivating hope in the midst of a crazed and jaded world. She skillfully switches between violin, kalimba, piano, and accordion, never losing her infectious smile
