Songbag Concert Series Performance

Ian & M3, a local duo playing funky, jazzy blues, will perform May 5 at the Carl Sandburg State Historic Site in Galesburg as part of the Sandburg Songbag Concert Series.

Ian Johnson and Manuel Lopez III’s friendship, musically and personally go back more than 10 years.  They have played hundreds of shows together with various bands and now as a duo. They have their own style, playing all genres of music from rock to pop to funk to jazz.

Lopez, at the age of 4, began playing drums and ever since has been performing.  Now he plays a Fender Rhodes Mark 1 electric piano and is a strong vocalist.  Johnson is one of the most versatile guitar players in the region.

During intermission at the May 5 performance by Ian and M3, the Sandburg site’s bookstore will be open providing a chance to do some shopping.  The store features books written by and about Carl Sandburg, Sandburg recordings, mugs, bookmarks, items of local historical interest, and more.

The May 5 Songbag performance by Galesburg’s Johnson and Lopez will be in the Sandburg site’s Barn at 313 E. Third Street in Galesburg. The show starts at 4:00 p.m. and ends at 6:00 p.m. with a break for special Cinco de Mayo refreshments around 5:00 p.m. A donation of $5 per person is suggested.  The 2019 Sandburg Songbag concerts are made possible thanks to a grant from the Mark and Celia Godsil Family Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of the Galesburg Community Foundation, and the Community Impact Fund at the Galesburg Community Foundation.   The concert is presented by the Carl Sandburg Historic Site Association and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Carl Sandburg Songbag concerts for the remainder of 2019 include:

June 9:             Last Acre – Mark and Molly Mathewson, father and daughter duo perform traditional bluegrass and folk music

July 14:           David Berntson, blues harmonica

August 11:      Andy Crawford and Harry Tonchev, jazz guitar and bass

Sept. 8:            Barry Cloyd, Midwestern based, full-time touring singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist.

Oct. 13:           Sally Weisenburg and Don Bernbaum, blues and jazz

Nov. 10:          Jera Faraipanahi Scott and Carol Jean Trulson, acoustic guitar and keyboard

Carl Sandburg was a collector and performer of America’s folk songs. The series is named in honor of Sandburg’s book “The American Songbag,” published in 1927.  The Carl Sandburg State Historic Site includes the home where the famed poet and biographer was born. For more information, visit www.sandburg.org.

The Sandburg site is operated by the Illinois Department Natural Resources.