Ravinia 2025 Issue 5

Almond & Olive Another reason Illinois is fertile ground for bluegrass? Location, loca- tion, location , offered Ollie Davidson of Almond & Olive. “A couple of years ago, we were on The Voice ,” he said. “During the interview process and auditions, the producers talked to us about Chicago and Illinois as a haven for roots music. They said they were interested in us be- cause we seemed to embody that spirit. Illinois is in the middle of the country, and bands literally tour here left and right. We are a hub.” The Henhouse Prowlers, like the crew of the Enterprise on Star Trek , have boldly taken bluegrass where it had never gone before. A “rinky-dink” tour of Europe in 2011 was gruelingly difficult, Wright said, “but we came out of it wanting to do more.” The band applied for and was accept- ed into a State Department program that sponsored “musical diplomacy”—sup- porting American musicians playing abroad. In 2013, the Henhouse Prowlers visited Congo, Liberia, Niger, and Mau- ritania. “It was life-changing,” Wright said. “I played banjo with a musician who played the akonting, the great-great- great-grandfather of the banjo. We had multitudes of those kinds of experiences that made us want to do it more, and it became a part of our identity.” Upon returning home from their travels, the Henhouse Prowlers dedicat- ed themselves to expanding bluegrass’s horizons, incorporating world rhythms into their music. “It was just brute force to sing in other languages; we’re essen- tially learning phonetically,” Wright said. “But it’s been one of the most re- warding things of our career. We made friends and fans everywhere we went. We brought that music back home and give firsthand accounts of the types of places people only barely hear about in the news, usually colored by politics that are going on.” The Henhouse Prowlers have toured nearly 30 countries on five continents. They also formed their own non-profit, Bluegrass Ambassadors, whose mis- sion, according to its website, is to “ed- ucate and inspire through the cultural exchange of music” and to “provide unique educational programming that blends global folk music traditions with cultural awareness and understanding.” They return to Ravinia’s Carousel Stage with a new album in tow, Un- ravel , which comprises originals and one timely cover, Genesis’s “Land of Confusion.” Playing at Ravinia, Wright said, “is one of the greatest honors of the Chicago music scene. We started in Rogers Park; we’ve always been a North Side band. Ravinia is this revered place, and to get an opportunity to perform there is a musician’s dream.” Noah’s Jam Jam Bourrée will be mak- ing their Ravinia debut, but Plotkin has been attending Ravinia since he was two years old when his parents, both artists, took him to an Arlo Guthrie concert. In addition to his myriad musical projects, he has coordinated the acts and curated the music for Food Truck Thursdays in the Ravinia district of Highland Park for the past five years. He launched Noah’s Jam Jam Bour- rée during Covid as an outdoor concert series, performing in backyards and front lawns. The ensemble features Plotkin on guitar, banjo, percussion and vocals; Jared Rabin on mandolin, guitar and vocals; Brandon Reisdorf on fiddle and vocals; and upright bassist Eric Perney, who was the bassist on Tom Waits’s masterpiece Alice . “To be on the Carousel Stage is a great honor,” he said. Reflecting on cher- ished memories of seeing Pete Seeger and Peter, Paul & Mary perform at Ra- vinia, he said, “Covering the song ‘Inch by Inch’ sparks a golden feeling in me.” Almond & Olive will also be playing Ravinia for the first time. Davidson and Natalie Alms met while working in animal welfare. They bonded over that and their mutual taste in music. “We decided one day to play togeth- er,” he said. “Once we heard how our voices sounded together, it just seemed magical.” They’ve been together for a decade. One of the things Davidson loves about bluegrass is that it is “always about the music and not about the image,” he said. “It is a community that respects its authenticity and honesty.” Donald Liebenson is a Chicago-based entertainment writer. His work appears in the Washington Post , Town & Country , IndieWire , and on VanityFair.com. The first Ravinia concert he attended without his parents was Procol Harum in 1970. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUG. 4 – AUG. 17, 2025 18