Before the cold winds start to blow, before the snow falls and before you call it quits for outdoor music in Chicago, there is a 15-year mainstay here in the Windy City that is the perfect send off for the summer season. The Hideout Block Party is a jam-up good time dripping with talent and looking to contribute to a good cause.
With a lineup that includes: Andrew Bird, Mavis Staples, Jon Langford & The Burlington Welsh Chorus, White Mystery and a boatload more, showing up to this party is a must. This time around though it’s not just about good music, it’s about doing good for music. That’s where Rock For Kids comes in.
Rock For Kids is a charitable organization [501(c)(3) licensed] that picks up where the school system left off – with the music. By providing music education to underserved children in a number of Chicago schools, RFK fosters individual growth through creativity, passion and musical enrichment. But it doesn’t end there.
Circa 2010, Rock For Kids and Andrew Bird created a scholarship to provide one academic year of private coaching to a student at the Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) who has demonstrated need. The recipient of the 2010-2011 Rock For Kids/Andrew Bird Scholarship was Paloma Carrasco. The 14-year-old songster from the South Side with no formal training other than what she received as the scholarship winner will perform La Cigarra, the mariachi song she sang at her audition, with Bird at the Hideout Block Party.
So come out, do some good and enjoy some good tunes in the process. Tickets are still available, and remember one good turn deserves another, so show up and support Rock For Kids, Chicago talent and the Hideout.
