May Erlewine w/ Eric O'Daly

Saturday, Feb. 03 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

May Erlewine returns to The Acorn. One of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters, May Erlewine continues to share her gift for writing songs of substance that feel both new and soulfully familiar.

About the Artist

One of the Midwest’s most prolific and passionate songwriters, May continues to share her gift for writing songs of substance that feel both new and soulfully familiar. Her lyrics offer a window into her heartbreak, her empowerment, and her emboldened spirit.

These lyrics, which are really stories crafted through May’s unique experiences, are rooted in wisdom, joy, sorrow, simplicity, and love. Musically, she carries the songwriter’s torch through many genres and sonic landscapes. The delicate arrangements seem to land somewhere between the go-to labels, making it difficult to describe and easier to enjoy.

May considers her career in the music industry as a service-oriented one and uses her platform for positive change. She stresses the importance of environmental advocacy, social justice, creative empowerment, and community building as necessary work in our world. May’s body of work has become an anthem and an example of why we need to listen to women, empower women, and why we need to hear their stories.

With a long list of full-length albums and numerous collaborations, May Erlewine’s catalog is proof of her creative power. Her work has been spotlighted by Rolling Stone and NBC’s “The Voice” and covered by countless artists. Erlewine’s last release, Anyway, a collaboration with Woody Goss (vulfpeck), showcases her diversity as a singer featuring the newly acclaimed song, “Days Go By.” Her 2017 album Mother Lion, produced by Tyler Duncan (vulfpeck) and backed by Joe Dart, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss and Joshua Pinkham (Jeremy Kittel), has become an Indie favorite most notably for the empowering single “Never One Thing.”

Among her successes, perhaps her biggest accomplishment is that her music has touched people all over the world. Her words have held solace for weary hearts, offered a light in the darkness, and held a lot of space for the pain and joy of being alive. When she starts to sing, there’s no way around it: welcome in, everyone. The door is wide open.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Charlie Parr

Friday, Dec. 01 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Charlie Parr is an incorruptible outsider who writes novelistic, multi-layered stories that shine a kaleidoscopic light on defiant, unseen characters thriving in the shadows all around us. Parr has a new record with only his name on it, and it isn’t shiny and perfect and commercial and catchy. It’s him. It’s pure Charlie Parr and that’s enough. He hasn’t moved to LA or Nashville; he’s stayed in the cold grey north of Minnesota, because that’s his home.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

The Acorn is proud to partner with Neighbor by Neighbor in hosting a food and hygiene drive at the theater. Throughout November and December, whenever you come out to The Acorn to attend an event, please consider contributing! Please find more information here.

JazzReach: Metta Quintet at The Acorn – Big Drum / Small World

Tuesday, Nov. 28 | 7:00pm ET (6:00pm CT)

Nationally recognized New York City-based JazzReach comes to The Acorn for two days of educational and community programs! Working with River Valley Schools, the School of American Music and more, students will be offered daytime programming both at The Acorn and in the schools. Each day culminates with an evening concert featuring JazzReach’s renown Metta Quintet.

Please consider supporting this exciting educational opportunity for Harbor Country Area Students! By making a tax deductible donation to our JazzReach 2023 Campaign you can help to provide valuable funding for this program. Please click HERE to make a contribution.

JazzReach at The Acorn is presented with support from our community. We thank our sponsors:

Quarternote Lofts
3 Pillars Music

Night One brings Big Drum / Small World!

This immersive, globally themed main-stage program features performances of all new commissions by prominent, internationally recognized jazz composers hailing from countries as diverse as, West Africa (Lionel Loueke), Israel (Omer Avital), Cuba (Yosvany Terry), Puerto Rico (Miguel Zenon), India (Rudresh Mahanthappa) and the United States (Marcus Strickland). Each unique composition is inspired by elements of both the American jazz tradition and the indigenous music of each composer’s respective country of origin.

Big Drum, Small World from JazzReach (2013).

Big Drum / Small World merges a broad range of musical ideas and celebrates artistic collaboration and stylistic amalgamation. Since its inception, jazz has always been an inclusive, unifying art form that has vividly reflected our collective national character and diverse cultural dynamism. In keeping with this tradition, Big Drum / Small World aspires to illuminate how jazz continues to unite us and exemplify our increasingly interdependent world.

About JazzReach

Established in 1994, JazzReach is a nationally recognized New York City-based 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, performance, creation and teaching of jazz music.

Through the presentation of innovative, widely acclaimed live multi-media educational programs for young audiences, captivating main-stage concerts for general audiences and informative clinics and master-classes for student musicians and ensembles, JazzReach is steadfastly dedicated to fostering a greater appreciation, awareness and understanding of this rich, vital, ever-evolving American art form.

Since premiering our debut educational program in 1997, JazzReach has successfully positioned itself as one of our nation's leading arts organizations dedicated to jazz. Our dynamic, innovative programs have triumphantly served over 650,000 young people nationwide in partnership with many of America's most prominent performing arts presenters and have received unanimous praise from students, teachers, parents, the media and arts professionals alike.

For more information, please visit https://www.jazzreach.org/.

Featuring Metta Quintet musicians:

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

The Acorn is proud to partner with Neighbor by Neighbor in hosting a food and hygiene drive at the theater. Throughout November and December, whenever you come out to The Acorn to attend an event, please consider contributing! Please find more information here.

JazzReach: Metta Quintet at The Acorn – Stolen Moments: The First 100 Years of Jazz

Wednesday, Nov. 29 | 7:00pm ET (6:00pm CT)

Nationally recognized New York City-based JazzReach comes to The Acorn for two days of educational and community programs! Working with River Valley Schools, the School of American Music and more, students will be offered daytime programming both at The Acorn and in the schools. Each day culminates with an evening concert featuring JazzReach’s renown Metta Quintet.

Please consider supporting this exciting educational opportunity for Harbor Country Area Students! By making a tax deductible donation to our JazzReach 2023 Campaign you can help to provide valuable funding for this program. Please click HERE to make a contribution.

JazzReach at The Acorn is presented with support from our community. We thank our sponsors:

Quarternote Lofts
3 Pillars Music

Night Two brings Stolen Moments: The First 100 Years of Jazz!

Stolen Moments is a thoroughly captivating and informative multi-media program that introduces audiences to jazz music's rich history and to the names, faces and music of some of its many masters.

JAZZREACH - Stolen Moments from JazzReach (2013).

On a broader level, Stolen Moments also highlights the interplay between the jazz movement and the evolution of American culture throughout the 20th Century, emphasizing the ways in which jazz has acted as a unifying force, bridging cultural, ethnic and economic differences; stimulated cultural fusions and new stylistic idioms; exemplified democratic ideals; and influenced other genres of music, both in the U.S. and abroad.

About JazzReach

Established in 1994, JazzReach is a nationally recognized New York City-based 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, performance, creation and teaching of jazz music.

Through the presentation of innovative, widely acclaimed live multi-media educational programs for young audiences, captivating main-stage concerts for general audiences and informative clinics and master-classes for student musicians and ensembles, JazzReach is steadfastly dedicated to fostering a greater appreciation, awareness and understanding of this rich, vital, ever-evolving American art form.

Since premiering our debut educational program in 1997, JazzReach has successfully positioned itself as one of our nation's leading arts organizations dedicated to jazz. Our dynamic, innovative programs have triumphantly served over 650,000 young people nationwide in partnership with many of America's most prominent performing arts presenters and have received unanimous praise from students, teachers, parents, the media and arts professionals alike.

For more information, please visit https://www.jazzreach.org/.

Featuring Metta Quintet musicians:

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

The Acorn is proud to partner with Neighbor by Neighbor in hosting a food and hygiene drive at the theater. Throughout November and December, whenever you come out to The Acorn to attend an event, please consider contributing! Please find more information here.

Bob Swan Celebration of Life

Sunday, Oct. 08 | 12:30pm ET (11:30am CT)

A Celebration of Life will take place October 8th, 12:30 to 5:30 PM at The Acorn in Three Oaks, Michigan with a table reading of Swan’s award-winning screenplay, The Saint and the Scoundrel, by award-winning actors Daniel J. Travanti and Si Osborne, with Holly Schroeder and Arnie Saks.
To RSVP to attend this Celebration of Life, click the “GET TICKETS” button at the bottom of this page.

Robert Swan, actor, award-winning screenwriter, producer, voiceover legend, operatic bass-baritone, and founder of Harbor Country Opera, best-known for his riveting performance as the Canadian Mountie in The Untouchables, Gene Hackman’s assistant coach in Hoosiers, and Jane Fonda’s friend in The Dollmaker, died peacefully in his sleep at 5:47 a.m., August 9th, in his Rolling Prairie, Indiana home after a long battle with cancer. This SAG/AFTRA member, born October 20th, 1944, made the lines, “Coach stays” in Hoosiers, and “I do not approve of your methods” in The Untouchables famous.

At the time of his passing, Swan had been looking for partners to turn his award-winning screenplay, The Saint and the Scoundrel, into a movie. The screenplay is about Samuel Johnson, the man who created one of the most important and famous books ever published…the first modern dictionary. Swan was saddened that most people had never heard of Johnson, even though his sculpted likeness is on display in Westminster Abbey, and, in St. Paul’s Cathedral you can find a bust of him as well as see where his body is interred. According to his biographer, James Boswell, this prolific and comedic conversationalist suffered most of his life with Tourette’s syndrome, Autism and difficulties with alcohol. As an actor, Swan was immediately drawn to Johnson’s story and relationship with Boswell and wondered why no one had ever made a feature film about him, so he wrote the screenplay with the hopes filmmakers will agree this story needs to be turned into a movie. Of course, Bob saw himself playing the role of Johnson but also thought Sir Anthony Hopkins or John Lithgow would serve this film well. To-date, the screenplay has received numerous awards domestic and abroad.

Swan was also working on a table reading of his screenplay featuring his close friends, Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy award-winning actor, Daniel J. Travanti as Samuel Johnson, award-winning actor, Si Osborne as James Boswell, accomplished actress, singer, comedienne, author and painter, Holly Schroeder as Marguerite, and actor, filmmaker, producer, director, Arnie Saks who, with Michael Dawson, won awards for restoring Orson Welle’s Othello, as narrator. To make that dream come true, the table reading, with this cast, is going to take place as part of the Celebration of Life party for Bob, October 8th, 2023, from 12:30 to 5:30 PM ET at The Acorn in Three Oaks, Michigan. The one hour/30 minute table read will begin at 1:15 PM ET.

“Bob’s screenplay The Saint and the Scoundrel is astonishing for several reasons,’ explained Holly Schroeder. “The most important one? Bob understood the physically flawed, verbose, brilliant Samuel Johnson because he was very much like him.”

“Samuel Johnson’s mind was inquisitive,” noted Si Osborne. “He was an eclectic intellect with an all-encompassing compassion, like Bob. I’m honored to be playing Boswell, because in life, playing Boswell to Swan’s Johnson is much like sitting in the surf and hoping you can keep your head above the waves. If it wasn’t for Boswell, Samuel Johnson wouldn’t be known at all. “

According to Arnie Saks, “Sam is erudite and articulate, like Bob.”

After the table reading, friends and family will share their stories on the stage that Swan often graced with his humor and beautiful operatic songs and acting. He, like so many, love The Acorn and the organizers of Bob’s celebration are deeply grateful they have donated their venue for this celebration of all things Robert Swan. Heartfelt thanks also go out to David Fink, the former owner of The Acorn and close friend to Swan. Fink will emcee the night, in honor of the many, times he, “had the pleasure and honor of introducing Bob at the numerous operas, shows and Christmas Galas he brought to Harbor Country, Michigan.”

A retrospective video of Swan’s career, created by his dear friends: radio personality/anti-bullying advocate, Betty Hoeffner, and radio DJ/musician, Anthony Pratscher, is viewable at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I–KzeDbME YES, that is Robert Swan singing opera on the soundtrack. For more information, go to RobertSwan.net.

To RSVP to attend this Celebration of Life, click the “GET TICKETS” button below.c

Shemekia Copeland with Nathan Graham: A New Year’s Eve Celebration

Sunday, Dec. 31 | 9:00pm ET (8:00pm CT)

The Acorn celebrates the New Year with award-winning blues, soul and Americana singer Shemekia Copeland. Soulful Nathan Graham opens the show with his full band.

“Shemekia Copeland is the greatest blues singer of her generation.” – The Washington Post

About the Artist:

Award-winning blues, soul and Americana singer Shemekia Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. She is beloved worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty and humor of her revelatory music, as well as for delivering each song she performs with unmatched passion. Copeland — winner of the 2021 Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year— connects with her audience on an intensely personal level, taking them with her on what The Wall Street Journal calls “a consequential ride” of “bold and timely blues.” NPR Music says Shemekia sings with “punchy defiance and potent conviction.” The Houston Chronicle describes her songs as “resilient pleas for a kinder tomorrow.”

On her new Alligator album, Done Come Too Far, Copeland continues the story she began telling on 2018’s groundbreaking America’s Child and 2020’s Grammy-nominated Uncivil War, reflecting her vision of America’s past, present and future. On Done Come Too Far, she delivers her hard-hitting musical truths through her eyes, those of a young American Black woman, a mother, and a wife. But she likes to have a good time too, and her music reflects that, at times putting her sly sense of humor front and center. “This album was made by all sides of me — happy, sad, silly, irate — they’re all a part who I am and who we all are. I’m not political. I’m just talking about what’s happening in this country.”

And she doesn’t hold back. Recorded in Nashville and produced by multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Will Kimbrough (who also produced her previous two albums), Done Come Too Far is Copeland at her charismatic, passionate, confrontational best. With singular purpose and simmering power, Copeland unleashes the searing, history-fueled tracks Too Far To Be Gone (featuring Sonny Landreth on scorching slide guitar) and Done Come Too Far (with Grammy-winner Cedric Burnside duetting and playing Mississippi Hill Country blues guitar). “If you think we’re stopping,” she sings in both songs, “you got it wrong.” On The Talk, Copeland shares the brutally honest, harrowing reality of a Black mother talking with her son about surviving an encounter with the police (with the great Charles Hodges of the famed Hi Rhythm Section on pulsating B-3 organ). On the all-t00-timely Pink Turns To Red (written and recorded prior to the May 2022 Uvalde, Texas school shooting), Copeland decries America’s gun violence epidemic.

Done Come Too Far’s better times and brighter days come on just as strong in the fun and swampy Fried Catfish And Bibles and the boot-kickin’, semi-autobiographical Fell In Love With A Honky. Spirits get lifted in Copeland’s celebratory interpretation of Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Barefoot In Heaven, before closing the set with the heartfelt love song, Nobody But You, written by her renowned father, the late Texas bluesman Johnny Clyde Copeland.

Copeland is used to the spotlight. Born and raised in Harlem, New York in 1979, she first stepped on stage with her famous father at New York’s Cotton Club when she was eight. As soon as Copeland released her Alligator Records debut Turn The Heat Up in 1998 at age 18, she instantly became a blues and R&B force to be reckoned with. The New York Times and CNN, among many others, praised her talent, larger-than-life personality, dynamic, authoritative voice and true star power. With each subsequent release, Copeland’s music continued to evolve. From her debut through 2005’s The Soul Truth, Shemekia earned eight Blues Music Awards and a host of Living Blues Awards. 2000’s Wicked received the first of her four Grammy nominations. After two successful releases on Telarc (including 2012’s Grammy-nominated 33 1/3), Copeland returned to Alligator Records in 2015 with the Grammy-nominated, Blues Music Award-winning Outskirts Of Love, melding blues with more rootsy, Americana sounds. 

With 2018’s America’s Child, Copeland, now the mother of a baby boy, sang about the blessings and curses of the world around her. MOJO magazine named America’s Child the #1 blues release of 2018. It won both the Blues Music Award and the Living Blues Award for Album Of The Year. AllMusic said, “Witty and sincere…Shemekia Copeland is one of the best singers in contemporary blues, not just for her voice but for her courage to use it to say something about American culture…showing good times and a social conscience can co-exist.”

In addition to earning a Grammy Award nomination (her fourth), Copeland’s groundbreaking 2020 release Uncivil War was named the 2020 Blues Album Of The Year by DownBeat, MOJO and Living Blues magazines. The album, like its predecessor, looked at the hardships and happiness people encounter, seeking common ground, demanding change and still finding ways to have a good time. “Shemekia Copeland is a powerhouse,” said Rolling Stone. “She can do no wrong.”

Copeland has performed thousands of gigs at clubs, festivals and concert halls all over the world, and has appeared in films, on national television, NPR, and has been the subject of major feature stories in hundreds of magazines, newspapers and internet publications. She’s sung with Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Dr. John, James Cotton and many others, and has shared a bill with The Rolling Stones. She entertained U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait in 2008, a trip she says, “that opened my eyes to the larger world around me and my place in it.” In 2012, she performed with B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Buddy Guy, Trombone Shorty, Gary Clark, Jr. and others at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama. She has showcased on PBS’s Austin City Limits and was the subject of a six-minute feature on the PBS News Hour.

Copeland was the subject of a recent Washington Post Sunday magazine story and appeared on both NPR’s Weekend Edition and Here And Now. And NPR’s Jazz Night In America recently aired an hour-long program featuring Copeland. In April 2022, she performed at the United Nations General Assembly Hall to a worldwide audience of millions as part of International Jazz Day celebrations. Copeland continues to host her own popular daily blues radio show on SiriusXM’s Bluesville.

But it’s not just press and radio singing Copeland’s praises. She is beloved by her fellow musicians across genres and demographics. Jeff Beck called her “amazing.” Carlos Santana said, “She’s incandescent…a diamond.” Bonnie Raitt told BBC radio, “Shemekia always knocks me out.” The late John Prine said, “She doesn’t sound like anybody else.” Mary Gauthier declared, “Shemekia is one of the great singers of our time. Her voice is nothing short of magic.” 

As for the continuing evolution of her music, Copeland is very clear. “Once my son was born,” she says, “I became even more committed to making the world a better place. On America’s Child, Uncivil War and now Done Come Too Far, I’ve been trying to put the ‘United’ back into United States. Friends, family and home, these things we all value.”

With Done Come Too Far, Copeland hits harder than ever with musically and lyrically adventurous songs and jaw-dropping performances that are at once timely and timeless. The Chicago Tribune’s famed jazz critic Howard Reich said, “Shemekia Copeland is the greatest female blues vocalist working today. She pushes the genre forward, confronting racism, hate, xenophobia and other perils of our time. Regardless of subject matter, though, there’s no mistaking the majesty of Copeland’s instrument, nor the ferocity of her delivery. Copeland reaffirms the relevance of the blues.”

About Nathan Graham:

When you think of a singer-songwriter, who comes to mind? Nathan Graham says it probably isn’t somebody who looks like he does, and he wants to change that.

Born and raised in Chicago, Graham meshes South Side Blues with Nashville Americana, beginning his career backing blues singers at famous haunts like Buddy Guy’s Legends and Kingston Mines. He spent a decade as a guitar-for-hire before picking up a mic to tell his own stories on the stage.

Soulful and steady, Graham’s music offers a raw introspective of the human condition that’s both painful and comforting. His guitar conveys heartbreak, lyrics tell stories of regret, but his rich vocal delivery offers the remedy.

Having brought his songs on international tours with both major label and indie acts, Graham is challenging the notion of what it means to be a singer-songwriter. He's driving inclusivity within the genre, and he hopes to evoke a sense of understanding in the process.

“I’m writing about universal experiences,” he says. “I’m writing music to connect my story to yours, show you all that we have in common, and maybe help both of us feel less alone.”

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Art at The Acorn – Artist Reception for Nicolina Holt: Been a Boy

Tuesday, Oct. 17 | 7:00pm ET (6:00pm CT)

The Acorn Center for the Performing Arts transforms into a visual art space with our initiative, Art at The Acorn. We are proud to welcome our new artist, Nicolina Holt and her exhibit Been a Boy.

The exhibition is a selection of framed photographs of women breaking societal norms, a celebration of women, and an urgency to continue to dismantle stereotypes and expectations.

Artist Reception is free and open to the public.

• Light bites | Cash bar
• Artist Talk and Q&A moderated by Janet Davies

Nicolina will also share a special body of work the night of the Artist Reception only – featuring photographs from her Irrelevant Series. This series focuses on the loss of the American dream and the imposed limitations of marginalized groups.

Registration for the free Artist Reception is encouraged. Please click the “Get Tickets” button at the bottom of this page to register.

Artist Statement:

Informed by my own experiences, my practice dismantles unforgiving cultural norms and power structures that shape traditional gender stereotypes and expectations. Through photography, mixed media, and video, I highlight the ongoing inequities that women face.

In my most recent work, Been a Boy, I deconstruct expected norms in the domestic and public space. The photographs are a symbol of empowerment for women. From a young girl playing football to a woman of color conducting an orchestra, these women break through gender stereotypes with confidence and grace. They are everyday heroes that have quietly stepped into these positions.

Beginning at an early age, my notion of gender roles was formed through my cultural heritage, media, and community. Education was emphasized but so was ‘finding a man that could take care of you.’ Go to college, get your degree, and then stay home to cook, clean, and take care of the kids. Women have long been confined to domestic roles. In my video piece for Been a Boy, these inequities take center stage, along with the unrealistic beauty standards that are expected of women. The video incorporates current headlines that emphasize the contemporary nature of these ongoing issues.

Been a Boy addresses the need for continued awareness of the oppression of women in the home and the public sphere, but most importantly, it is a celebration of the women that break the glass ceiling.

About the Artist

Nicolina Holt is a photographer and mixed media artist based in Southwest Michigan. She earned a B.F.A. in Studio Art with a concentration in photography and graphic design from Michigan State University and her M.F.A. in Visual Arts from Lesley University. After working as a photojournalist for several years, she returned to school to obtain her teacher certification in Art Education from Western Michigan University. She taught photography for 10 years at Lake Michigan College while also running her own photography business. She continues her fine art photography while working as the Graduate and Undergraduate Coordinator for the Art Department at the University of Notre Dame. She resides in St. Joseph, MI with her family. Her work has been exhibited at Soho Photo Gallery, Agora Gallery, Woman Made Gallery, ARC Gallery, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Bridgeport Art Center, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Holland Arts Council, Old Courthouse Arts Center, and more.

PureSoul Presents: A Merry Motown Christmas

Saturday, Nov. 25 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas”, "Someday At Christmas" by Stevie Wonder, The Temptations take on "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" – All the best holiday songs are Soul songs as far as we’re concerned. Come join us as PureSoul Presents an epic night of dancing, drinking, and singing-along to classic holiday fare with a back beat. Expect to hear classic songs from the Motown-era and funky holiday classics guaranteed to make you groove as singer Cameron Webb returns to the Acorn theater for a tribute performance that will kick off the Holiday Season and set your soul free!

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

The Acorn is proud to partner with Neighbor by Neighbor in hosting a food and hygiene drive at the theater. Throughout November and December, whenever you come out to The Acorn to attend an event, please consider contributing! Please find more information here.

The Ides of March Christmas Show featuring Jim Peterik

Saturday, Dec. 02 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

The Ides Of March Christmas show is really 2 shows in one. The first half features the Ides' distinctive original Christmas songs, mixed with choice traditional Carols. Each member of the band is featured, including the Ides stellar Brass section. Mostly "unplugged," the tunes weave a warm Christmas/Holiday vibe – sometimes humorous, sometimes spiritual, but always entertaining and full of the Season's cheer. The second half of the show is pure rock and roll, with a mix of Ides favorites and the top-ten hits Jim Peterik is famous for, including "Vehicle," "Hold On Loosely" and "The Eye Of The Tiger."

Since 1964 Chicago’s IDES OF MARCH has thrilled audiences throughout the United States and Canada with their mix of rocking guitars, brilliant brass, and heartfelt vocals. Powered by the unforgettable songs of Grammy-Winner Jim Peterik, their music has become an evergreen feature on radio stations everywhere, in movie soundtracks, and national advertising campaigns. Their live shows are legendary for their energy and sheer enjoyment.

Defying the odds, the four original members, Jim Peterik-Guitar, Larry Millas-Guitar, Bob Bergland-Bass, and Mike Borch-Drums have remained together, weaving their way through the shifts in popular music, and always rising to action in creating a show that remains at the peak of entertainment. The original members are joined by Scott May-Keyboards, Tim Bales- Trumpet, Henry Salgado-Trombone, and Steve Eisen-Saxophone.

That show has become a cornucopia of platinum hits, starting with the Ides’ own immortal “Vehicle”. Upon its release in April of 1970, the brass-driven tale of the “friendly stranger in the black sedan” became Warner Brother’s fastest selling single of all time, and to this very moment is played daily on radio stations throughout the world. It has become one of those rare chestnuts that no matter how many times you hear it, one never tires in its listening. In contrast to “Vehicle’s” power, lies the lush vocal harmonies of the Ides’ “L.A. Goodbye”, the centerpiece of the unplugged mini-set inside each Ides Of March concert. Their 1965 debut single “You Wouldn’t Listen” harkens back to the British invasion of the time. It is astounding to hear the band so nimbly returning to its roots, summoning the voices of their youth.

Jim Peterik’s songs have garnered 18 top 10 Billboard spots and have sold over 30 million copies, earning him a Grammy, People’s Choice award, an Oscar nomination, and multiple Gold and Platinum RIAA commendations. These songs are among everyone’s favorites, and are all instantly recognizable.

His collaborations with “.38 Special”, “Caught Up In You”, “Hold On Loosely”, and “Rockin’ Into The Night” (to name a few) vaulted to the top of the charts. These songs have transcended genres over the years, becoming as beloved by Country Music fans as Rockers, and appealing throughout the ages from Bobby Soxers to Baby Boomers to Millenials.

Formerly of “Survivor”, Jim co-wrote all their smash hits such as “The Search Is Over”, “Is This Love”, “High On You”, and “I Can’t Hold Back”; and yes, Jim co-wrote “The Eye Of The Tiger”, one of the most popular songs of all time.

All of these songs and more are featured in the Ides Of March set, making it a non-stop juggernaut of everyone’s favorite tunes, a tour of the American Music Songbook touching on multiple genres ringing memories as only hit songs can. Led by Jim (with his trademark purple hair), their energetic stage presence and unmistakable charisma draws you in, leaving you with a smile. Further, their humble and dignified presence off-stage has earned them a bonafide respect among promoters, producers and professionals from coast to coast.

Chicago’s very own “THE IDES OF MARCH”, for over 50 years, an irresistible favorite.

GREAT GOD IN HEAVEN YOU KNOW THEY LOVE YOU!

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

The Acorn is proud to partner with Neighbor by Neighbor in hosting a food and hygiene drive at the theater. Throughout November and December, whenever you come out to The Acorn to attend an event, please consider contributing! Please find more information here.

The Bergamot - A South Shore Christmas

Friday, Dec. 08 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Back in Three Oaks just in time for the holidays, The Bergamot presents "A South Shore Christmas," a night of festive music and storytelling where founding members Nathaniel Hoff and Jillian Speece warm the hearts of listeners with songs and stories of inspiration and hope. Fans can expect to hear uplifting Christmas favorites like "Carol of the Bells," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and Bergamot originals from their critically acclaimed albums "Far Out" and "Mayflies." Building quite a fan base in the region, it's easy to see why People Magazine called The Bergamot, "The hottest emerging music talent."

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $25 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

The Acorn is proud to partner with Neighbor by Neighbor in hosting a food and hygiene drive at the theater. Throughout November and December, whenever you come out to The Acorn to attend an event, please consider contributing! Please find more information here.