"Fine performances featuring... unadorned music that speaks volumes about the reality of living in the rural Midwest"  - Barry Cloyd - Arts Alive!

Chris is an outstanding roots musician, performer and raconteur, former public Radio show host and Archaeologist turned folk singer. Quite a mouthful to say the least. 

He is a regular performer in the Mississippi excursion riverboat "Twilight", former home to such renowned performers as the late John Hartfordd and the ever entertaining Art Thieme. The

  Twilight takes you on a beautiful two day adventure on the    Mississippi River from Le Claire, IA up to historic Dubuque, IA

  and then back the next day. Click here for details about the 

  trip and see Chris's Schedule for performance dates.

  Chris also hosts and produces the Hickory Ridge Concert          Series every third Saturday of the month. This is an acoustic    music concert series held in a 140 seat auditorium at the

  Dickson Mounds Museum near Lewistown, that is entering

  it's 20th year.

Along with Concerts and Festival performances, Chris also has a number of specialized programs.

Abraham Lincoln in Song

Endorsed by the Illinois Lincoln Bicentennial Commission

The life of Abraham Lincoln spanned a period of change, growth and struggle in our young nation, and the music of his era movingly characterizes these remarkable times. From his days as a flat-boater, through his time at New Salem, his years as a circuit lawyer and on up through his presidency, Lincoln's life is a microcosm of the development of Illinois during that period.

Abraham Lincoln in Song helps shed light on one of history's most beloved figures ? not only as a remarkable leader, but as a man ? who knew and loved many of these very songs himself. Special emphasis is placed on showing Lincoln 's unique bond with the common man and his desire for reconciliation, not revenge. It is an extensively researched, historically accurate program Chris uses period music Lincoln may well have known and sung, and Lincoln 's own stories to illustrate his life and put it into context.

The show is designed to be an interactive, accessible, program that educates as well as entertains. It covers Lincoln 's life from his birth on the big south fork of Nolan's Creek in Kentucky in 1809 through his death in 1865. It has been performed in association with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, The Lincoln Home National Historic site and various touring exhibits including Forever Free from the Huntington Library. Abraham Lincoln in Song has recently been endorsed by the Illinois Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. The show works well for both school audiences (grade 3 and up) and adult audiences.

Roots of of Rural Music

Illinois is unique among all the states in that its access to the major waterways of the Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois Rivers as well as the Great Lakes made it a virtual crossroads of peoples, cultures and ideas. As railroads surpassed the rivers as a means of transportation, Illinois would become the Central hub for the nation's rails. This mingling of people produced a rich body of roots music which paints a colorful portrait of our heritage and gives detailed insight into the people and times that forged the state we have become.

Chris draws on his experiences as a music collector and performer of the songs of rural America; from the first pioneers through the era of Steamboats, trains and early radio.   Vallillo brings this rich heritage to life in a lively performance and discussion of roots music and its impact on our lives today while performing on a fine collection of vintage instruments.

                                        Ellisville Opera House

Folk Music and Folk Musicians of Central Illinois

In 1986, in association with the Illinois Arts Council and the Library of Congress, Chris Vallillo carried out a project to interview the last of the pre-radio generation and to collect their oral histories and music. The master tapes and transcripts from that project are now part of the Folklife Collection in the Library of Congress.

In a musical program and commentary, he brings to life the stories and performs the music of people from rural Illinois in the late 19th century. He includes a brief description of the collecting process and performs a selection of the material he documented.

Folk Music For Little Folks

In this engaging and entertaining performance, Vallillo presents a folk musical performance geared towards younger audiences. Chris introduces and discusses traditional Illinois folk music and performs on the guitar, resonator slide guitar, Jew's Harp and an 1880's hammered dulcimer.  Educational, interactive and fun!

Funding Assistance

Funding assistance is available to not for profit organizations through the Illinois Arts Councils' Artstour program (up to 50%) and for extended residencies, the Artists In Education program. Out of state programs may be eligible for partial funding through the Performing Arts Fund of Arts Midwest. They cover 20% of fee's and funding is on a first-come, first-served basis.

A limited number of performance per year are also made available through the Illinois Humanities Councils' Road Scholars program. These outstanding programs can make it possible to bring Chris Vallillo to your community at

a greatly reduced fee!