An American Prayer: A Tribute to the Doors w/ Lost Pyramids

Saturday, Sep. 27 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

An American Prayer is America's most authentic tribute to The Doors offering a high-energy concert experience celebrating Jim Morrison and The Doors in their prime.

About the Artists:

An American Prayer is America's most authentic tribute to The Doors offering a high-energy concert experience celebrating Jim Morrison and The Doors in their prime. Founded in 2013 in Chicago by lead vocalist Rick Lisak, An American Prayer has become one of the most sought after bands in the country. Go back in time to Los Angeles in the 1960s, and experience the atmosphere around Venice Beach as one of the most prolific, controversial, and influential rock bands of the era is reborn for a 21st Century audience. Experience the sounds that changed a generation.

Tickets for this event will go on sale on Tuesday, June 24 at 10am ET.

Please note Week of Show price increases by $5 per ticket.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Alastair Watt - Small Town City Boy: A Pure Michigan Stand-Up Comedy Tour

Friday, Sep. 26 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Stand-up comic Alastair Watt brings his Small Town City Boy Comedy Tour to The Acorn in Three Oaks for a night of sharp, fearless, small-town laughs!

About the Artist:

Join comedian and master storyteller Alastair Watt and friends for a night of big laughs in a small-town gem. Raised on a steady diet of slap bracelets, smoking inside, and VHS tapes, Watt brings the hilarity of the '90s into the modern world, navigating the chaos of new parenthood, losing parents, and life’s gloriously awkward moments with uncomfortable honesty and punchlines that hit harder than a toddler’s tantrum.

With a unique ability to blend mania, nostalgia, and charm, Alastair turns everyday experiences into side-splitting tales anyone can relate to.

Alastair has been seen and featured at The Second City, I.O. Chicago, The Annoyance, The Laugh Factory, and multiple comedy festivals. TV credits include appearances on Chicago P.D., Chicago Med., Chicago Fire, and even The Weather Channel.

Small Town City Boy: A Pure Michigan Stand-Up Comedy Tour also features Katrina McEntee, Sarah Wooley, Zaq Weaver and Maxwell Tidey with special guest Brittany Devon.

Please note Week of Show price increases by $5 per ticket.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Dustbowl Revival

Friday, Sep. 19 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Dustbowl Revival’s ever-evolving collective has become a beloved fixture of the Americana community, playing a spicy cocktail of folky-funk or booty-shaking jangly rock n’ soul: expertly mixing their New Orleans-tinted brass section with their signature Laurel Canyon harmonies and fearless lyrics.

About the Artist:

How do you describe genre-defying roots music adventurers Dustbowl Revival? Even tireless founder and lead songwriter Z. Lupetin would agree you have to come to a show to find out. Going strong into their second decade after starting from a humble Craigslist ad posted in bohemian Venice Beach, some would say Dustbowl’s ever-evolving collective (there have been nearly thirty members!) plays a spicy cocktail of folky-funk or booty-shaking jangly rock n’ soul: expertly mixing their New Orleans-tinted brass section with their signature Laurel Canyon harmonies and fearless lyrics.

While most bands stay in one lane or fade away quickly, Dustbowl Revival is a testament to building a fanbase and their own sound the old-fashioned way, with hard work and moving songs that stick to your bones when you leave the concert. There’s a reason they continue to get written up in Rolling Stone and Billboard and get played on AAA radio 16 years after they set sail.

After releasing seven acclaimed albums starting in 2008, including their beloved live record With A Lampshade On (2015) recorded mostly at their LA homebase the famed Troubadour, and their charting self-titled record (2017) produced by Grammy-winner Ted Hutt (Flogging Molly, Old Crow Medicine Show), perhaps their magnum opus is 2020’s deeply personal Is It You, Is It Me - produced by Sam Kassirer (Lake Street Dive, Josh Ritter). It showcases their penchant for orchestral brass and intricate string work with politically-charged story-songs that unfold like mini-movies. It’s not surprising that Z. Lupetin was an award-winning playwright and screenwriter before music took the reins. “Get Rid Of You”, an ode to the courageous kids in Parkland, FL who stood up to demand common-sense control laws be passed is a heart-wrenching staple of each show.

While staying proudly independent, the band has garnered over ten million streams and counting - with romantic jams like “Honey, I Love You” (featuring bluesmaster Keb’ Mo’) and fan favorites like “Sonic Boom” and “Debtors Prison” leading the charge. Many first learned about the band after the now 98-year old legend (and fan of the group) Dick Van Dyke let the gang shoot a music video with him dancing in his signature straw hat at his house - and of course the quirky jam to “Never Had To Go” went viral.

It hasn’t always been easy - being a 7-8 piece band during the upheaval caused by the pandemic did make some in the band move on - but it also brought in a new supercharged group of amazing players - such as Lashon Halley and more recently Alex Nester on vocals, Chad Richard on electric guitar and Nick Phakpiseth on bass, while still featuring longtime brass players like Ulf Bjorlin, Vikram Devasthali, Joakim Toftgaard, Mike Jones, Max O’leary, and original drummer Josh Heffernan and special guest Michael Villiers to round out the band. Even their original lady singer Caitlin Doyle, who joined after one of the original Craigslist ads went live all those years ago - is back in the fold behind the mic.

After throwing five of their own Sway At Home Festivals during the pandemic to keep the joy going, and creating their own in person gathering Sonic Boom Fest in the hills above Malibu, 2022 and 2023 brought fresh music with their Set Me Free EP and highly-playlisted folk singles “Beside You” and “The Exception” which the features Grammy-nominated The Secret Sisters. Lupetin became a dad and nearly lost his wife too and the track “Be (For July)” and its emotional music video brought in new listeners from around the globe.

Long known for their knock-out festival performances which often spill off the stage into the crowd - recent notable appearances at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, Rhythm N Roots in Rhode Island, Waterfront Blues in Portland, The Cambridge Folk Fest in England and Tonder Festival in Denmark highlight a few of their favorite stops - not to mention their state-department tour of China which prompted a funny mini documentary on Youtube.

In 2019 the group completed a successful run of performing art centers paying homage to their heroes in The Band and in 2024-2025 Dustbowl is embarking on a new run of theaters and festivals showcasing the music of LA’s Laurel Canyon. A brassy Beatles cover will come this fall followed by a new record of originals slated for early 2025 - recorded in a cabin studio in Wisconsin with noted engineer Brian Joseph (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens).

However you sip their sound, Dustbowl Revival has become a beloved fixture of the Americana community - from playing tiny speakeasies and pubs around their southern California base, to headlining thousands of shows in ten countries and counting. Indeed, founder Z. Lupetin’s quixotic Craigslist ad hoping to find like-minded music-makers to play songs inspired equally by Wilco, Bob Dylan and Springsteen as Nina Simone, Fleetwood Mac and Bill Withers may seem confusing, but somehow it worked.

“Maybe we don’t know where this journey will take us or how long it will last,” acknowledges Lupetin, “That’s my take on the importance of what we try to do. Music elevates us, lifts us up, makes us change our minds, takes us out of our comfort zones. If just one person can be moved by just one song, that’s enough.”

Please note Week of Show price increases by $5 per ticket.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Peach Jam – A Tribute to The Allman Brothers Band

Saturday, Sep. 13 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Peach Jam is a collective of some of the best musicians Chicago has to offer celebrating the music of the legendary Allman Brothers Band – these players will transport you back in time to the Fillmore East and keep you moving all night long.

About the Artist:

Peach Jam is a collective of some of the best musicians Chicago has to offer celebrating the music of the legendary Allman Brothers Band. Formed in 2022, these players will transport you back in time to the Fillmore East and keep you moving all night long. Peach Jam brings together members of Chicago mainstays Cornmeal, Terrapin Flyer, Old Shoe, Helping Phriendly Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Charmers for a cosmic gumbo of hot jams, tight grooves, soaring vocal harmonies, and down-home blues that’ll make a believer out of any ABB fan. “People can you feel it? Love is everywhere!”

Please note Week of Show price increases by $5 per ticket.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Ann Hampton Callaway

Saturday, Aug. 16 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Ann Hampton Callaway is one of America’s most gifted artists in pop and jazz. A leading champion of the great American Songbook, she’s made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host, and producer.

About the Artist:

Ann Hampton Callaway is one of America’s most gifted artists in pop and jazz. A leading champion of the great American Songbook, she’s made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host, and producer. Voted by Broadwayworld.com as “Celebrity of the Year” and two years in a row as “Best Jazz Vocalist,” Ann is a born entertainer. She is best known for her Tony-nominated performance in the hit Broadway musical Swing! and for writing and singing the theme song to the hit TV series The Nanny. She made her feature film debut opposite Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon in the Robert De Niro film The Good Shepherd. Callaway is a multi-platinum award selling songwriter whose songs are featured on seven of Barbra Streisand’s recent albums. She’s recorded 83 albums as a soloist and guest, and her latest critically acclaimed recording, Finding Beauty: Originals Volume 1, debuted at #1 on iTunes Jazz. Ann’s honors include The Theater World Award, 17 MAC Awards, several Bistro Awards, The Mabel Mercer Award, The Johnny Mercer Award for Songwriting, The Blanton Peale Award for Positive Thinking, and her induction into The Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Please note Week of Show price increases by $5 per ticket.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Anders Osborne featuring Brad Walker with special guest Andy Sydow

Saturday, Jul. 26 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Guitar Player called Anders Osborne “the poet laureate of Louisiana’s fertile roots music scene.” New Orleans' Gambit Weekly has honored Osborne as the Entertainer of The Year. OffBeat named him the Crescent City’s Best Guitarist on three occasions, and the Best Songwriter twice.

About the Artist:

Anders Osborne was born in 1966 in Uddevalla, Sweden and at a young age knew that he spoke the language of music and poetry well. He fell in love with everything from Vivaldi, Chopin and Black Sabbath to Robert Johnson, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and Cat Steven’s to John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan and Bob Marley. “Blues connected everything together for me," Osborne recalls. "The early rock, the R&B, the jazz, the singer-songwriters. Blues was like a thread running through everything." He began playing in open D tuning which gives his fretwork a signature sound and feel. "I first heard Open D on Joni Mitchell's Blue, and my fingers just fit the tuning.” Osborne travelled around Europe in his late teens and in 1986, when he was nineteen years old, he visited New Orleans. He fell in love with the city, and never left.

Osborne released his first album Doin’ Fine in 1989 and as would be the case on is future releases, he wrote virtually all of the material. His songs have also appeared on recordings of other artists including two he co-wrote with Keb Mo for the latter’s Grammy winning Slow Down, and Tim McGraw’s number one Country hit Watch The Wind Blow By. Others who have recorded Osborne’s songs include Brad Paisley, Aaron Neville, and Trombone Shorty.

After living and performing there for almost four decades Osborne has become a fixture of the New Orleans musical community. Guitar Player called him “the poet laureate of Louisiana’s fertile roots music scene.” New Orleans' Gambit Weekly has honored Osborne as the Entertainer of The Year. OffBeat named him the Crescent City’s Best Guitarist on three occasions, and the Best Songwriter twice. He has appeared at Jazz Fest for 35 years and will perform at the festival again in 2024.

In addition to his solo shows, Osborne has performed with the North Mississippi All Stars with whom he recorded the album Freedom and Dreams in 2015. He has also toured with and played with Toots and the Maytals, John Scofield to The Meters, No Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Stanton Moore Phil Lesh, Jackie Greene Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John and Taj Mahal. Osborne appeared as himself in an episode of the HBO series Treme and he has taught a course about art and the music business at Tulane University. Since 2019, Osborne has collaborated with Steve Earle at the annual Camp Copperhead songwriting camp.

Osborne works closely with the “Send Me A Friend” foundation and through writing music for New Orleans Children’s Museum. He has additionally worked closely with Million Strong, Love Rocks NYC, Stand Together, Trombone Shorty Foundation and Phoenix.

About the Album

On his 17th full-length album, singer-songwriter Anders Osborne describes Picasso’s Villa, “a condensed story about living in America between 2018-2021, the fears, confusion, deep joy and peace achieved through true friendship, family, community, hours of meditation and detachment from ego.

“Bewildered,” the first track released from the album, is an impressionistic reflection on four decades of American politics and culture, from the Reagan era through the digital world of the twenty-first century. Osborne says, “Bewildered began as an exercise in historical observation but it was engaging in a fun way to deep dive into the stories of the past that created instant cultural shifts. All these basic human rights issues have been made into divisive political issues. But at the core of everything is the bewilderment of suffering and the basic human longing for bliss. We are all playing a divine, eternal game with Brahman, this world's duality prevents good nor bad from prevailing. We are bewildered and beguiled by love and fear.”

The song “Dark Decatur Love” describes a time in Osborne’s early twenties when he was living and working down in the French Quarter of New Orleans, “I was feeling very sentimental and missing my youth. It brought me back to a very romantic time. There were five or six years in the lower French Quarter where we had started our own little scene of artists, pool sharks, and dancers that all congregated together there. All we thought about every day was being ourselves—trying on different costumes to discover who we were, seeking for truth in the darkest places. It was a joyful exercise in reminiscing in a beautiful way.”

The song “Le Grand Zombie” is Osborne’s response and tribute to the passing and influence of his friend and New Orleans legend Dr. John. The title song of Picasso’s Villa evokes the lives and work of legendary as a vehicle to express some of the contradictions of a musician’s life (Osborne is also a prolific painter himself). “Picasso’s Villa attempts to describe the music business and the jester like role performing musicians have. We’re a currency used, adjudicated, negotiated, transacted, valued and sometimes discarded.”

The album was recorded in New Orleans with an all-star cast of backing musicians, including guitarist Waddy Wachtel, drummer Chad Cromwell bassist and Bob Glaub. Sonically, the album captures a balance between the heavy, Crazy Horse-inspired rock present in Osborne’s live shows, while simultaneously leaning into the more contemplative singer-songwriter roots that inspired his music from the very beginning. “My process is so rough and free form,” Osborne explains, “but on this record, we managed to capture all that dirt with the right amount of polish on it.”

For Osborne, who has been in a twelve-step program for fifteen years, “The biggest change in getting sober was the focus on meditation and prayer, just looking more inward. When I’m sleeping in 140 different beds a year, eating unhealthy foods, the meditation is what keeps me centered. Holding myself in that sacred space for a while is what makes it possible for me to do all this.”

Please note Week of Show price increases by $5 per ticket.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Terrapin Flyer: A Tribute To Grateful Dead

Friday, Aug. 15 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

For the past 25 years Terrapin Flyer has been touring with the finest in the Grateful Dead community of musicians and has become a fixture of the national music scene, playing regularly at venues around the country and appearing at music festivals.

About The Artists:

Terrapin Flyer has a dedicated following among fans of the Grateful Dead and other jam bands, and is known for their authentic interpretations of rare and classic Dead songs. Over the years, Terrapin Flyer has toured with many notable musicians, including Melvin Seals from the Jerry Garcia Band, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten from the Grateful Dead and many other Dead-related musicians. Overall, Terrapin Flyer is a talented and highly regarded band that has made a significant impact on the national music scene.

It started in 1999 at the Boulevard Cafe in Chicago as a Grateful Dead jam night and soon became a touring Grateful Dead band featuring legends in the Grateful Dead. In 2001 TF began touring with final keyboardist of the Grateful Dead Vince Welnick. In 2004 touring with Melvin Seals who played Hammond organ in the Jerry Garcia Band. And then in 2006 with another of the Grateful Dead keyboardists Tom Constanten. Some of these tours included several first ever lineups with the combination of Melvin Seals, Tom Constanten and Mark Karan from Ratdog. These were not passing associations but long term bonds with these legends. For 15 years TF toured with Melvin Seals and kept a busy schedule with him as a side gig to his band Melvin Seals & the JGB. With Constanten they were mentioned in the Rolling Stone's "Guide to the Grateful Dead" for the many years of touring with him.

Terrapin Flyer has been an evolution of band members over the past quarter of a century and currently features musicians that share the gravitas of having toured many years with members of the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band. At its core Terrapin Flyer is a band of deadheads who are committed to attempting to recapture the spirit and essence of the Grateful Dead by incorporating the roots music of jazz, blues and bluegrass into jams and bringing the music to new and similar places. Josh Olken is the lead guitarist, Wavy Dave on the bass, Jon Reed is the drummer, keyboardist is Michael Cole and rhythm guitarist Doug Hagman.

Please note Week of Show price increases by $5 per ticket.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Art at The Acorn: Open House for Tom Eslinger – Dance With Me In The Disco Heat

Saturday, Jul. 12 | 12:00pm ET (11:00am 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, Tom Eslinger, and his exhibit Dance With Me In The Disco Heat.

Please join us for an Open House with the Artist on Saturday, July 12th from noon to 2pm ET with an Artist Talk and Q&A at 1:00pm ET.

Artist Tom Eslinger combines his experience as a giant of international advertising with his pop sensibilities to create pieces that engage, entertain and enthrall his collectors, creating one-of-a-kind artworks combining his lifetime obsessions with music, typography and stickers. Tom’s design work can be found in the Permanent Design Collection of New York’s MOMA as well as the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Collection.

The Open House is free and open to the public.

• Artist Talk and Q&A moderated by Janet Davies
• Cash bar available
• Doors open at 12pm noon ET

About the Artist:

Artist Tom Eslinger combines his experience as a giant of international advertising with his pop sensibilities to create pieces that engage, entertain and enthrall his collectors. Following a rockstar career as Global Creative Director for Saatchi & Saatchi as well as Burson Marsteller and five-time Cannes Lions Jurist (twice as Jury President), Tom creates one-of-a-kind artworks combining his lifetime obsessions with music, typography and stickers. Tom’s design work can be found in the Permanent Design Collection of New York’s MOMA as well as the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Collection.

Tom studied at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD) and counts Charles Spencer Anderson and Scott Makela as his mentors and great influences. Tom maintains residences in Chicago and New York City, continues to consult for select brands and is a Professor of Communications at Columbia College Chicago.

Artist Statement

In this new series, I’m diving deep into my colorful childhood and teenage experience, drawing inspiration from a kaleidoscope of influences that span decades. Imagine the sensory overload of my childhood full of a disco singles collection, the rebellious thrill of sneaking peeks at David Bowie and Sylvester's tantalizing late-night TV performances, seeing gay men holding hands in public on a family vacation in California and more recently, scrolling through the vivid, sordid and often heart-breaking stories captured in the Gay New York of the 1970s and ‘80s Facebook Group. Memories layered, rewatched and rediscovered on the internet and social media, remixed and redrawn through my life experience decades later: this work is me figuring out how that little kid took all that in and where all of those ideas and memories will and should go next.

Red Wanting Blue

Saturday, Aug. 09 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Hailed as “Midwestern rock heroes” by American Songwriter, Red Wanting Blue has spent the better part of last three decades on the road, blazing their own unique trail through the American heartland as they built up a legion of lifelong fans through a relentless work ethic and raucous, life-affirming live show.

About the Artists:

Hailed as “Midwestern rock heroes” by American Songwriter, Red Wanting Blue has spent the better part of last three decades on the road, blazing their own unique trail through the American heartland as they built up a legion of lifelong fans through a relentless work ethic and raucous, life-affirming live show. Along the way, the band notched appearances everywhere from Letterman to NPR, garnered praise from the likes of Rolling Stone and Esquire, and climbed to #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, all while operating largely outside of the confines of the traditional music industry.

Recorded in the band’s native Ohio and produced for the first time by the quintet itself, Red Wanting Blue’s latest album, Light It Up, marks the start of a distinctly new chapter for the indie rock stalwarts, one built on complete and total creative liberation. Equally gritty and uplifting, the collection is a larger-than-life ode to hope and perseverance, a celebration of the fire we carry within and the commitment that keeps us going even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The songs are all interconnected here, woven together through intros and outros and interludes that propel them through the dark of night, and the performances are as muscular as they are meticulous, fueled by addictive hooks and exhilarating instrumental work that shines on an even footing with frontman Scott Terry’s rich and magnetic vocals. More than any other record in the Red Wanting Blue catalog, Light It Up captures the spirit and the camaraderie of a band that’s built its entire career on the road, discovering (and rediscovering) itself one exultant, joyous, communal night at a time.

Red Wanting Blue is:
Scott Terry (Vocals, Tenor Guitar, Ukulele)
Mark McCullough (Bass, Chapman Stick, Vocals)
Greg Rahm (Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals)
Eric Hall (Guitar, Lap Steel, Vocals)
Dean Anshutz (Drums & Percussion)

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.

Exclusive Offer! Red Wanting Blue is offering a limited number of VIP Soundcheck upgrades for this show. Please note VIP Upgrades do not include entrance to the show and show tickets must still be purchased separately. The Light It Up Summer 2025 VIP “Soundcheck Sit In” Upgrade Package includes access to sit in on the band’s soundcheck, a signed concert poster, and early access to Red Wanting Blue merch. This exclusive VIP Upgrade Package can be viewed and purchased here.

Rocks Off: A Tribute to The Rolling Stones

Saturday, Aug. 30 | 8:00pm ET (7:00pm CT)

Rocks Off is Chicago's premier and authentic Rolling Stones tribute, delivering the music, the look, and the attitude of the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band!

About the Artists:

Rocks Off is Chicago's premier and authentic Rolling Stones tribute, delivering the music, the look, and the attitude of the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band! Whether it be deep album cuts or your favorite live version, Rocks Off captures the Jagger moves, Keef riffs, Charlie Watts' groove, and the blazing Mick Taylor solos from their early-seventies golden era. Satisfaction – it goes without saying – is guaranteed.

RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.