Two Way Street Coffee House – Buddy Mondlock

Two Way Street Coffee House is Chicagoland’s most beloved folk and acoustic music venue, presenting weekly concerts and community events for over 50 years!  The show starts at 8pm (CT) and the doors open at 7:30pm. (Suggested donation $10).  We will also host this concert virtually.  You may access the livestream on www.twowaystreet.org, on our Facebook page or on our YouTube channel.

On Friday, November 15, 2024 Two Way Street Coffee House Friday Night Concert Series presents Buddy Mondlock.

Buddy Mondlock writes songs. He does it so well that some great songwriters have recorded his songs on their own albums. Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, and Janis Ian, to name just a few. You mightʼve heard his song “The Kid” (recorded by David Wilcox, Peter, Paul and Mary and Cry, Cry, Cry) and maybe even sung it yourself around a campfire. He draws you into his world – where a single snowflake follows the trajectory of a relationship, where you get you pocket picked by a Roman cat, where you might swim over the edge of the world if youʼre not careful and where dreams that donʼt come true still count.

His new CD, “The Memory Wall,” was funded entirely by fans, friends and family through a Kickstarter campaign. “I had no idea if this would work or not,” he says. “I was overwhelmed by the support I got and even more by the sense of community that came out of it.” This, his sixth release, draws on some veteran Nashville musicians including Dan Dugmore, Stuart Duncan and Kenny Malone. He even played a little banjo on it himself. The album has a rootsier feel to it with pedal steel, dobro, fiddle and mandolin adding to his acoustic guitar and beautiful vocal harmonies from Melissa Greener and Celeste Krenz. Bass work was shared by his long time accompanist on the road, Mike Lindauer and upright acoustic player Bryn Davies. After 25 years of living there you can finally hear the Nashville on this one. “Iʼve been wanting to make this record for a long time,” says Buddy.

When Buddyʼs not on the road you can find him in Nashville but he grew up in Park Forest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He didnʼt have a troubled childhood. His parents were nice to him. They paid for guitar lessons when he was ten and they never said, “when are you going to get a real job?” He sang Crosby, Stills and Nash songs with his sisters and answered his little brotherʼs questions from the top bunk. A few years away at college puzzling over Homer and Plato and then he was back. Living in the big city this time and playing open mics at Chicagoʼs crucible for songwriters in those days, the famed Earl of Old town. He once opened for the amazing Steve Goodman there on New Yearʼs Eve. Buddy was 21. Says he could have walked out of there that night and gotten hit by a bus and he wouldnʼt have felt like life cheated him at all.

If you can’t join us in person, you can still tune in virtually to catch the show! Make your donation HERE to Buddy.  Visit www.twowaystreet.org for more information.