Barbara Silverman, alias “folk festival in a box,” has performed in concerts, festivals and workshops all over our land. Dubbed a stunning vocalist by the Old Time Herald, she displays an engaging presence, bluesy vocals, clever originals, solid swing guitar, piano back-up and wild washboard pyrotechnics, and is also a proclaimed master teacher of music and dance.
 

Barb’s renowned Laketown Buskers jug band captivated the iconic “Prairie Home Companion” and countless Midwest fests. She has appeared in award winning bands in West Virginia and Colorado; clogged on The Studs Terkel Show; frequented prominent Chicago folk clubs; shared stages with Emmy Lou Harris, Bill Monroe, Odetta, Arlo Guthrie, Tom Paxton, Greg Brown, David Bromberg, Buffy St. Marie and more. She has seven recordings available on Vetco, Marimac and independent labels.
 

Leader of The Teflons, a popular sextet featuring lush harmony and dynamite solos, Barb also fronts Silver Rose, a dearly beloved duo of old-time and swing. That duo ballooned into the exciting collaboration Buds and Shoots that mainstaged the Chicago Square Roots Fest and Wisconsin White Oak Fest, and launched the newly created Trio D'Argent with a Cajun twist.
 

Barb is a founding cast member of Songs of Good Cheer, the beloved winter concert series created by Tribune icons Eric Zorn and Mary Schmich.
 

A multi-department faculty member at the reputable Old Town School of Folk Music, Barb has also performed and taught at Indiana University Northwest, Urban Gateways, The Discovery Center and venues dotting the Midwest. She received repeated grants from the City of Chicago Office of Cultural Affairs as well as the Maurice and Hulda Rothschild Foundation, and to this day is ever vibrantly teaching and performing.