Chicago Farmer @ ACMA @ The Planetarium. Andy Getch opens!

“I love Chicago Farmer’s singing and playing and songs, but it’s the intention behind the whole of his work that moves me to consider him the genuine heir to Arlo Guthrie or Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. He knows the shell game that goes on under folk music… which is sacred to me. Chicago Farmer is my brother; if you like me, you’ll love him.”

– Todd Snider

The son of a small town farming community, Cody Diekhoff logged plenty of highway and stage time under the name Chicago Farmer before settling in the city in 2003. Profoundly inspired by fellow midwesterner John Prine, he’s a working-class folk musician to his core. His small town roots, tilled with city streets mentality, are turning heads North and South of I-80.

“I love the energy, music, and creativity of Chicago, but at the same time, the roots and hard work of my small town,” he shares. Growing up in Delavan, Illinois, with a population less than 2,000, Diekhoff’s grandparents were farmers, and their values have always provided the baseline of his songs.

He writes music for “the kind of people that come to my shows. Whether in Chicago or Delavan, everyone has a story, and everyone puts in a long day and works hard the same way,” he says. “My generation may have been labeled as slackers, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t work hard – many people I know put in 50-60 hours a week and 12 hour days. That’s what keeps me playing. I don’t like anyone to be left out; my music is for everyone in big and very small towns.”
www.chicagofarmer.com

Opening musician:
Andy Getch is originally from western PA. Inspired by watching the Monkees TV show, his parents bought a Silvertone guitar for $25 from Sears and some guitar lessons. The family moved to the Fort Myers area in 1969. In his teens his guitar was lost along the way. Andy grew up collecting records and has always admired singer/songwriters who perform solo.

Playing guitar video games with his grandson and telling him “playing a real guitar is a lot harder than pushing a few buttons”, Andy picked the guitar up again in 2008. He played his real guitar while singing Beatles Rockband into the game microphone. He soon began to write songs and discovered online songwriting groups and challenges, music workshops, and camps. Since then, Andy has written hundreds of songs.

In 2010-11 Andy met future ACMA founding members when attending local open mics and house concerts. He is one of the ACMA founding members and some of the songs you will hear were first played at the singer-songwriter circle. Andy has opened ACMA shows for Patchouli, Jefferson Ross, Sally Barris, Heather Pierson, Lipbone Redding, and Karyn Oliver, among others. Andy writes songs for fun and as way to process life.