I saw a show in 1959 at Chicago's Eighth Street Theater with Tommy Makem and Bob Gibson. Each did separate sets. But when Tommy simply walked out on stage, sat down in a single chair, and then went into this song, well, it was pure magic! I felt instantly that this was the real thing---this is what folk music was all about---taking a moment and a place, and personally, causing a time warp that caused the listener to be gone from the concert gall and instantly transported to another historical reality where you knew you were privileged to witness, for the duration of the song's performance, an actual slice of what was. It was, as I said, real magic, and that was what I usually strove to achieve in my own performances.

I always thought that the extent to which I was able to achieve that fantasy, determined the success or failure of any given folk presentation of mine. Writing this out right now, I am finally seeing and acknowledging what an effect Tommy Makem's performance had on me that long ago night.

It's about time...

Art Thieme