Wiki

Earl Pionke

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Earl Pionke

Earl Pionke pictured here with Emily Friedman of Come For To Sing magazine and British folk singer Lou Killen, could probably be called the Big Daddy of the Folk Music scene during the 1970s. He owned Somebody Else’s Troubles and of course the Earl of Old Town on Wells Street. He supported folk music not only through the bookings he could offer in his clubs, but he was known to help out many a starving musician when the chips were down. In 2012 a folk music reunion of sorts took place when many musicians from the Lincoln Avenue scene gathered to celebrate Earl’s 80th birthday.

The museum suffered damage as the result of a microburst in downtown Joliet. The building did sustain some damage however we are extremely grateful that no one was injured during this tragedy. 


We are fortunate that Gigantar, our exhibit artifacts and the gift shop merchandise all escaped any damage. 


We are temporarily closed to the public as we work with our contractors through the cleanup process. 
Please stay tuned as we get back in the groove.