Chit-Chat with musician Steve Justman: Wilmette musician brings vintage sound to new era

Musician Steve Justman of Wilmette will tell you that once upon a time - in the 1950’s and 1960’s - a folk song could sell one million records. But today, folk music can barely get any radio airtime, he says. It’s becoming a lost music genre that Justman is hoping to revive through regular performances in the Chicago suburbs, with his own music style that he calls, “vintage folk and classic country.” Performing songs by Peter, Paul and Mary, the Kingston Trio and the Chad Mitchell Trio, as well as some of his original songs, Justman takes his audience on a train ride to the past, with him taking the reins as conductor.

Steve Justman. SUBMITTED PHOTO

What are the ingredients of a folk song?
That has been an ongoing discussion for a long time. The folk music I’m trying to do is Americana music. Music that people are familiar with or recognizes... I don’t feel it needs to be 100 years old or 50 years old; it just needs to be something people can sing along to when they hear it. In folk music, there are a lot of story songs involved, which are often about real events in a person’s life that has been handed down from generation to generation.

Are any of your original songs written from your own experiences?
I’m more focused on entertaining with folk music, rather than delivering a message to my audience through my music. I want the audience to have fun. I’ve kind of found my niche in this.

What do you think is the state of folk music today? Is it popular?
It’s certainly not mainstream popular as it was back then, but it’s out there. It gets very limited radio play... A lot of the songs are familiar to a certain demographic, like anyone from the baby boomer generation will definitely know the music. I enjoy keeping a certain spirit of folk music alive. I get a joy in seeing people sing along to my music and hearing people come up to me after my shows and say ‘Your songs brought back a lot of memories.’ 

Aside from your music, you are also a train collector?
Yeah. I have a huge collection of these electric trains from the 1930s to the 1960s that I keep in my basement. I have over 500 engines in my basement -- from floor to ceiling. I like that when people walk into my basement they let out a collective gasp. (laughs)

Why collect electric toy trains?
I sort of rediscovered them from my childhood. My train collection and my music are both passions for me, and in a way, they tie together because trains are mentioned a lot in folk songs.
 

SEE THE SHOW
WHAT Steve Justman
WHERE Grounds For Appeal, 3242 Oak Park Ave., Berwyn; (708) 749-2233
WHEN 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16
HOW MUCH Free