After the Covid lockdown was lifted, Jonas Friddle started a weekly social music gathering called Banjo After Dark. It was a simple effort to return to normal through the age-old activity of playing songs with neighbors at the end of the day. Each Thursday night Borelli’s Pizza parlor gets transformed – the best night of the week!
Luke Leisman moved to Chicago in 2021, and happened to get introduced to on of the folks who regularly attended the BAD jams, and thought what the heck, I’ll give it a try. He was immediately hooked. In addition to writing and playing some occasional fiddle, Luke’s background is in astrophysics and teaching astronomy. Responding to interest in space and the stars, Luke started an astronomy gathering at the same pizza parlor: Astro After Dark, featuring astronomy demos and talks.
Here’s the cool thing. Luke and Jonas noticed that many folks coming out to the Astronomy talks were the very same folks who came out to the musical gatherings. So, like peanut butter and jelly (or banana and mayonnaise for some) they decided to try them together. Now we
have Banjo Astro After Dark. Or B.A.A.D if you will. (Say it like a sheep!)
Banjo Astro After Dark gatherings combines a presentation on a scientific theme with performances of songs written specifically on that theme. Having the two disciplines together in one event demonstrates that science and songwriting are both attempts to better understand the world around us. They are tools for the curious to live a life of wonder.
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