It's a great place for encouraging people to play. They really give you a chance to get off on the right foot. They come for classes in blues harmonica, clawhammer banjo, doo-wop singing, Tahitian drumming, tangoing, Irish step dancing, lyric writing and dozens of other arts. Chicago also donated land across the street from the new site for a parking lot, which in this city is no small addendum. Indeed, without adequate parking space, Mr. Hirsch said, the school was prepared to turn down the gift.
Inconvenience keeps many potential students away as it is.
That kind of marketing savvy was evident in Thursday's benefit, which featured a stellar lineup, including Mr. Prine, Mr. Guthrie, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Kathy Mattea, Iris DeMent, Jackson Browne and Todd Snider. Goodman has some clout around here. Like the school, Goodman was a Chicago institution, and influential on the national scene but not widely known, kind of a local boy who made good but not great. He recorded 12 albums but had only one genuinely celebrated tune, ''City of New Orleans,'' which was heard three separate times at the benefit. What apparently really stood out about Goodman was his personality, a fun-loving nature combined with a boundless generosity that came through in his performances.