Fred Holstein co owned two clubs in the Old Town and Lincoln Park neighborhoods.
17 Facts About Fred Holstein
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Fred Holstein was born on December 9,1942, and grew up in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood.
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Fred Holstein started his future career by buying a guitar and teaching himself to play by singing along with records and studying songbooks.
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Fred Holstein took lessons at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music starting in 1960.
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Fred Holstein had a long relationship with the school afterward, even working in the Folklore center music store.
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Fred Holstein began playing around Chicago in the 1960s, first at places like the Old Town Pub and a bar in Morton Grove called Scot's Cellar.
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At Scot's, Fred Holstein first met and began mentoring younger fellow musician Steve Goodman.
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Fred Holstein briefly tried making a living as a performer in San Francisco and Greenwich Village in New York City, but soon returned to Chicago.
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Fred Holstein's fame did not extend much beyond Chicago, as he did not tour or record much, but within Chicago he was well known.
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Fred Holstein was a resident musician at the now defunct Chicago clubs, "Somebody Else's Troubles" and "The Earl of Old Town".
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Fred Holstein had an easy-going stage presence, routinely tailoring set lists to friends birthdays or requests, but would not tolerate a disruptive audience and tell them to "shut up".
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Fred Holstein loved to constantly share new songs with his audience as soon as he could, he would attempt a new song as soon as he could stumble through it.
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Fred Holstein co-owned two folk music clubs in the Old Town, and Lincoln Park, neighborhoods, including Somebody Else's Troubles and Fred Holstein's.
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Fred Holstein was known for his knowledge of several hundred songs and "instant recall," as well as being able to accompany himself on guitar, banjo, and twelve string.
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Fred Holstein was an admirer of ballad singers like Woody Guthrie and Utah Phillips.
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Fred Holstein died at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago of complications from emergency abdominal surgery on January 12,2004.
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Fred Holstein was survived by his mother and two younger brothers, Ed and Alan.