My Kind of Town
- Oct 4, 2024
- 3 min read
We close out the week with a moment of personal privilege.
As readers of these pages know, I happen to like Chicago a great deal. The Cubs, da Bears, the beloved Northwestern, Ravinia Music Festival, the Art Institute, Charlie Beinlich’s, Del Rio’s, the Chicago Botanic Garden, Writers Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Second City, WFMT, and…and…well, a lot more.
I do know I yammer about it a lot. But what I’ve found over the years is that when people who chide me have a reason to go to Chicago, many, if not most of them say afterwards, “Oh, okay, I see why you like it so much.”
So, it was a pleasure to see Condé Nast Traveler publish the results of its 2024 Readers’ Choice Award for Best Cities in the United States. with 575,048 people participating. It’s their 37th annual survey. And their #1 Best City in the U.S. was – (to no one’s surprise of those who’ve made it this far) – Chicago!
And not only was Chicago named #1, but…amazingly, this is the eight straight year it was named!
To be fair, I don't know what the criteria was for people to vote by, though I think there was an overlap between people living in a city, visiting on business and vacationing. And also to be fair, having seen the results of several other surveys that Condé Nast Traveler has done, I don't take this as the quintessential result to end all results.
Though, to be biased, I do think they got it right in this survey. For the eighth year in a row...
I was trying to decide which song to go out with here -- "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)" or "My Kind of Town (Chicago is)." But then I realized, no, this instead is the piece to end with. "The Best Kept Secret in America," by the great banjo master Stephen Wade. I posted an article about it in 2013 (and then did a follow-up in 2021), so this is an appropriate time to repeat it. Not just for the timing, but it also in some ways helps explain the survey result.
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The Best Kept Secret in America
In 1979, a unique performer named Stephen Wade developed a unique theatrical act. He combined banjo playing, storytelling and percussive dancing into a stage show called Banjo Dancing. It was hugely popular in the city, and ran for 13 months, which included a performance at the White House. He then took his show on the road, and ended up in Washington, D.C., where he had a longer run. That would be 10 years.
In the ensuing years, he's developed another show On the Way Home which had another successful run in Washington, won him the Joseph Jefferson Award in Chicago [the city's prized-version of the Tony Award], and toured. He's written books, essays, and as recently as 2012 released his latest album, Banjo Diaries, which got a Grammy nomination (albeit for liner notes)
I haven't heard or seen a great deal of Stephen Wade, though enough to really admire him. And this may be my favorite thing he's done. It's his crown jewel. It doesn't have much banjo, except as accompaniment, but rather is sort of a rhythmic, heart-filled poetic essay that for eight minutes grows and builds and is endearing and ultimately moving (and unique) in its heartfelt and effusive love for its subject matter. One near and dear my own heart. Chicago, from the good to the rough-hewn edges,. It's called "The Best Kept Secret in America." Something, I think, that closely describes the effusive Stephen Wade, as well.
(By the way, he's right about the phone number for Magikist carpet cleaners. I still remember it, too.)
I should add that Stephen Wade is still performing, and in 2019 he released an album that was basically a 40th anniversary tribute to that original show, Banjo Dancing, that premiered in Chicago.
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