Act 1 of Jason Brett’s Illinois story begins in the basement of the Channing Murray Foundation, home of the Red Herring.
“Ground zero for the folk music scene when I arrived at the U of I in 1971," he says. "On any given night, you might see budding singer-songwriters like Dan Fogelberg, Thom Bishop, Fred Koller or Megon McDonough.
“As a theater major, I spent my days at Krannert, and just about every night playing guitar and singing my songs at the Red Herring — sometimes to no one but a couple of supportive friends, sometimes to packed houses.
"There was a Red Herring reunion in 2008, and as soon as I hit the stage doing a duet with Megon McDonough, it was 1973 all over again — until I caught a glimpse of myself on a TV monitor.”
