Alvin McGovern Biography

Alvin McGovern has been singing all his life, he started playng guitar in 1965 and, soon after learning his first chords, started performing. He describes himself as a folk singer, teacher, and storyteller , and enjoys entertaining people of all ages with a large, pleasant, and eclectic repertoire of traditional and contemporary songs, forgotten popular pieces, and obscure gems; the primary focus of his selections, both serious and humorous, is on interesting lyrics. And he always encourages his audiences to join in.

In the Chicago area, where he is from, he has appearanced at a number of folk venues and entertained at many organizational events, public and private. His music has helped out organizations like the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly, and the Ray Graham Association's Hanson Center. He was a regular guest on “Zoo Party”, a program broadcast on WBEZ, Chicago's Public Radio station. He has been a teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music (OldTownSchool.org) since 1974, and has conducted classes and workshops for other teaching organizations and conferences.

In addition to his solo performing, he is the other half of the folk duo Chris McIntosh & Alvin McGovern (McIntosh-McGovern.com). And for over eleven years he was the the primary accompanist for Miss Carole's Macaroni Soup, “Active Music for Kids,” (MacaroniSoup.com) playing various instruments and singing in concert and on her first six recordings. He also co-produced two of those recordings.