A set by American songwriter Zoe Mulford is like a small volume of short stories - evocative, beautifully crafted, and endlessly varied. Whether her starting-point is Franklin’s doomed polar expedition or the neglected contents of her own refrigerator, her vivid storytelling and down-to-earth humor promise listeners an enjoyable journey.

You can hear American-born Zoe Mulford, now a resident of Manchester, England, when she performs Monday, Oct. 1. Her free concert is one of the series hosted by the Friends of the Oak Park Public Library.
Zoe backs her clear voice with guitar or claw-hammer banjo and intersperses her own songs with selections from the music that inspires them: American and British folk ballads, Appalachian banjo tunes, and the work of songwriters from George Gershwin to Richard Thompson.