Justman finds the ‘real’ in America’s folk music

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Steve Justman

Updated: January 17, 2012 8:08PM

“I felt like I was two people,” said Steve Justman, of Wilmette, “and it’s nice to know that I can really focus on my music now. I count my blessings every day.”

Justman, 62 in January, is newly retired from a Fortune 200 company, Arrow Electronics, where he worked as the product marketing manager for over 26 years. When he wasn’t working or attending to family matters, Justman could usually be found playing guitar and singing folk and country songs, either at a gig or just for fun.

He’s played at Long Grove’s Beans & Leaves Coffee and Tea Cafe about half a dozen times, and cafe owner Karen Krahn, who regularly hosts live music acts, looks forward to Justman’s return. “Steve’s great, what I would call ‘old school, the real deal,’ ” said Krahn. “He loves his music, puts his heart into it, and this comes across.”

Justman has been a performer since his high school days.

The great folk

“I’ve been playing since I was 12 years old, ”said
Justman, “that’s when I got my first guitar. I was influenced by the great folk artists of the day — Tom Paxton, the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Gibson, Gordon Lightfoot — and I had their records at home. I took guitar lessons for about a year, learned to read music. And I started gigging right away, in a folk duo with my friend, Lee Share, as ‘Lee & Steve.’ We had matching shirts and played all through high school, played tons of sweet sixteen parties, high school variety shows, some events.”

Those early duo gigs were at Niles North High School. Justman would later get involved in bands, and was part of the popular Chicago-based country-rock band, Pony Express.

“In the ’80s, I didn’t play out as much,” he said, “because I had kids to raise.”

But Justman returned to playing more music as soon as he could, and in recent years has focused on performing as a solo artist, performing gigs and shows everywhere, from coffeehouses and restaurants, to farmers markets and library programs.

Specialty programs

Not a singer-songwriter, he concentrates his repertoire on what he calls “vintage folk and classic country.” He’s developed some special programs, such as “Roots of Americana,” and is now performing a new show, “Songs of the American Railroad.”

Justman is a little different among the folk performers, thanks to his distinct emphasis on country.

He still recalls when his musical path diverged a bit from the mainstream.

“I still loved folk after the British invasion, but saw folk changing, and wasn’t that interested in folk-rock,” he said. “I started listening to other music, to the other artists who were playing acoustic guitar and singing, with the fabulous musicianship, hot picking, pedal steel guitar and banjo, artists like Flatt & Scruggs. Images of the lost American landscape worked for me. The music is so real.”