Special multimedia event Foster's Satchel coming to Varsity

The Varsity in downtown Carbondale will present Foster's Satchel, a music and multimedia performance group "that will carry you on a journey through time" Saturday, Sept. 21.

Foster's Satchel includes accomplished historical musicians Stace England and Charlie Tabing from Stace England and the Salt Kings ("Greetings from Cairo, Illinois" and "The Amazing Oscar Micheaux"); Jake and Mary Deleonardis from St. Louis-based May Day Orchestra; and Beth Koehler, backup singer for alt-country legend Jason Ringenberg.

The show takes listeners on a journey through 19th-century musician and composer Stephen Foster's unlikely triumph and ultimate heartbreak. Multimedia projections of photographs and original sheet music give audiences additional insight into Foster's life.

Foster composed more than 200 songs between 1847 and 1864, yet few know more than a handful of his most enduring, such as "Oh! Susanna," "Camptown Races," "Beautiful Dreamer," "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair," "Old Folks At Home/Suwannee River" and "My Old Kentucky Home."

The band has taken a Mermaid Avenue approach (the partnership between Wilco and Billy Bragg with Woody Guthrie's unknown writing), focusing on Foster's often evocative lyrics and rearranging music for modern ears to reveal one of the most remarkable and unknown stories in American music.

The show begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21 with opening act Carter and Connelly

• Tickets are $10. They are available in advance at thevarsitycenter.eventbrite.com.