Chris Vallillo’s Forgottonia at The Eagle Theater in Partnership with The Pontiac Public Library
The Pontiac Public Library has received a Creative Projects award from the Illinois Arts Council to bring the new show Forgottonia to the Eagle Center For The Performing Arts in Pontiac, IL on Saturday, March 21st, 2026.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris back to Pontiac for another unforgettable show. Forgottonia is a truly unique production that beautifully portrays the rural life in Illinois”, says Pontiac Public Library Director, Kristin Holzhauer.
Forgottonia is the brainchild of singer songwriter Chris Vallillo a theatrical, multi-media show that draws on 35 years of original music paired with the award winning black and white photographs of rural IL photographer Tim Schroll. Forgottonia is a musical journey though the people and places of rural America just as the last vestiges of the old “Forgottonia”, slowly eroded away. The name “Forgottonia” first came to Western Illinois in 1972 when sixteen counties declared the creation of the independent nation of Forgottonia in protest of the lack of tax dollars returning to the region. “The plan was to secede from the Union, declare war on the United States, immediately surrender, and then apply for foreign aid. It was nothing but political theater, but to everyone’s surprise, the story was picked up by the national media and to everyone’s surprise, it worked!” said Vallillo. “I first came to this region in 1976 as an archaeologist on the first wave of funding to come from that action and was like stepping back in time 40 years. I was just enchanted by the region and it would become the focus of my music for the next 40 years”
A former archaeologist turned musician and folklorist, Vallillo is a multi-instrumentalist who performs masterful fingerstyle and slide guitar that digs deep into the foundations of rural music with a respect for the tradition that doesn’t feel stuck in the past. The show combines storytelling and live music with the images of award-winning rural photographer Tim Schroll, long known for his striking black and white images of rural America. “Tim is doing visually, what I am trying to do musically,” said Vallillo. “It seemed like a perfect combination”. Vallillo shares the history and backstories of these songs that document, reflect, and validate people, places and characters of rural IL, reinforcing these communities’ sense of commitment and worth.
