Our Story

In 1993 I started some seasonal work…

…the best of all possible work, especially for me. Bringing simple joys at Christmastime. A classically trained baritone with a Master of Arts in Vocal Pedagogy, seasonal work was the order of the day, even, and especially when there was a full time position elsewhere.

Spring and summer singing with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, a big band gig on occasion, an a cappella quartet modeled after the chalk drawing scene in the movie Mary Poppins that sings some jazz, and early Twentieth Century songs, and year round with a classic rock duo called Jim & Tim.

For 18 years running, Fall brought singing the High Holidays at a local temple flowing into the Christmastime season, the longest running seasonal work I have, bring the carols of the season to wherever people gather.

In 2016, I founded the Caroling Connection to take that craft to more rooms and streets. Since then, The Caroling Connection has sung along Festival Lane, and in the national broadcast of the parade itself, produced by ABC7 Chicago, twice. We’ve sung at Kenosha’s HarborHoliday – International Market and Festival, including the Civil War Museum’s Victorian Christmas, at Elgin’s Winter Wonderland and Holly Days and at Tree lightings from Elgin to Addison. Our Voices have been heard at Historic Corron Farm in Campton Township, and Century House in Addison, both Authentic 19th Century structures filled with living history, Block 37, at the Service Club of Chicago’s holiday luncheon, as well as the original Home Run Inn Pizza location in Chicago.

In early 2020, my wife Theresa L. Goodrich was researching and writing Living Landmarks of Chicago, and strengthened both a family, and a Chicago connection. I’m cousin to Grant Goodrich, a lawyer, staunch supporter, ally, and comtemporary to Abraham Lincoln, and Goodrich even offered Lincoln a position at his law firm. In 1850, the nine founders of Northwestern University held their first recorded meeting in Goodrich’s law office, and he wrote the university’s charter. He also underwrote The Goodrich Family in America, tracing the family’s lineage back to England, and even to the history of the Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire, England, considered the best preserved example of a Medieval castle in England. On a recent visit, I stole away to softly sing a verse of The Coventry Carol, one of the oldest carols in our book, in the remains of the Great Hall. So while Grant Goodrich was helping to build Chicago, Charles Dickens was to write A Christmas Carol in the Victorian Era that dawned the same year Chicago was incorporated. 1837.

I choose every Goodrich Caroler first for musical ability, talent, and training. The costumes, the songbook of more than seventy carols, and the magic of the experience are all built from that foundation. And that’s just the beginning. The holiday season is magical in its warmth and welcoming nature. The goal of Goodrich Caroling is to give everyone we carol for that simple joy, as well as being a part of something larger than ourselves and than yourself, being a part of the Goodrich Caroling family.

Simple joy, a holiday memory remembered, or one created anew. The best of all possible work, one that we love and share with everyone for whom we sing.

Jim Goodrich

From Heritage to Harmony – Dickensian Carolers Make Holiday Memories

You can also send an e-mail to [email protected] or give me a call at 630.492.0487. I’d love to talk with you about your holiday plans.