Hello, My Name Is Paul
Q&A With Paul Stanley
IE: You went to high school intending to be an artist, right?
Paul Stanley: Yeah, the one that movie Fame was based on. There was two parts to the school. One was performing arts and the other was music and art. So I went there for art.
Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Fest
The Last Stand?
In the 20th century, only the automobile rivaled the guitar as an American icon of personal freedom, expression, and rebellion. The explosion is more owed to the electric models, though acoustic guitars traveled the pre-war countryside and established blues and country music traditions.
Appearing: July 28th at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.
Fionn Regan
Choose, Chose, Chosen
Irishman Fionn Regan’s wry sense of humor often gets buried beneath his mystically serious songs and deadpan demeanor. But one look at the music video for “Be Good Or Be Gone,” the first single off his debut album, The End Of History (Lost Highway), shows a 26-year-old with his tongue firmly placed within his cheek.
Appearing: July 28th at Schubas in Chicago.
1997
A Year By Any Other Name
“We used to tell people a lot of different things, that, y’know, it’s the year Titanic came out, so we named it after that, just stupid stuff like that. [Or the] year that we all lost our virginity — but, we were 10 and 11, so, it really wouldn’t do anything. A lot of people try and bust our balls about the fact we named it 1997 and we were that young then, but [it] doesn’t change the difference that you can listen to music no matter when it was made.”
Appearing: August 11th at Millennium Park in Chicago.
Jason Isbell
Not Far From The Tree
Let’s get the answer to “The Question” out of the way first. Why did Jason Isbell, one of Drive-By Truckers’ three frontmen and the man responsible for songs such as “Outfit” and “Danko/Manuel,” leave the band? “I hate to say ‘creative differences’ because everyone always says that,” Isbell says, “but sometimes that’s what it is.”
Marnie Stern
Tap Dancing
Marnie Stern has some good news and some bad news. The good news: She taught herself how to shred, she built her own Web site, she played South By Southwest alone with her guitar and iPod, and she finally has a CD in stores.
Appearing: July 3 at Abbey Pub in Chicago.
Novembers Doom
Dark Waters
“I live in pain continuously,” says Novembers Doom frontman Paul Kuhr from an otherwise chipper-sounding home in suburban Lyons. “I’m sorry, hold on one second.”
Everything Old is…Still Old, They Just Sound Better
An unheralded reason for the decline in CD sales is people are no longer replacing vinyl. While some music is still finding its way to digital media, we’ll also help you decide if you should replace the CDs you already have.
Cannibals At The Gate
Much like Major League Baseball and anti-trust laws, terrestrial (that means land-based) radio enjoys a certain loophole to keep itself alive and occasionally relevant. Radio, as a music broadcaster, only has to pay royalties to songwriters and publishers. Right or wrong, performers and record companies have been shut out. But now they want their cut.
Glastonbury
Thinkfilms
With the summer festival season in full swing, why not take a look at one of the most famous and long-running get togethers of them all?
Doug Bistrow’s sly upright bass on Akasha’s self-titled EP stands out as the quartet’s key ingredient. “Sideways” combines the band’s reggae/blues influences with a touch of INXS, while “In Defining” runs along the blueprint laid out by Bob Marley. Lead singer Cosmos Ray sounds vaguely reminiscent of Shaggy sidekick Rayvon, especially on “Affliction.” The record’s best track, “Follow The Sun,” seems out of place; a singer-songwriter ditty set adrift amongst the Jamaican rhythms. The only downside: the lyrics get too touchy feely. (www.myspace.com/akashamyspace)
– Janine Schaults
Despite the album’s title (The Panties Your Mother Laid Out) For You, mom isn’t likely to get her panties in a bunch listening to the latest aural assault from Egnaro. It’s innocuous, middle-of-the-road metal, with now-and-again insightful lyrics interspersed with pile-driving beats. While there are some self-indulgent moments, the 10 tunes – most notably “The Weekend” and “Skool Project” – are hard-hitting yet harmless. (www.myspace.com/egnaro)
– Jeff Berkwits
Those who have Pete And J’s Dressed For Conversation playing in the background might mistake the pair for a present-tense Simon & Garfunkel. Though that may be a turn on for fans of the folk duo, the similarities are so close (especially on the ballads “Sweet Cecilia” and “Sentimental Love Song”) that it comes off as a detriment. Rather than establishing an original sound, the guys purely ride Paul and Art’s coattails. (www.peteandj.com)
– Andy Argyrakis
Metallica vs. Megadeth – album for album. This battle has taken place in my head many, many times through the years, and now it gets put to paper.
Fender
Electracoustic Series Guitar
After seven years of the status quo, Fender have redesigned their Electracoustic Series.
