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Hello My Name is Juliana Hatfield
No man is an island, John Donne once wisely noted. Juliana Hatfield would respectfully like to disagree. At 53, the charming Boston folk-rocker is quite happy just kicking back at her Cambridge home with her beloved 11-year-old chocolate lab, Charlie (who’s actually female, she points out), sans any unwelcome interlopers. And while other […]
File: Peoria’s Way Down Wanderers New Album Announced and Video Single Released
Peoria’s country-roots stalwarts, The Way Down Wanderers (featured cover story in March 2019 IE), just announced their new album More Like Tomorrow drops on September 10. More Like Tomorrow finds the Peoria, Illinois-based quintet refining their music, pushing new boundaries of roots-based music with their blend of folk, rock, bluegrass, and deep harmonies. Their first single […]
CinemaScopes: May 2021
Sequels, Remakes, and Adaptations As we gear up for a more Post-Vax world, many films previously on hold are finally coming out, and May traditionally is the tentpole month for theaters. One theme we see is the tendency to rely on tried and true formulas to draw people out again – especially when so many […]
Stage Buzz: Livestream Buzz May 17-23
A rare Monday VIP Livestream commences at the “Night of Covenant House Stars,” a virtual gala on Monday, May 17 featuring appearances by Jon Bon Jovi, Charlie Day, Jewel, Audra McDonald, Dolly Parton, Vanessa Williams, Sara Bareilles, Chita Rivera, Dionne Warwick, and more. RSVP to the event here. Philly’s acclaimed Disco Biscuits added a last-minute hometown […]
Media: April 2021
It’s hard to describe everything Jon Hansen brings to Chicago media. He’s really a Jon-of-all-trades, able to shift from television to radio to just about anything else that requires a microphone. First and foremost, he’s one of the stars of the nightly gabfest (6-7 pm), The Jam on WCIU-TV. “It’s your Twitter feed on […]
CinemaScopes: April 2021
New film releases are finally starting to pick up, with more cinemas opening around the country (specifically on the West Coast). The backlog of film debuts begins this month as we lead up to the summer season. Here are some top picks for April. Concrete CowboyDirected by Ricky StaubRated RApril 2nd on Netflix Inspired by […]
Media: March 2021
Bob Sirott has been part of the Chicago media landscape now for a half-century. “Geez, don’t remind me,” he says. “Yeah, that’s true. 1971 was the first year on the air at WBBM-FM. First, it was just doing weekends, and fill-ins, and summer stuff, and at the end of the summer, they either rewarded […]
CinemaScopes: February 2021
CinemaScopes – Dinner & A Movie Month! February is traditionally the month for relationship movies, given Valentine’s Day is on the 14th and dinner and a movie is a perfect date night for many couples. Theaters in the Chicago area are open, but with most of us still avoiding public places, streaming and VOD releases […]
Media: February 2021
Former Partridge Family star Danny Bonaduce had an extremely memorable run on Chicago radio during the mid-90s. Still, since his time here, Danny has done radio in Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and now for the last decade, he’s been the morning man in Seattle at KZOK (102.5FM). “I think this is my longest run […]
Media: January 2021
After twenty-plus high-profile years in radio and television, Melissa Forman is an important part of the Chicago media landscape. “Twenty-plus years?” she responds. “Yikes. It’s going fast. My Dad always said to me: ‘Life is like a roll of toilet paper. In the beginning, it moves slowly, and in the end, it moves very […]
CinemaScopes: January 2021
2020 has changed our lives forever, and it has altered the way we now view and regard cinematic excellence. While we may not be watching films on the big screen, we devour them at home via streaming and VOD. Ironically, none of the films on this list would be considered big blockbusters or similarly noted […]
Hello My Name is…Exene
It’s not like Exene Cervenka, and her bandmates in the Los Angeles proto-punk quartet X are just sitting around their respective houses, idly twiddling their thumbs this enforced-lockdown December. But they are coming to surreal grips with the fact that for this Yuletide season, at least, they will not be the hardest-working band on the […]
Spins: U2 – “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” • Super Deluxe Vinyl Box Set
U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind Super Deluxe vinyl box set (Island/Interscope/UMe) During the year 2000, U2 was a band on a mission. After the perceived disappointment of 1997’s experimental and techno-friendly Pop (an album that went “merely” platinum in the United States), the Irish quartet were determined to reclaim their signature sound–and with […]
Media: December 2020
2020 was a rough year everywhere, but we lost some of our all-time greatest broadcasters in Chicago. Television greats like Sheldon Cooper (WGN-TV general manager), Lee Phillip Bell (The Lee Phillip Show), Bob Petty (Channel 7/ABC anchor/reporter), Dick Johnson (anchor at Channel 5/NBC), Jerry Taft (longtime Channel 7/ABC weatherman), and Joel Daly (iconic Channel 7/ABC […]
CinemaScopes – November 2020
With many films officially postponed or rescheduled until 2021/2022, the slate for what would normally be the biggest release window of the year has definitely changed due to COVID. Theaters are still open, but many films have now made the jump to VOD and streaming services to get their product out while still trying to […]
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