Recent Articles
Cherryholmes preview
Cherryholmes Raue Center, Crystal Lake Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Next time you go to a concert and complain about the opening acts, spend too much on drinks, drink too much, and forget most the evening’s highlights by the time the headache wears off the next morning, think of the Cherryholmes family. They went to a […]
Dreams Destroyed
Fire burns music venue/eatery in Lockport hotel Dreams Sports Bar & Eatery, which was located in the same building as the historic Towpath Inn (935 S. State, Lockport), burnt to the ground in a fire early Tuesday, April 1st. A man, believed to be a resident of the hotel, died in the blaze.
Dismember reviewed
Dismember untitled (Regain) They don’t get as much credit as Entombed — rightfully so — for shaping Swedish death metal, and in turn “death ‘n’ roll,” but Dismember were side-by-side in the trenches during the early days. It’s only fitting the band make a full return to the early days on their new album.
Outlaws Rise Again?
Various Artists Outlaw Country (Legacy) Amazingly, “outlaw country” has failed to be legitimately co-opted. Rap has proven you can buy your way in and out of being gangsta, but country fans have always separated white-trash chic from legit white trash. Crossing the fence can rack you: No one considers Hank Williams Jr. to be anymore […]
Avantasia reviewed
Avantasia The Scarecrow (Nuclear Blast) Give it to Tobias Sammet – Edguy frontman and Avantasia mastermind – for being ballsy: On a record of mostly four-to-six minute songs, he puts the only epic, the 11-minute title track, second in the sequence.
Be Your Own Pet reviewed
Be Your Own Pet Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace/Universal) How do you defend against a band who pop off “I don’t wanna grow up” in their second album’s second verse — especially when they aren’t Toys R Us kids? Appearing: Thursday, June 12th at House Of Blues in Chicago.
Cover Story: The 20 All-Time Greatest Chicago Guitarists
Perpetually under siege by synthesizers, jealous bandmates, “Guitar Hero,” and its own practitioners, it’s almost as if the guitar can’t exist without more tension than what’s going on between the neck and the bridge. So at IE we figured why not spray some gasoline on the fire and, for our annual Guitar Month, debate who […]
Joe Satriani interview
Joe Satriani Surfing With The Web Surfers Valentine’s Day was four days ago, but guitar instrumentalist Joe Satriani is just now writing his dearest a love note. He begins reciting it by phone from his small, professional recording studio on the ground floor of his San Francisco home. “Record Store Day,” he reads aloud, “April […]
The Black Keys interview
The Black Keys Brian’s Song Spikes in Black Keys activity are nearly imperceptible, akin to testing for jumps in a hummingbird’s fluttering heart rate. They are there, however. Appearing: Saturday April 12th at Riviera Theatre in Chicago.
Black Tide interview
Black Tide Age Old Question Alex Nunez definitely remembers his first impression of Zakk Sandler. “He was a dick to everybody,” Nunez recalls. Appearing: Sunday August 10th at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.
The New Guitar Plek-trum
Putting It Down And Pleking It Up The Plek Machine Comes To Chicagoland George MacPhail is accustomed to leaving work at the end of the day with hands that hurt. Actually, he is accustomed to leaving work with hands, fingers, and arms that hurt. MacPhail is one of two guitar technicians at The Music Gallery […]
Hayes Carll interview
Hayes Carll No Longer A Mess In Texas Hayes Carll has just released his third album, Trouble In Mind. His first, Flowers And Liquor, for Compadre Records, was produced by Lisa Morales of Sisters Morales. His second, Little Rock, released independently, was produced by R. S. Field. One of its songs, “Down The Road Tonight,” […]
20 – 11
The 20 All-Time Greatest Chicago Guitarists 20. Son Seals Shootings, fires, amputations, W.C. Handy Awards: Son Seals seemed something out of an Andrew Vachss novel, which, in fact he also was. Frank Seals also knew a raw solo or two, we’re told.
10. Tom Morello
The 20 All-Time Greatest Chicago Guitarists 10. Tom Morello Tom Morello endured 18 years in Libertyville and graduated with honors from Harvard in 1986. Neither, though, had much to do with his greatest achievement: Rage Against The Machine (sorry Audioslave, your name fit your confined music). Rage ignited Molotov cocktails of post-“Bring The Noize” rap-metal, […]
9. Curtis Mayfield
The 20 All-Time Greatest Chicago Guitarists 9. Curtis Mayfield It’s easy to forget what a guitarist Curtis Mayfield was. Obscured beneath forming The Impressions, helping give voice to the Civil Rights movement, recording one of the greatest soundtracks of all-time, and his nearly fatal accident was an ace. Blurring his skill further was the fact […]
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