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Media: June 2019
No one in this town has been a part of the Chicago media scene longer than WGN-Radioâs (and The Chicago Tribuneâs) Rick Kogan. He was literally born into it. His parents, Herman and Marilew, were both fixtures in the heyday of Chicagoâs print media. They lived the life. They hung out with Chicagoâs glitterati. […]
Cover Story: Steve Earle
Itâs a puzzlement, a Sphinx-like riddle for the ages. How in holy hell has resident alt-country iconoclast Steve Earle managed to keep his mouth shut over the past three Trump-and-Brexit bedeviled years? Make no mistake, what heâs offered instead has been stunning â2017âs picture-perfect loper So You Wannabe an Outlaw â polished still brighter by […]
Cover Story: Gary Clark Jr.
The Chosen One. The Future of the Blues Guitar. The Next Stevie Ray Vaughan. Savior of the Blues. At only 35-years of age, Gary Clark Jr. has carried a lot of pressure on his slim shoulders. But from the time he was a teen, blasting away his elders at Austin nightclubs, a grand destiny […]
Cover Story: The Way Down Wanderers
Peoria natives The Way Down Wanderers may be new to many, but since dropping a self-titled debut in 2016, as well as a pair of EPs and a live recording, the quintet has steadily swelled their grassroots fan base with an alluring, frequently unexpected hybrid of heartland sounds. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Austin Krause-Thompson, mandolin player/violinist/guitarist/vocalist […]
Hello My Name Is…Dave Meniketti of Y&T
Some artists hem and haw when trying to pinpoint the reason for their longevity. Not Dave Meniketti. Heâs as surprised as the next guy about the four-decade career longevity of his Bay Area metal outfit Y&T, nee Yesterday and Today. Theyâve survived because theyâve deserved to, a modern exercise in Darwinian natural selection. âWeâve honestly […]
Cover Story: nothing, nowhere.
Cries for help donât come much more urgently. Last month, brash young Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson â who had joked for months in sketches about being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder â lost any remaining shreds of humor about his often-debilitating condition when he posted an alarming message on Instagram, right before he […]
Live Review: Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats Aragon Ballroom Thursday, November 29, 2018 On Thursday, radio station WKQX closed the first of five nights of its âThe Nights We Stole Christmasâ series at the Aragon Ballroom with a sold-out headlining set by Denverâs Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. The sweat-soaked performance began with the deep […]
Cover Story and Gallery: The Struts
It was a popular, yet perhaps far-fetched concept that was titillating impressionable society a few years back. And it was relatively simple, all told, and loosely based on comic Danny Wallaceâs book Yes Man, which was later satirized to a zanier degree in Jim Carreyâs film version of the same name: If you simply responded […]
Cover Story: Greta Van Fleet
Iâm sure Iâm not alone in my lament that rock & and roll is on life support, and rock stars are fewer and farther between than in the past. Iâm going to bet, though, that youâll feel like youâve sucked a deep hit off an oxygen tank the moment you hear Greta Van Fleet. […]
Cover Story: The Voidz
âA manâs got to know his limitations,â Clint Eastwood once observed as the defiant renegade cop Dirty Harry. Similarly unforgiving Strokes bandleader Julian Casablancas is still gradually discovering his own with his latest splinter combo âinitially dubbed Julian Casablancas + The Voidz, now known simply as The Voidz â and its sleek, sophisticated sophomore […]
Cover Story: Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr just made the best record of his life. And he knows it. Dubbed Call the Comet, itâs the ex-Smith guitaristâs third, following 2013âs The Messenger and 2014âs Playland. And it finds him: Lyrically delving into grim socio-political issues that heâd often avoided; Letting his axe provide the chiming hooks in places instead of […]
Remembering Aretha Franklin 1942-2018
Aretha Franklin, who passed away on August 16th of pancreatic cancer at age 76, embodied her title of âQueen of Soulâ in a wholly spectacular way but that name didnât fully capture all that she was. Aretha wasnât just a gifted singer, and she wasnât just a master of soul singing. She sang every American […]
Cover Story: Børns
Today Garrett Borns might be the foppish baroque-pop trendsetter who records as simply Børns, with three adventurous albums to his credit, including the new Blue Madonna, his second for Interscope. But there was a time not so long ago when the Michigan native was at the mercy of a pack of marauding masked bandits after […]
Stage Buzz: Real Friends “Composure” Listening Party & Interview
On Friday night, Tinley Park’s Real Friends held a “secret” listening party for a select group of fans in support of their forthcoming third full length, Composure. The evening event was the last of three listening party events held throughout the day across the Chicagoland area. In the modern industrial workspace of Chicago’s Rowboat Creative, […]
Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater: 1935-2018
Blues legend Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, who passed away on June 1 of heart failure, towered over the Chicago music scene both literally and figuratively. At six feet four, he cut a striking figure, slashing his left-handed guitar with his signature blues, rock and funk riffs. Born in a Mississippi cotton field and nurtured by […]
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