Columns
Around Hear: June 2009
Beaujolais‘ Love At Thirty (Parasol) revolves around divorce, with melancholy tracks like “Nightmare In A Healthy Brain” and “Please Don’t Let This Be True” over-sharing Joe Ziemba’s (The Like Young, Wolfie) dark emotions.
Sweet Home: June 2009
TURNING 20 On June 9th, 1989, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells performed a memorable set of acoustic blues at the Front Porch stage during the Chicago Blues Festival. This writer was there, MCing that particular stage. Once the show was over, I was directed to announce to the lingering crowd that they should make it […]
Gear: June 2009
B.C Rich Kerry King V Generation 2 B.C. Rich and Slayer guitarist Kerry King have teamed up to assemble two new guitar models for collectors and first-time players. Bill Xavier, vice president of B.C. Rich, was a proud papa when speaking about this new collaboration with King. “Kerry has an innate understanding of his fans […]
File: May 2009
I’ve Got The Power Right-wing bloggers are incensed. Leftist French laborers are kidnapping company executives. Stu, we need cleanup in aisle five! Can anybody hear me?! What in any god’s name is someone doing opening a nightclub in this climate?
Caught In A Mosh: May 2009
Ooze & Angst Alan A. Nemtheanga‘s Irish eyes aren’t smiling. “Hope I didn’t sound too grumpy,” the Primordial frontman signed off after answering my list of e-mail questions. Truth is, Nemtheanga, who has fronted the Irish band since it truly became Primordial in the early ’90s, simply sounds honest. Grumpy or not, that’s refreshing. Appearing: […]
Media: May 2009
Media Old-Time Radio Guru Chuck Schaden Retires Many people — including former Sun-Times media critic Robert Feder — credit Chuck Schaden with single-handedly keeping old-time radio alive for generations. But Schaden is stepping down in May, after 39 years of doing his Saturday afternoon radio show, “Those Were The Days” (1 to 5 p.m. on […]
Sweet Home: May 2009
Sweet Home Steppin’ Out If you have been out on the town over the past year or so, hanging out at premier blues and jazz clubs such as Andy’s, Buddy Guy’s Legends, or House Of Blues, you may have happened upon up-and-coming guitarist/ vocalist and songwriter Guy King. King is a young guitar master with […]
Studiophile: May 2009
Studiophile At STUDIO VMR in Brookfield, producer Nate Johnson and Don Griffin recorded Chico DeBarge for Kedar Entertainment and Universal New York. The track will be added to a CD that DeBarge has compiling for several months . . . Silver Pipe was in VMR recording and mixing a new CD with some fantastic flute […]
Gear: May 2009
Gear LUDWIG Element Lacquer Series Drums When I think of Ludwig drums, I still think of Ringo Starr’s famous Black Oyster Pearl kit and John Bonham’s Vistalite from the mid-’70s. Now Ludwig is celebrating its 100th birthday, surviving two world wars, economic downturns, crap foreign drums, and disco. Today’s drum business is a long way […]
Hello, My Name Is Curt
Q&A With The Meat Puppets’ Curt Kirkwood IE: Do you keep track of how many albums you’ve put out? Curt Kirkwood: I don’t know. It’s more than a dozen. Twelve, 13, maybe 14. One solo, Eyes Adrift with Krist [Novoselic] and Bud [Gaugh], then we did Volcano with Bud and Miguel [Happoldt]. It was never […]
DVD Zone: May 2009
Jeff Beck: Performing This Week . . . Live At Ronnie Scott’s Eagle There may be no more daunting task in the music world than trying to figure out the enigma that is Jeff Beck. To quote Marlon Brando, he could have been a contender. As innovative as Hendrix, more rockin’ than Clapton, and just […]
Around Hear: May 2009
Around Hear “This fucker sounds just like Tom Waits. Do we need another Tom Waits?” Matt Arbogast, a.k.a. The Gunshy, asks on I Gave Too Much Time To The Wine‘s title track. It’s a fair self-critique, but, as he also points out, “Dylan was Woody” and “there’s a hundred Pogues.” Too Much Time comprises new […]
Around Hear May 2009 (2)
continued Dave Ero is an imaginative musician who employs vaudeville, Latin, blues, pop, and folk to back the offbeat songs on Nuns With Guns. But much of his work is undone by forced rhymes, awkward phrasing, and the misguided belief that cheesy vocals are always hysterical. It would be interesting to hear Ero when he […]
Hello, My Name Is Ramblin’ Jack
Hello, My Name Is Jack Q&A With Ramblin’ Jack Elliott IE: How’s your family? Ramblin’ Jack Elliott: Well, I’ve got a lot of families scattered all over the world. I have a daughter who lives in Los Angeles and she’s a filmmaker.
File: April 2009
File 2009 Not Quite Better Than The Real Thing Under a shroud of secrecy not seen since the Bush Administration . . . O.K., that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but on Tuesday, March 11th, U2 — arguably the biggest band on the planet — were ushered onto the famed Metro’s stage. Unfortunately, […]
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