Features
Cover Story: The Bobby Lees
Oddsmakers could never correctly assess it. Fortune tellers could never predict it. And even the shrewdest talent scout this side of Col. Tom Parker could never pinpoint with any historical accuracy exactly where, when, or how tomorrowâs Next Big Thing would be arriving in the music world. Rock stars â however carefully cultivated they might […]
Hello, My Name Is: Ian Gillan of Deep Purple
Ian Gillan admits that itâs a strange, surreal time to be releasing a new album. But the Deep Purple vocalist was justifiably proud of his bandâs latest Whoosh! comeback, overseen by legendary, sound-effects-favoring producer Bob Ezrin, of Alice Cooper and Kiss Destroyer renown. âAnd Bob is the same age as us,â notes Gillan, who will […]
Feature: Enuff Z’Nuff – Still Flyin’ High
Chicago power-pop rockers Enuff ZâNuffâs fan base has always been incredibly loyal since its 1984 formation. Fast forward to 2020, and the bandâs legacy is well intact on its new studio album Brainwashed Generation (released July 10 via Frontiers Music s.r.l.). However, while half of Enuff ZâNuffâs fan base has gleefully accepted the current Chip […]
Cover Story: The Go-Go’s – Document This!
Not that anyone should sink so deep into navel-gazing that they find fuzzy lint in these reflective post-pandemic times, but â as many folks are discovering â all this imposed downtime can lead to some eye-opening, perhaps life-changing introspection. The kind that might otherwise go unobserved back when we were all rushing through our hectic, […]
Hello My Name is…Mike Peters of The Alarm
by Tom Lanham You can hand Mike Peters the sourest, acrid batch of lemons ever harvested and the scrappy Alarm bandleader will make a refreshing, ice-cold pitcher of tasty lemonade with it every single time. This Welshman has often endured more hardships in a single month than most so-called rock survivors endure in a lifetime, […]
Cover Story: Jehnny Beth
There are Renaissance women, dream-driven ladies who tirelessly toil their way to coveted career kudos like gaining elite EGOT status by winning Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards. There is even a further achievement to shoot for once that title is secured â the PEGOT, via the added plaudit of a Peabody Award, a category […]
Hello, My Name Is… Butch Walker
Mega-producer and solo artist Butch Walker fully understands the dire scope of our current coronavirus pandemic, which is forcing folks all over the world to shelter in claustrophobic place while the worst passes. But â truth be told â heâs noticed no tangible difference in his day to day Malibu activities, he swears. âIâm at […]
Featured: Jay O’Rourke Band
Like many musicians releasing music during the pandemic, Jay O’Rourke had different plans before the virus hit. His bandâs new 5âsong EP was originally scheduled as a full-length album, but COVID-19 changed all that. The acclaimed guitaristâs third release in four years shows heâs incredibly prolific. Boom Daddy Boom continues a course he charted on […]
Media – May 2020
The Mix Morning show (WTMX, 101.9FM) is now officially called Eric in the Morning with Melissa and Whip. After an unprecedented run of success during morning drive time in Chicago, everyone knows Eric Ferguson, the star of the show. Most also know Melissa McGurren, a trusted co-host for many years. But who in the world […]
Cover Story: Lucinda Williams
Many artists â when looking back on their catalogs â often wish that they could have done better, compositionally speaking. Hindsight, of course, is 20/20. But when Grammy-winning folk-rocker Lucinda Williams undertook her comprehensive tour last year, celebrating the 20th anniversary of her landmark third Car Wheels on a Gravel Road effort, she never once […]
Q&A: Randy Blythe from Lamb of God
D. Randall Blythe â Randy to friends and family â understands that it doesnât quite fit his profile as the dreadlocked, feral-throated frontman for molten metal outfit Lamb of God. But this Virginian doesnât care. Right now, at this perilous point in time, and after everything heâs survived â including detention in a Czech Republic […]
Media – April 2020
Steve Darnall remembers the exact moment he became obsessed with old time radio. âIt was 1977, and I was driving in the car with my dad. I asked him to turn on the radio, and he turned on Chuck Shaydenâs program, which aired old-time shows from the Golden Age of Radio. Dad told me that […]
Cover Story – Best Coast
Best Coast anchor Bethany Cosentino admits that her duoâs chiming new Always Tomorrow set, it’s fourth, just might be the Feel-Good Album of the Year. But in retrospect, she only wishes that she at first didnât have to feel so incredibly bad just to compose it. And she isnât waxing poetic when she describes the […]
Cover Story: Green Day
On the most instinctual gut level, Billie Joe Armstrong gets it. No question. A la cinematic director Godfrey Reggioâs 1983 visual masterpiece Koyaanisqatsi, life â nationally and around the world â has tipped completely, horribly, maybe irrevocably out of balance. On one recent day alone, the headlines said it all: Freakish, climate-change-spurred floods are swamping […]
![Hello My Name Is…Steve Harris from Iron Maiden and British Lion [with Photo Gallery from The Forge of Joliet]](http://illinoisentertainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/BL11-e1581299331927-150x150.jpg "Hello My Name Is…Steve Harris from Iron Maiden and British Lion [with Photo Gallery from The Forge of Joliet]")
Hello My Name Is…Steve Harris from Iron Maiden and British Lion [with Photo Gallery from The Forge of Joliet]
Liam Gallagher always said that there are only two ways for an English lad to break free from his grey, oppressive, working-class environment â become a professional footballer or start a rock and roll band. Growing up in the London suburb of Leytonstone, Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris clearly remembers doing both. Quite well, […]
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