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Good Night, And Good Luck/Network
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK / NETWORK “SPECIAL EDITION” Warner Brothers In a 1961 speech to the National Association Of Broadcasters, FCC Chairman Newton Minnow challenged those in attendance to watch what they were producing and really look at what was on the air. If they could “keep [their] eyes glued to that set until […]
Build A Guitar!
If You Build It, They Will Strum The Chicago School Of Guitar Making Everybody plays guitar, right? Any musician’s classified section will turn up 10 or more guitar players for every bassist and keyboardist. Now, try to find someone to setup, maintain, or rewire all the instruments belonging to all those guitar players and the […]
Hello, My Name Is Jack
Q&A with the former Dire Straits guitarist, who put together this spring’s Guitarmageddon at Guitar Center. IE: Guitar Center’s Guitarmageddon contest is focused on finding the Next King Of The Blues? Jack Sonni: It’s never been focused on a particular genre like this, something we decided to do because it had become an exercise in […]
File For April
SO YOU WANNA BE A ROCK SUPERSTAR? On Saturday, March 11th, perhaps the first truly beautiful day of the year, a line outside the Elbo Room in Lincoln Park stretched all the way down the block. The gathering might not have looked particularly out of place at the venue except that it was mid-afternoon, not […]
Introducing The Blues
By Beverly Zeldin-Palmer During the month of February, a slice of Chicago’s rich musical history was revisited in the Vittum Theater’s musical production, I Dream In Blues. The play, dubbed a “bluesical” was conceived by singer and storyteller Katherine Davis and Tom Arvetis, artistic director of the Vittum. It is Davis’ autobiography in words and […]
Banking On It
By Trevor Fisher Besides just being pretty freakin’ sweet, the fact Manny Sanchez‘s The I.V. Lab Studio is housed inside a vintage bank vault actually may have helped him secure a loan.
Gear: Part 2
Click here to return to page 1 GODIN LG EMG Guitar Godin‘s LG EMG black graphite guitar further cements Godin’s recent trend toward offering several guitars for heavy rockers. Godin’s press materials touts the guitar line with a “darkly alluring new black graphite semi gloss finish and full out, blistering tone.” The LG EMG is […]
Songs For The Soweto Generation
By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates To Americans, Nelson Mandela and Dr. Desmond Tutu may be the most famous South Africans, but if you’re part of the “Soweto generation” (those born in the mid ’70s to early ’80s, just before apartheid was abolished), it’s more likely the most notable South African is Thandiswa Mazwai.
Local CD Reviews
Still looking for a fresh female voice who didn’t get her start on “American Idol”? Chicago-bred Meg Allison may have your answer. Her debut disc, Missing Piece, is full of exactly the sort of low-key, heartfelt, story-telling tracks you’d expect from an inspired singer-songwriter who waits tables by day and plays her heart out in […]
Around Hear: Part 2
Click here to return to page 1. The sophomore LP from Cameron McGill is a convincing collection that demonstrates this singer-songwriter’s potential. Street Ballads & Murderesques consists mostly of ballads evoking McGill’s softer side with achingly sentimental tunes. The intimate poetic lyricism is accompanied by simplistic arrangements of acoustic guitar, harmonica, piano, and dashes of […]
Cover Story: Neko Case
Neko Case Time Won’t Let Me In order to reach Neko Case via phone, you have to dial the least-populous time zone in the continental United States. You must reprogram yourself and remember your scheduled 3 p.m. Mountain Standard Time interview means not calling at 2 p.m. Chicago time like it would be when calling […]
Queen & Paul Rodgers
Queen Is Dead, Long Live Queen The idea of a legendary band continuing without its original lead singer is by no means new. It’s been adapted by everyone from stadium rockers INXS, Journey, and Chicago’s own Styx to the slightly modified monikers of psychedelic superstars The Doors Of The 21st Century and The Dead. On […]
Shelley Short
Shelley Short O Captain My Captain Coming here was a very intense time,” Shelley Short says about uprooting her life from Portland to Chicago in September 2004. “I moved here with a friend and another close friend lives here that I’ve known since high school, so I wasn’t all alone, but I left a lot […]
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