Chicago -
By Scott Gordon
“If you just walked in and you don’t know what the heck is goin’ on, we’re the Gin Blossoms,” lead singer Robin Wilson announces early in the band’s set at Lincoln Park Zoo. This may actually help some people in the audience.
Posted on June 25, 2006
By Don Jacobson
Jamgrass.
That’s the kind of band Yonder Mountain String Band has been accused of being. Like the jam bands of a more rock ‘n’ roll persuasion, they’ve been known largely for wild live performances that go on forever, reaching groovitude after a few songs and sustaining the high for as long as humanly possible as the smell of that other kind of jamgrass wafts far and wide. As the glow sticks bounce in rhythm, instead of electric guitars and plugged-in keyboards, bluegrass jammers pound away on the acoustic tools of their trade, thus combining two essential elements: The community-building qualities of the rock jam band ethos and the undeniable authenticity of the countrified mandolin plucker and acoustic flat-picker.
Posted on June 18, 2006
By Scott Gordon
You would think Chicago has enough music venues for every act worth listening to – and you would be right. Even those on the lower end of the acoustic folkie food chain have a variety of welcome stages from which to ply their wares, courtesy of the hometown Potbelly Sandwich Works chain. Anyone who frequents Potbelly for cheap lunches has felt the awkward presence of one of the city’s surplus guitar-slingers, often immersed in a lunchtime-inappropriate Three Doors Down cover, or worse. I scouted numerous locations for talent, often having to digest delicious toasted sandwiches under oppressive sonic conditions, and found that not all Potbelly singers suck equally. While one I encountered had a decent feel for her audience, the others either lacked confidence or seemed to think they were performing at a wake, instead of the home of Big Jack’s PB & J. Who are these sandwich shop vagabonds playing for next to nothing before indifferent crowds for free milkshakes? And are they any good?
Posted on June 16, 2006
By Don Jacobson
– The Detroit Cobras will incongruously perform an in-store at the Virgin Records Store on the Magnificent Mile this Wednesday night. The Cobras are neither virgins nor magnificent, at least in the North Michigan Avenue sense of the word. They are, however, quite possibly the smokin’est band going, and this chance to see a free in-store should not be missed. The show is scheduled to go off at 7 p.m. See if the Virgin cops cramp Rachel Nagy’s style.
Posted on June 15, 2006
MUSICAL GUESTS ON The Late Show With David Letterman THIS WEEK
(non-musical guest in parentheses)
Monday: Not Sonic Youth as your TV guide may indicate (Paris Hilton)
Tuesday: Cat Power (Tim Russert)
Wednesday: Neko Case (Stephen Colbert, Mark Cuban)
Thursday: Widespread Panic (Sandra Bullock)
Friday: Sonic Youth (Robert Duvall)
DULUTH DOES DYLAN
1. Blowin’ In The Wind/Low
2. A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall/Both
3. Quit Your Low Down Ways/Giljunko
4. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands/Jamie Ness
5. Knocking On Heavens Door/Crazy Betty
6. It Ain’t Me Babe/Mayfly
7. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right/Gild
8. All Along The Watchtower/Dames
9. Tombstone Blues/Black Eyed Snakes
10. Country Pie/American Hip
11. Girl From The North Country/Father Hennepin
12. If You Gotta Go, Go Now/Accidental Porn
13. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35/Black Labels
14. Father Of Night/First Ladies
15. When I Paint My Masterpiece/Ballyhoo
Posted on June 11, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
Music Choice Classic Country Channel (703)
Thursday , June 8
1. Do You Love As Good As You Look/Bellamy Brothers
“Honey, do you love as good as you look?
Can you satisfy your man the way your body says you can?
Judging by the cover, I’d love to read the book
Honey, do you love as good as you look?”
2. She’s Single Again/Janie Fricke
“She’s single again
Hold on to your men”
“Is this number four? Number five?
Tell me how many men has she buried alive?”
3. Southern Rains/Mel Tillis
Music Choice Trivia: Mel Tillis enjoys gardening, cooking, fishing, and painting.
4. You and I/Eddie Rabbit and Crystal Gayle
This is the Classic Country station, right? Not Today’s Country?
This song is from Eddie Rabbit’s Greatest Hits. I suppose the term “greatest” is relative.
5. Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’/Charley Pride
Finally, some real country!
“You’ve got to kiss an angel good mornin’
and let her know you think about her when your gone
You’ve got to kiss an angel good mornin’
and love her like the devil when you get back home”
Posted on June 10, 2006
