The Week In Chicago Rock

Curation By The Beachwood Rock Local Affairs Desk

You shoulda been there.
1. Queens of the Stone Age at the Aragon on Monday night.

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“Queens of the Stone Age singer-guitarist Josh Homme towers over his band, the audience, his music,” Greg Kot writes for the Tribune.
“He’s an imposing figure in no-nonsense black shirt and jeans, with a scarf dangling from his back pocket like a tail or a talisman. He exudes don’t-mess-with-me presence.
“But the voice is softspoken and casual, the voice of a guy who spends a lot of time in wide open spaces with not a lot of company. When he sings, he doesn’t growl or threaten so much as croon, breaking out a falsetto that belies his imposing physical stature.

Posted on May 9, 2014

Eddie Shaw Blows His Way Into Blues Hall Of Fame

Chicago Tenor Saxist One Of The Greats

“Howlin’ Wolf shouted and moaned like a man large enough to whip any demon. But this blues hero also possessed incredible control, and in the 1960s and ’70s he relied on saxophonist Eddie Shaw’s arrangements to support his unmistakable voice,” Aaron Cohen writes for the Tribune.

“If you write something, you have to put it together right,” Shaw said about arranging. “You can make a presentation to a woman and put it in a way that’ll make her say, ‘I don’t want to speak with this guy no more.’ Or you can use the same words, put them in a correct order and she’ll want to hang with you.”

“Shaw has lived fully enough during his 77 years to devise an array of such metaphors, which he revealed over cups of tea at a Mexican diner. This month, he is being recognized for his life’s accomplishments as an inductee in the Memphis-based Blues Hall Of Fame.”

Posted on May 7, 2014

Local Music Notebook: Wayne “The Train” Hancock Derailed

Plus: Michael Jackson’s “Chicago”

Bloodshot recording artist Wayne “The Train” Hancock hopes to go home on Friday after a motorcycle accident last month landed him in a Texas hospital near his home with a collapsed lung and fractured elbow.
The accident occurred a week ago Saturday (April 26) and was serious enough that Hancock was initially admitted into the ICU.
His tour dates through June 8 are postponed.
“As with most independent musicians,” Bloodshot says, “Wayne’s income is wholly derived from performances and selling music and merch. Please help him offset growing medical expenses and the additional financial woes of canceling two months of tour dates, by donating on PayPal to waynehancockfund@gmail.com.”
Here’s Wayne at the Westport Saloon in Kansas City on April 4th:

Posted on May 6, 2014