Let’s have a look-see.
Out On Redmoon Records
Some of the material on Tortoise’s new record, The Catastrophist, was commissioned by the City of Chicago “to help celebrate that town’s musical history.”
Prairie State Freakout
“For [The Redemptions’] debut record, Broken Hearts and Shattered Glass . . . [Anthony] Fama has focused the lyrical content on his follies in love. While he doesn’t shy away from his other mistakes, like flipping out on drugs at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and having a whole wing shut down due to his behavior.”
Chicago Still Touring
Hard habit to break.
Chicago Blues Brothers Still Touring
Who are these guys, at this point?
T’Pau’s Geography Lesson
“We found a studio near Chicago called Royal Recorders. It was part of a golfing hotel complex that had been owned by Hugh Heffner . . . All I heard when Siren told us where we were recording was ‘Chicago!’ Having been raised in sleepy Shropshire and having had a huge crush on those iconic American cities, it was a dream come true. I could see myself cruising round The Windy City, having happy hour cocktails in cool bars downtown, jogging round Lake Michigan even though I hated jogging.
“We said goodbye to the fields and cows and small towns of Shropshire and flew out to Chicago O’Hare International.
“We were picked up by the studio staff in a couple of vehicles and began our drive to Royal Recorders. As the tall glass shards of Chicago’s gleaming sky scrapers faded into the distance, I started to get a bit worried. After a two-hour drive we were in Lake Geneva Wisconsin, a small country town surrounded by fields and cows.
“I had not picked up on the word ‘near’ Chicago.”
Special Consensus
“Chicago might be the last place one would expect to find a Grammy Award-nominated bluegrass group.
“After all, that metropolis is more closely associated with blues, jazz and classic rock. But banjo player Greg Cahill, co-founder of the acoustic bluegrass quartet The Special Consensus, said his band’s success is proof that the genre is alive and well in the Windy City.”
Go Big, Go Dumb
Muse’s New Album, Chicago Show Drones On.
Radioheadliners
Lolla’s big get?
Wilco Impresses Pittsburgh
Including “an acoustic six-song second encore, reaching deep into their instrument bag for banjo, xylophone and melodica.”
Guitars Over Guns
“While pursuing his dream of a career in music, Phil Jacobson and some college friends are planting similar aspirations in children growing up in a far more vulnerable environment than the Buffalo Grove community that nurtured him.
“Jacobson and friends are teaching music to inner-city kids through a program called Guitars Over Guns. Launched in North Miami, Florida, in 2008 and recently exported to Chicago, the after-school program pairs professional musicians with at-risk kids and offers music as a substitute for less positive influences they might otherwise encounter.”
–
Comments welcome.
Posted on January 27, 2016