By Matt Harness
Team player Exene Cervenka’s first solo album since 1991 is now available for pre-sale.
Cervenka’s sound is analogous to Bloodshot’s backbone as there is no clear way to categorize her music, which ranges from punk to folk.
I caught back up with Exene, who also is an acclaimed visual artist, this summer after hearing her contributions with John Doe, her former bandmate in the L.A. punk band X. Doe teamed up with The Sadies, a Bloodshot band, to release Country Club in the spring. The album is Doe’s chance to finally run down the country road after a life cross-dressing punk and country. Thing is, the themes are the same.
Which brings me to The Sadies.

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Posted on September 25, 2009

By The Beachwood Backstreets Bureau
From his Sunday night show at the United Center.
Thunder Road

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Born to Run

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Posted on September 23, 2009

By Matt Harness
* The music.
* The belt sander races. Won by Brian Urbanik’s Toast-Terror. Bio and photos welcome.
* Jeff won the drunken spelling bee. He couldn’t spell his last name. Help requested.
* The Beer-B-Q rolls into Austin this weekend at the Yard Dog Gallery.

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Posted on September 17, 2009

Matt Harness
There’s probably not a better choice than Rick Sherry to kick off Saturday’s Bloodshot Records’ party at the Hideout.
After all, Sherry and his former band Devil in a Woodpile played every Tuesday at the bar since as far back as 2003 when I moved to Chicago. The band recently broke up, but Sherry dug into his past and formed Sanctified Grumblers with renowned roots-rocker and finger-picker Eric Noden, a longtime friend and playing partner.
Beachwood Music: What’s your connection to Chicago?
Rick Sherry: I moved here in the late 1980s. The chick I was with, and now married to, was from here, and she pulled me to this beautiful cosmopolitan life. I am from Upstate New York. I then went to college in Iowa at Grinnell. That’s what first got me to the Midwest.
Beachwood Music: Which neighborhood did you first settle in here?
Rick Sherry: My first place was on Clybourn just north of Fullerton. I guess that’s Lincoln Park now, but it was a much different scene then. It was industrial and there were a lot of rats. Now, I’m in Logan Square.

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Posted on September 11, 2009

By Matt Harness
The Bloodshot bandwagon pulls into Philly this week for the final warm-up before heading to the Hideout on Sept. 12 for the hometown party.
If you are going to the Elston getaway, you already know about the musical acts, headlined by the indefatigable Waco Brothers.
But Nan Warshaw, Rob Miller and Hideout officials have also cooked up a recipe of auxiliary activities if you care to rest your legs from the dance party on Wabansia.
Namely, belt-sander races and a drunken spelling bee.
Let’s break ’em both down.

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Posted on September 4, 2009

By Matt Harness
A darling of the local music scene back in the 1990s, Moonshine Willy is back together to help Bloodshot celebrate its 15th birthday party on September 12 at the Hideout.
Founded by Mike Luke, Kim Docter and Nancy Rideout, the band grew to an oversized outfit, now counting more than dozen alumni. Then life – specifically songwriter Kim Luke’s first pregnancy – interrupted Willy and the band eased into retirement as the decade closed. Willy recorded three LPs with Bloodshot before hanging out the closed sign.
Mike and Kim now reside in Santa Cruz, but they are coming back to Chicago to reunite with old friends and play some music.
Beachwood Music recently caught up with Kim.

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Posted on August 28, 2009

By Matt Harness
Depending on who’s counting, Lean Forward is the Bottle Rockets’ 10th studio album; their third with Bloodshot Records. Their last effort, Zoysia came out in 2006, so it’s about time these guitar-driven rockers – whose sound is reminiscent of gravel in a blender – returned with some new material.
Released to positive reviews on August 11th, the record rocketed to No. 1 on the sales chart of the Alliance of Independent Media Stores in its first week. (The Alliance is comprised of 28 stores in 21 cities with the goal of highlighting independent music.)
And that’s without the help of Chicago’s independent record stores, who have never cooperated with AIM, according to Alliance ringleader Eric Levin, of Criminal Records in Atlanta.
So much for the record stores. Let’s take a look at what the critics have to say about Lean Forward.

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Posted on August 20, 2009

By Matt Harness
It’s been a slow last couple of weeks for Bloodshot bands in Chicago. But here are some treats in the lead-up to the label’s 15th Anniversary Beer-B-Q at the Hideout next month. Look for plenty more stuff in the next few weeks as Beachwood Music has been busy piecing together a series of previews, including a look inside the Moonshine Willy reunion.
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Artists: Dollar Store and Meat Purveyors
Date: August 20
Venue: Abandoned Convent
Samples:

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Posted on August 14, 2009

By The Beachwood Nigerian Affairs Desk
Act now!

Greetings,

I am Ms. Britney Rowley, a co-recording producer for late Michael Jackson the great legend King of Pop who has just passed away on June 25, 2009. While I was working with Mr. Jackson, he deposited some funds for charitable trust organizations with a secured private institution and up till date nobody knows about the existence of these funds.
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Posted on August 13, 2009

By E1 Music
Randy Bachman has become a legendary figure in the rock and roll world through his talents as a guitarist, songwriter, performer and producer. He has earned over 120 gold and platinum album/singles awards around the world for performing and producing, and he’s coming to Schaumburg on September 5th at the Septemberfest. He’s available for advance phoners on Tuesday, August 18th from 1 p.m. EST to 3 p.m. EST – please let me know if you’re interested in talking to one of music’s greatest performers, need any jpegs, tickets, and we’ll talk soon!
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Have songs, will travel. That’s Canadian music icon Randy Bachman’s motto. As one of the most respected songwriters in popular music, the legendary guitarist and founder of the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive has logged a lot of miles over the years.
Whether rock, pop, country or jazz, Randy has worked with many of the finest tunesmiths in the music business. His track record as a songwriter is staggering with more than a dozen Top 20 singles to his credit including three Billboard #1 singles – “American Woman,” “No Sugar Tonight,” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (a #1 record in over 20 countries) – and two Billboard #1 albums: American Woman and Not Fragile.

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Posted on August 11, 2009