By The Chicago Blues Network

Delmark recording artist and Chicago Blues Network faculty member Johnny Burgin and executive producer Stephanie Tice have launched the new No Border Blues video podcast, featuring Blues artists from Bollywood to Britain and beyond.
Burgin and Tice, passionate about their mission to elevate recognition of international Blues, spotlight artists who discuss the Blues scenes in their home countries and present intimate musical performances in their native languages as well as in English.
The 30-minute No Border Blues episodes air the 15th and last days of each month on the Chicago Blues Network YouTube channel.

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Posted on November 11, 2020

Bigger Than The Chicago Drill

“In the early hours of the morning on Friday, November 6, Dayvon Daquan Bennett, better known as the rapper King Von, was one of three men shot and killed during an altercation in Atlanta outside of a local hookah lounge,” Vulture’s Paul Thompson writes in King Von Was Building Something Bigger Than Chicago Drill. He Deserved to See It Through.
“A Chicago native, Von had moved to the city to further his career – Atlanta being, in some ways, the new capital of the hip-hop industry – and to avoid the harassment he said he faced in his home city from the Chicago police department and from personal enemies he accumulated over the years. Von was exactly one week removed from the release of his third album – the tense, cinematic Welcome to O’Block, set to be his breakthrough – for which there had been an album-release party on the night of his death. He was 26 and the father of two young children.”

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Posted on November 9, 2020

By Jennifer Shanahan/Chicago Literary Hall of Fame

A quarantine classic.

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Posted on November 4, 2020

via BSHQ

“With the rugged power of a flashy Super Chief locomotive, the Banditos‘ self-titled debut album bodaciously appropriates elements of ’60s blues-fused acid rock, ZZ Top’s jangly boogie, garage punk scuzz ala Burger Records, the Drive-By Truckers’ yawp, the populist choogle of CCR, Slim Harpo’s hip shake baby groove, the ebullient folk of electric Dylan, gut bucket Fat Possum hill country mojo and the Georgia Motherf**king Satellites.
“From backwoods bluegrass, to slinky nods to Muscle Shoals soul and unexpected bits of doo-wop sweetness, the Banditos recall many, but sound like no one but themselves.”

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Posted on October 30, 2020

By Parker Higgins/Freedom Of The Press Foundation

The popular free software project “youtube-dl” was removed from Github on Friday following a legal notice from the Recording Industry Association of America claiming it violates U.S. copyright law. According to the RIAA, the tool’s “clear purpose” includes reproducing and distributing “music videos and sound recordings . . . without authorization.”
In fact, youtube-dl is a powerful general purpose media tool that allows users to make local copies of media from a very broad range of sites. That versatility has secured it a place in the toolkits of many reporters, newsroom developers, and archivists. For now, the code remains available to download through youtube-dl’s own site, but the disruption of its development hub and the RIAA saber-rattling jeopardizes both the future of the software and the myriad journalistic workflows that depend on it.

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Posted on October 27, 2020

By Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Fender® stands to report the brand’s highest-ever year for sales in 2020 with individuals turning to music to occupy their time during quarantine and stay-at-home orders, as reported in the New York Times.
Last March, Fender gave away three months of free guitar, bass, and ukulele lessons via Fender Play® as an act of goodwill during the pandemic. Within a month, Fender Play’s user base grew nearly 500% to approximately 930,000 aspiring players learning on the app.
Recognizing this growing community of players, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) is bringing back this goodwill offer – three months of free Fender Play – through the end of 2020.

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Posted on October 26, 2020

By School of Rock

School of Rock, the leader in performance-based music education, is enhancing its proprietary curriculum to feature more music created by Black artists. The goal is to further educate students on the Black community’s history and central contributions to the development of Rock and Roll.
To start, School of Rock has added new feature shows to its performance-based curriculum. Each of these programs encompass 20-25 songs from Black artists. As part of the curriculum, students will learn to perform these songs and discover important lessons about the complex experience of marginalized communities. New shows include “Roots of the British Invasion,” “The Music of Memphis,” and “The Music of New Orleans.”

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Posted on October 12, 2020

By White Castle

White Castle, America’s first fast-food hamburger chain, has been an inspiration to artists and bands for decades. Next week, the home of The Original Slider® will celebrate titans of the music industry by inducting three extraordinary Cravers into its exclusive Cravers Hall of Fame.
Styx front man Tommy Shaw, renowned concert promoter Danny Zelisko and the late singer-songwriter John Prine will join fellow legends in the Castle halls of Crave.

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Posted on October 7, 2020

A 12-Piece Ensemble!

Chicago’s World Music Festival went virtual in September due to COVID-19.
The final installment was recorded at the Epiphany Center for the Arts on September 27. Here it is, with description heisted from the City of Chicago.
“The Chicago Immigrant Orchestra returns with a new vision under the direction of Fareed Haque and Wanees Zarour as a 12-piece ensemble of musicians from Chicago’s diverse immigrant community and representing music traditions from all over the world.
“Artists including Sophia Uddin (violin), Fareed Haque (guitar, keys, percussion), Hitesh Master (North Indian vocals), Juan Pastor (Latin percussion), Paul Cotton (African percussion), Richard Christian (tabla/dhol), Sam Tahiri (Persian vocals), Saraswathi Ranganathan (South Indian veena), Tamir Hargana (throat singer / horsehair fiddle), Tzu-Tzen Wu (Chinese ruan) Ugochi (Nigerian vocals), and Wanees Zarour (oud, buzuq, percussion).”

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Posted on October 5, 2020

By VladTV

“LaSheena Weekly, the mother of FBG Duck, sat down for her first-ever VladTV interview, where she addressed her son’s recent murder.
“She started out speaking about her personal life growing up in Chicago and becoming a mother as a teenager with FBG Duck’s older brother, the late FBG Brick. LaSheena then spoke about FBG Duck’s childhood and their family centering around their matriarch, the rapper’s late great-grandmother, who had a hand in raising LaSheena and FBG Duck.”

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Posted on September 30, 2020