this monday at the hideout
My guest is the widely beloved Steve Dawson, and we'll sing and play a borderless mix of songwriter music (e.g. ours), rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and country.
this monday at the hideout
It's the Pussycat Trio, which is Robbie Gjersoe, Beau Sample, and me. As usual, we'll do midcentury jazz, R&B, and country, and a couple of my tunes too.
the infancy of 2015 continues
Thanks for the couple of comments on my recent post about various projects. By way of reply, the large digital album I'm working on, a la 50-vc. Doberman, will be close to as many songs (50) as the older album contained. Could be exactly 50, or 49, or 52, we'll have to see. I guess my first thought was to go one higher or lower so I could retain the fabulous and widely beloved brand-name and just change the number.
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I'll do a set of Jesse Winchester songs in honor of the eccentric master (and, by the way, what isn't much acknowledged, a triple-threat dude, as natural and grooving as his nylon-strung guitar picking was; it's regrettable that his brand-name producers built castles around him rather than letting his own hands do more of the work) who died last April. The material will range from his first record in 1970 to his last, the posthumous release from 2014, though there will be a noticeable hump in the mid-period recordings, which are most familiar to me and most embedded. Playing with me will be Gerald Dowd, Steve Dawson, Brian Wilkie, Scott Stevenson, and, as special guest, Ingrid Graudins.
this monday at the hideout
I'll be duetting with Justin Roberts. Looks like we'll be touching on some of his certifiably excellent songs for children, as well as others written by us both; and we'll be picking out some interesting covers. As far as the child-friendly question that's come up on previous Justin Hideouts, the show won't be expressly aimed at youngsters, since it'll have some kids'-themed music in it here and there, and won't be obscene, it could be entertaining for certain children, those not very impatient or poorly reared.
2015, a look ahead
Other projects I'm working on this year: a follow-up to 50-vc. Doberman, a reversioning of Bob Dylan's Street Legal, plans to produce records on two artists, live performances here and there of Jenny Scheinman's score to the moving-portraiture documentary Kannapolis, a play, some duo touring with Redd Volkaert, and the usual touring with the usual shifting cast. That's kind of a lot for 12 months, mostly because of the writing, which eats up a ton of time.
Read Moremichael shannon is back
Nerds! This Friday night, January 9, I'll be with Michael at the Cabaret Metro, performing a set of Lou Reed songs (all VU-era).
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Steve Frisbie and I will sing nice harmony songs.
end-of-year update
There will be walk-up tix available for both shows, tonight's and tomorrow's, so don't let my previous gloom-and-doom deter you in case you were thinking of coming but haven't yet bought in.
Read Moreend-of-year show, 2014 edition
It's that time of year again, when I urgently encourage all who are thinking of attending my year-end blowout at Fitzgeralds to buy tickets in advance. This year we added a second night, in the hopes that we wouldn't have to turn people away at the door, as we have for several years running now. We (Bill Fitzgerald and I) were a little nervous about jumping from the comfy surplus scenario to the pressure of having to draw 750-odd people. However, as of now, advance sales for both Friday the 26th and Saturday the 27th are approximately where they've been at this point in the past -- we're a little over halfway to sold-out both nights. So, as usual, I'm not sure which scenario to be concerned about: that we're not closer to all-the-way sold-out, or that once again we may be turning away some poor souls at the door. Best all around for both your peace of mind and mine to buy now rather than wait.
Link to tickets for Friday's show: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=5453465&pl=
And for Saturday's: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=5453515&pl=
There'll be a set of satire/music/sketch and a set of plain music, as usual. On stage will be Scott Stevenson (doing a vicious Pat Quinn impersonation, I must say), Beau Sample, Robbie Gjersoe, Gerald Dowd, Joe Dempsey, and me. It's $20 and starts at 9.
WGN tonight
I'll be a guest on Dave Hoekstra's show tonight around 10:30.
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Shania! A Holiday Treat! Join Gerald Dowd, Chris Neville, Keely Vasquez, Tawny Newsome, Scott Tipping, Jon Langford, Liam Davis, Nora O'Connor, me, and maybe even more people, as we put paid to the fifth year of my Monday residency with a set of songs by the empress of late 20th-c. country-pop music.
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Jesus Christ Trio, with Steve Dawson and Diane Christiansen. Much like decorated trees, gift giving, pie eating, and powerful, chest-heaving sobs, a December tradition.
Read Morethis monday at the hideout + station inn
Good grief, this is last-minute, but Greg Cahill joins me tonight, and the two of us will play guitar-banjo and banjo-banjo music. Rumor has it that Ollie O'Shea, the heroic fiddler, trad-country expert, drug lord, multiple shooting victim, fez champion, and certifiable lunatic will be dropping by to play. The usual "Warning: Traditional Bluegrass Music Will Be Played During Tonight's Performance" signs will be posted in the Hideout foyer.
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Robbie Gjersoe and I do our thing.
end of year, etc.
This year we're adding a second night to our annual year-end comedy & music bash at FitzGeralds of Berwyn.
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It's plain old country music, as I front Chicago's premier honky-tonk outfit The Hoyle Brothers.
this monday at the hideout
I play duets with Don Stiernberg. Country, bluegrass, swing, fiddle tunes.
this monday at the hideout
Me + my old friend and inspirer Gerald Dowd play diets. I mean duets! We'll play mostly songs from his new record, and fill it out with some of mine and some backcountry tunes.
fulksy news roundup
Couple things happening with me at present:
Foo Fighter Promo Ballyhoo. While the Fighters were in town for a show, their guitarist, Chris Shiflett, interviewed me for his podcast at the Bloodshot office. You just never know what strange thing is going to happen next; Mr. Shiflett is a country music devotee, and knows his stuff. We talked about such matters as Redd Volkaert, Steve Albini, and my fateful fork in the career road back in the early 1990s, between Bloodshot Records and Music City USA. I'll post more info on how to hear it, when it comes to me.
Andrew Bird Co-Chair Plastic Single Dance Delirium. Bloodshot, the concern just mentioned, is fixing to release a spiffy looking 45-RPM record of Andrew Bird covering me ("I'll Trade You Money for Wine") and, on the other side, me covering Andrew ("Core and Rind"). Nora O'Connor sings on both, a fantastic coincidence. I can't honestly vouch for how good my track is, but Andrew's cover of me is a real success -- you can hear it on Time.com, where it's streaming free right now.
Bonkers Lifelong Tour Soldiers On. I won't be at the Hideout on the coming Monday, but I will be various other places the next several days: Asheville, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, District of Columbia...does it go on all the way down the alphabet? Doubt it, but check the tour sidebar and see! I'll be quartet: Robbie Gjersoe, Shad Cobb, and the mighty Todd Phillips. I've listened to and loved Todd's playing since I was 13, and am thrilled to share the stage with him. Come on out and see how instruments sound played into mikes.