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The CHIRP Blog
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Richard Rodgers Edition
Today we pay tribute to a giant of American popular music, composer Richard Rodgers. He is the first person to garner an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and a Tony award. Oh, and he won the Pulitzer Prize too. Teaming with Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenzo Hart (each who penned lyrics), Rodgers composed some of the greatest melodies in American popular song. From “My Funny Valentine” to “The Lady Is a Tramp” to the amazing run of musicals he did with Hammerstein (Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound Of Music), Richard Rodgers’ music has had so much impact and still delights audiences to this day. So in honor of Mr. Rodgers, please grab your iPod or MP3 player, hit shuffle and share the first 10 songs that come up.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesWeekly Voyages: Friday 06/28 to Thursday 07/04
(Do you have corrections or updates for this list? Send us an e-mail.)
Friday June 28
Sean Shiel
Abbey Pub 9pm, 21+
Chris Tiritilli, North of Eight, Matias
Beat Kitchen 10pm, 21+
DJ Pogo, DJ Kamar
Beauty Bar 21+
Walter Trout
Bottom Lounge 7pm
Fresh Hops, The New Fuse, The Great I Am, Brothers Rage
Double Door 8pm, 21+
The Hoyle Brothers
Empty Bottle 5:30pm, 21+
Sarah Derer writesCome to the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival this Weekend!
They had me at “pop-up cocktail bars”.
Yes, it’s time to welcome summer once more with the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, running from this Friday, June 28th through Sunday, June 30th, in lovely Logan Square. There will be bands you like, including a set by The Cairo Gang, whom The Chicago Reader recently christened the “Best Rock Band” in Chicago at 2pm on Saturday. Go to that. There will be food to enjoy as you mill about Milwaukee Avenue—the festival has terrific offerings from some of the best restaurants in the area, including Longman & Eagle, Lula, and newcomer Parsons Chicken & Fish. Who doesn’t enjoy eating off a paper plate and sucking down a grown-up beverage from a pop-up cocktail bar while checking out what the local arts scene has to offer? I know this gal does. Plus, CHIRP Radio will be there so come and say hello!
The festival runs Friday, 5pm-10pm, Saturday, noon-10pm, and Sunday, noon-10pm. There is a $5 suggested donation.
Maddie Hannes writesCelebrate CHIRP’s Whole Foods 5% Day with Lots of Delicious Food
All of us at CHIRP feel honored and thrilled to have been selected as the recipient of Whole Foods 5% Day this Wednesday, June 26. All five Chicago Whole Foods stores are donating 5% of the day's profits to CHIRP, and I couldn't be happier — or hungrier. To prepare for the intense level of grocery shopping I'm going to do, I've neatly arranged all my reusable tote bags by the door, and I've planned out all the meals I'm going to make with my spoils. There's one dish I'm particularly excited to eat—it's a proven seasonal crowd-pleaser and stupid-easy to prepare, and most importantly: DELICIOUS AS ALL HECK.
Grab your tote bags, get out your shopping list and add to it the ingredients for Banh Mi Pork Burgers.
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Ray Davies Edition
Ray Davies is one of the most important figures in ‘60s rock music. He’d be deserving praise if he had only written “Waterloo Sunset”, which former Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau called (and I’m paraphrasing) the best song in the English language. Utilizing the same blues and rock ‘n’ roll influences as his British Invasion counterparts, Davies (with the help of brother Dave) created some of the first riff rock on classics like “You Really Got Me”, planting the seeds for heavy metal and punk. He quickly advanced to more sophisticated territory. In so doing, he got away from aping American sounds (especially vocally) and really creating a British vocabulary for rock music. His initial observational songwriting was closer to Dylan in spirit, but soon he was creating lovely vignettes that touched on specific experiences that were sometimes witty and sometime poignant. While their commercial prospects waned somewhat, The Kinks reeled off one of the great album sequences in history, from Face To Face to Something Else to Village Green Preservation Society to Arthur (and one could argue Lola... too). Davies’ influence loomed large on many British acts, including XTC, Madness and Blur, inspiring even more classic music. Of course, he couldn’t keep up that pace, but he is still a warm and wonderful live performer and still might have classic song or two in him. Let’s celebrate Ray’s birthday by grabbing your iPod or MP3 player, hitting shuffle and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.