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The CHIRP Blog
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Brian Jones Edition
Today is the birthday of the founding member of one the biggest bands in rock history, The Rolling Stones. Brian Jones had a serious jones for the blues. After learning to play saxophone at a young age, he got his first guitar at 17, all the better for taking with him when he dropped out of school to busk through Europe. He eventually moved to London, where he was on the ground floor of a burgeoning blues scene, and he performed under the name Elmo Lewis. It was in 1962 when the pieces of The Rolling Stones came together, with Jones coming up with the name. Indeed, Jones was the original leader of the band, getting gigs, promoting shows and negotiating rates (for which he paid himself an extra five bob a week). While Mick Jagger and Keith Richards eventually supplanted Jones as the driving force of the band, Jones' multi-instrumental talents can be found all over the Stones' catalog. But he became further estranged from the band, began seriously abusing drugs and was out by 1969. Not long after, he was found drowned in a swimming pool. Jones' life took a terrible turn, but his contributions to music cannot be denied. In his honor, 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 Feb. 28 to Thursday Mar. 6
(Weekly Voyages is CHIRP Radio's listing of concerts in Chicago at select venues. Information about tickets can be obtained from the venues' Web sites. Do you have corrections or updates for this list? Send us an e-mail.)
Friday February 28
Pisces at the Animal Farm, The Gnar, Old Irving, Mirror Coat, The Mraz Volta
Beat Kitchen 9pm 21+
Royal Teeth
Bottom Lounge 9pm
Vintage Blue, Markit 8, Dave Tamkin Trio, Cut Out Kids
Double Door 8pm, 8- 21+
Gripin w/Twenty7
Elbo Room 8:30pm, 21+
The Hoyle Brothers
Empty Bottle 5:30pm, 21+
Amanda Roszkowski writesCheck out Into It. Over It. at Bottom Lounge this Saturday March 1st!
Chicago has always had an active underground Punk scene, and alongside the emo revival of a few years ago, Into It. Over It. was crafted. The one man-band and birth-child of Chicago indie-rock veteran Evan Thomas Weiss has picked up where bands like Sunny Real Estate and American Football left off years before, bringing Emo back to life. Since 2001 Evan has played, written, recorded and performed in several bands including The Progress, Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start, Map The Growth and Stay Ahead Of The Weather. Now, with his first one man-band attempt-act, he presents his music acoustic-style and encourages the audience to sing along.
This Saturday, March 1st, come see Evan’s one-man band perform at Bottom Lounge for an all ages show starting a 6:30PM in support of their latest album, Intersections. The show will kick off with several other bands, including The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, and Kittyhawk. Buy tickets here!
Amanda Roszkowski writesJoin CHIRP for Marshall Crenshaw & the Bottle Rockets at The Old Town School of Folk Music!
Although he was was often called the latter-day Buddy Holly, Marshall Crenshaw demonstrated throughout his career how he was one-of-a-kind and no one but himself – one of the long-running kings of roots rock. His debut album, Marshall Crenshaw, became known as a pop masterpiece when it was released in 1982 and this record gave birth to the Top 40 single “Someday, Someway.” His compositions have been covered by an array of different artists including Bette Midler, Kelly Willis, Robert Gordan, Ronnie Spector, Marti Jones and the Gin Blossoms – proving the devotion and diversity of his loyal fan base.
This Friday, February 28th, come see Crenshaw in action as he teams up with seminal alt-country stalwarts, The Bottle Rockets, who will play an opening act as well as perform as Crenshaw’s backing band. Concerts are at 7 and 10 PM at The Old Town School of Folk and Music. Get your tickets here and come say hello to us at the CHIRP booth!
Mike Bennett writesFriday iPod/MP3 Shuffle—Happy Birthday Jake Burns Edition
Today, let’s pay tribute to an original punk rocker, who spent some time in Chicago. I’m talking about Jake Burns, the lead singer for the incendiary Northern Irish punk rock band Stiff Little Fingers. Jake got his start in a covers band, but when punk hit, his band morphed into a group call The Fast. That didn’t last long, as they learned the name had already been taken, so they named themselves after a Vibrators song. They got good really quick – their first single was the classic “Suspect Device”. By early 1979, they charted with their first album, the first of a string of intelligent, socially aware punk albums. After originally splitting in 1982, they got back together in 1987 and have been around just about ever since with Jake being the one constant over the years. Jake lived in Chicago for a while, because he married a woman who lived here. One of my cooler rock fan moments was getting an email from Jack Rabid of The Big Takeover Magazine asking if I wanted to hang out. Turned out he was in town for Jake’s wedding, and the reception was held at Jake’s Pub on Clark St. in Lincoln Park. I ended up sitting at a table for a while with Jack, Jake and John Kezdy of The Effigies. Only in Chicago! So let’s celebrate Jake’s birthday by getting your iPod, hitting shuffle and sharing the first 10 songs that come up.