Category: Music

The Coolest Spot in Chicago

A History of Green Mill Gardens and the Beginnings of Uptown By ROBERT LOERZEL Photographs by Robert Loerzel (except historic images) (Jump ahead to the TABLE OF CONTENTS) INTRODUCTION When Green Mill Gardens opened in June 1914, an advertisement called it “the coolest spot in Chicago.” That was surely just a reference to the temperature… Continue reading The Coolest Spot in Chicago

Documentary in the works on Jay Bennett

Pioneer Press/Arlington Heights Post, September 21, 2017 — Two filmmakers are working on a documentary about Jay Bennett, the multitalented musician from Arlington Heights who died in 2009, eight years after leaving the Chicago band Wilco. … Read my story for Pioneer Press. Photo: Michael Walker/Chicago Tribune

Wilmette’s Robbie Fulks up for first two Grammy Awards on Sunday

Pioneer Press, February 9, 2017 — When Robbie Fulks began making his 12th studio album, he set a lofty goal for himself. The country-folk singer-songwriter-guitarist, who lives in Wilmette, recalls saying: “It’s boring doing the same thing over and over again. So how can we raise the game?” That’s when he decided he’d try to… Continue reading Wilmette’s Robbie Fulks up for first two Grammy Awards on Sunday

2016 Winter Culture Guide

Crain’s Chicago Business, November 7, 2016 — Read about “The 52 Must-Do Events in Chicago This Season,” including my previews of the Tatsu Aoki, Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith, the Chicago Podcast Festival and Henry Darger exhibits.

Lawsuits aim to put iconic folk songs back in the public domain

ABA Journal, November 2016 — As he hitchhiked around the country in 1940, Woody Guthrie got sick of hearing Irving Berlin’s patriotic hit “God Bless America” on car radios and jukeboxes. So the itinerant folk singer penned his own anthem in response—with lyrics that challenged the concept of private property. He called the song “This Land.”… Continue reading Lawsuits aim to put iconic folk songs back in the public domain