Category: Music

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

Waco Brothers release first album in 11 years

Pioneer Press, February 16, 2016 — The Waco Brothers used to make studio records at a fairly brisk pace — releasing seven albums from 1995 to 2005 with their rousing mix of punk guitar riffs and country twang. “We thought it was a really solid string of records,” recalls Jon Langford, a singer-guitarist in the… Continue reading Waco Brothers release first album in 11 years