Category: Music

Grace Slick Q&A

This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press on September 6, 2007. Grace Slick hasn’t sung on a stage since 1989. These days, the former vocalist for Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship spends her time drawing and painting. Slick will make appearances Sept. 8 and 9 at the Wentworth Gallery in Schaumburg’s Woodfield… Continue reading Grace Slick Q&A

Windy City drone

This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Signal to Noise magazine’s fall 2007 issue. As a steady hum rose from the ten musicians in the loose ensemble known as DRMWPN, a flickering glow filled Chicago’s Empty Bottle. The “Dreamachine” was on. Invented in 1959 by artist Brion Gysin and scientist Ian Sommerville, the Dreamachine is… Continue reading Windy City drone

Wanda Jackson Q&A

This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press on May 9, 2007. Fifty years after she first hit the country and rock charts, singer Wanda Jackson is winning over a whole new generation of fans. Jackson played alongside Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis in the 1950s, arguably becoming the first woman to… Continue reading Wanda Jackson Q&A

When the Who came to town

This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Pioneer Press on March 1, 2007. Once upon a time, a brash young rock band from England descended on Chicago’s northwest suburbs, smashing guitars and making a loud and rebellious racket. Forty years later, fans vividly remember when The Who came to town. The surviving members of… Continue reading When the Who came to town

Frida Hyvönen Q&A

This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Punk Planet’s March-April 2007 issue. Frida Hyvönen didn’t hear many records when she was growing up in Robertsfors, a town of 3,000 people in the north of Sweden. Hyvönen, who was born in 1977, did hear her parents performing their own renditions of songs by Bob Dylan… Continue reading Frida Hyvönen Q&A

My Brightest Diamond Q&A

This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in Punk Planet’s January-February 2007 issue. See Underground Bee for a longer version of this Q&A. A year ago, Shara Worden’s biggest claim to fame was singing and playing in Sufjan Stevens’ band—duties that included dressing up as a cheerleader for the Illinoise tour. Worden, a classically trained… Continue reading My Brightest Diamond Q&A

Buddy Guy Q&A

This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in The Daily Southtown on December 24, 2006. For years, Chicago blues fans could count on one thing happening every January — Buddy Guy would play a marathon series of concerts at his Chicago nightclub. But when Guy, an Orland Park resident, performs 18 shows next month at… Continue reading Buddy Guy Q&A

Tom Waits: 2006 concert review

This article by Robert Loerzel originally appeared in The Daily Southtown on August 21, 2006. As Tom Waits and his musicians approached the Auditorium Theatre’s stage Wednesday night, their shadows loomed high on the curtains, like specters in a haunted house. Even in the flesh and blood, Waits seemed supernatural. Twitchily gesturing with his outstretched fingers,… Continue reading Tom Waits: 2006 concert review