Slumgullion

Would you let this man write a bedtime story for your kid?

Photo from the Keith Richards Facebook page.

First a quick recap of some shows that were mentioned in last week’s Slumgullion that are taking place this weekend: The Viaducts will be at Junior’s in the Pilsen neighborhood. There will be a St. Patrick’s Day Party Fundraiser Benefit for Keralee Froebel at Ancien Cycles on Milwaukee Avenue. Ms. Froebel will also be on the bill, performing with Daniel Connelly. Other acts include Carla Hayden and James Moeller; Royal Sons Of A Gun; Cynthia Marchant, Gregg Mandell, and Tom Burdick; Bill Hyland; and Ketherine Chronis. Kevin Lee And The Kings will be bringing their hard-edged power pop to JD Muggs in Addison, along with Psycho Sister and Pete Berwick and the Renegades.

The Abbey Pub has a double dose of Irish celebrating coming up in the next few days. The 40th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Party will run from 1:00 PM to 1:00 AM on Saturday, with music by fonn more; Fitz And The Celts; and The Great Whiskey Project. The northwest side club resumes the fun at 12 noon on Monday, with its 40th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Fest. The Irish music on that day will be provided by Mulligan Stew; Tony, Aaron, and Rebecca from The Tossers; and Kevin Flynn And The Avondale Ramblers.

Techno songs about rainbows. On St. Patrick’s Day. DJ Samorama will be serving up “Muppety songs and videos” at Club Foot, 182 W. Augusta this coming Monday night.

The Factory Theatre is holding Hey! Dancin! Hey Musical! The Launch Party at Chief O’Neill’s Pub And Restaurant next Thursday, March 20th. The play was originally staged at Factory in 2010, with original music intended to remind audiences of Heart, The Pointer Sisters, and Glenn Frey. The Launch Party will offer an opportunity to meet the cast members, and there will be a raffle and contest.

As mentioned earlier here on BHT, Mike Cohen and Jeff Janulis from the Chicago power pop band The Abbeys will unveil their new side project WhatEverly Bros with a Phil Everly Tribute show at SPACE in Evanston next Thursday March 20th. Singer-songwriter Dave Ramont will be their opening act A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Phil Everly Memorial Fund. 

One week from tonight, on Friday, March 21st, Magatha Trysty will be part of a showcase at Metro that also includes Hero Monster Zero, The Lost Brigade, Jeff Brown And The New Black, and Kathy Grenholdt. Magatha Trysty guitarist-vocalist Chris Bevard was a guest on WLUW’s Razor And Die show earlier today. The band also has an important gig coming up at The Red Line Tap on April 19th, when it returns to International Pop Overthrow - Chicago.

You can see a David Bowie tribute just for one day. “Heroes” The Music Of David Bowie takes place at Parlour on Clark Street next Saturday, March 22nd. Local artists covering The Thin White Duke include John Mead, Jane Hanna, John San Juan, Alton Smith, Lindsay Cochran, and Peter Manis. Admission is $7, Parlour is located at 6341 North Clark Street. 

Or you could be struck by the hammer of the gods next Saturday. Led Zeppelin 2 will be performing Zep’s landmark double LP Physical Graffiti in its entirety at House Of Blues. Led Zeppelin 2 is fronted by Bruce Lamont, who has logged time with the underground metal bands Yakuza, Bloodiest and Corrections House. 

The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times recently reported that Keith Richards has written a children’s book titled Gus And Me: The Story Of My GrandDad And My First Guitar. At my bi-monthly writers meetings, we frequently critique children’s books, and over the years, I’ve met a variety of aspiring authors and illustrators. None of them were at all like Keith. It would have been fun to see him mumbling a short description of his story as he passed out Xerox copies, and then hear him read it out loud in that gravelly, often-imitated voice. I don’t know if Keith has any more children’s books up his sleeve, but if he does, here’s an open invitation to run it by my group.

Congratulations to Katie Sparks from my writer’s group on getting her Middle Grade novel Reality Natalie published. It’s due out at the end of this year. Sparks is now part of a growing number of people from my writers group who have had their work published, including Kym Brunner, Cherie Colyer, Susan Kaye Quinn, Mike Kelley, Marian Cheatham, and Terri Murphy. Colyer is having an online launch of her third Young Adult novel, Challenging Destiny, from March 27th to April 4th.

I’ve been reading an advanced copy of Holly George Warren’s new biography of Alex Chilton, A Man Called Destruction, with the intention of posting a review here on BHT in the near future. Warren’s account of Chilton’s teenage years would make a great Young Adult novel or movie. He loved sharing his obsession with blues and jazz with friends, smoked and drank, and actively cultivated an outsider status. I’m sure things will get even more interesting when Warren starts to cover his music career.

Zombies front man Colin Blunstone will be performing at City Winery along with Edward Rogers on May 15th.