Slumgullion

I was going to begin with some bits on St. Patrick’s Day festivities, but they ran a little long so I moved them to a separate post that will appear shortly after this one.

Several musical guests, including Ted Aliota, Jay Goeppner, Mike Bruccoleri, and Patti Pendergast will be joining vocalist Jimy Sohns at The Blues Bar in Mt. Prospect tomorrow night, March 14th for the 50th Anniversary Shadows Of Knight bash. Former Shadows Of Knight members Danny Baughman, Norm Gotsch, and Bob Bostanche will also be helping commemorate the Chicago-based garage rock band, which spun a take on Them’s “Gloria” into gold back in 1965.

Echoes Of Chicago is celebrating the city’s 178th birthday on March 28th by bringing over 50 artists, three bands, and a marketplace to the 3rd floor of the Block Thirty Seven - Shops On State space at 108 N. State Street. The hip-hop band Prelude To A Million will serves as Masters Of Ceremony. Artists interested in submitting work can find info on the Echoes Of Chicago website. Vendors and artisans are also being encouraged to participate. I was at the Chicago Birthday celebration Echoes Of Chicago held last year on Damen Avenue, and it was a lot of fun.

Mooner, an indie rock band whose “Making Americans” single and Unpronounceable Name EP drew favorable reviews here on BHT, will be part of a free evening of rock dubbed SUXS Fest 2015 at Cole’s Bar on Milwaukee Avenue next Friday, March 20th. Band member Lee Ketch informed me via an email that Mooner will be “debuting a new song or two.” Singer-songwriter Dann Morr, Post Child, and Arts and Letters are also on the bill.

The Record Store Day website revealed its list of one-day-only releases for 2015’s event earlier this week. Once again, it offers exciting choices in just about every genre you could imagine. Some of the bigger names involved include Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Jeff Beck, The Kinks, Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra, Air, Gregg Allman, Chet Atkins, Black Star (Mos Def and Talib Kweli), Blitzen Trapper,  Blue Oyster Cult, Buzzcocks, Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, Cypress Hill, Deep Purple, The Dixie Cups, The Doors, The Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Florence + The Machine, Gerry Garcia, Marvin Gaye, Dolly Parton, Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, Jimi Hendrix, Herman’s Hermits, Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift, Joan Jett, Justin Townes Earle, and many others.

Speaking of rare and really cool vinyl: The Seventh Ring Of Saturn the neo-psychedelic band whose engaging and atmospheric cover of “All The World Is Love” was one of the many highlights on the Fruits de Mer indie label’s Hollies tribute album Re-Evolution, plans to release that song, along with a “bubblegum rock” cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Mountains Of The Moon” on a seven-inch glow-in-the-dark vinyl 45 sometime around May. In the meantime, The Seventh Ring Of Saturn is ready to release its second album Ormythology.

Lloyd Cole will be performing at the Old Town School of Folk Music next Friday, March 20th.

The Church continues to tour America in support of its new Further/Deeper release, with a concert tonight at the Bowery Ballroom in New York, and upcoming dates in Brooklyn, Raleigh, Atlanta, and Austin. The Australian band will be busy at this year’s SXSW, with an interview conducted by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke; an Official Showcase, a Waterloo Records Day Party; a hotel performance; and a free showcase.

   

We may not have Wild Honey’s all-star Beatles tributes here in Chicago but we do have the always reliable Tributosaurus. Having run through The Beatles’ entire catalog with album showcases over the past few years, Tributosaurus will return to Rubber Soul and Revolver for a special WXRT sponsored all ages show on April 12th at the Copernicus Center. Partial proceeds will benefit the Betty Hemmert Music Scholarship Fund.

Singer-guitarist Gerry O’Keefe has a return engagement at Tannins Wine Bar in Elmhurst next Friday, Narch 20th.

The Bangles have announced a series of live performances coming up this spring, including ones at West Hollywood, San Juan Capistrano, and Solana Beach in California; Nashville, and Atlanta.

Chicago’s critically acclaimed alt rock/country band Dolly Varden will celebrate its 20th Anniversary with a special concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music on May 2nd. The official Facebook announcement from Dolly Varden, which is led by the husband and wife team of vocalist-guitarist Steve Dawson and vocalist-guitarist Diane Christiansen, promises “We’ll play selections from all of our albums, in order!”

The 2nd Annual Chicago Nightlife Awards will be held on June 2nd at Concord Music Hall on Milwaukee Avenue. Thus year’s event will be co-hosted by Jeremy Scheurch (Do312) and a Special Guest to be named later. Local residents can cast their votes for Best Live Music Venue, Best Dive Bar, Best Festival, Nightclub Of The Year and other categories at the Chicago Nightlife Awards website.

Hearin’ of the Green. Green, an eccentric but beloved Chicago-based alt rock/power pop band, has contributed a new track for WFMU’s digital fundraising album Even More Superhits of the Seventies.  Their recording of Leon Russell’s “Superstar” can be downloaded for $2.99 on CDBaby. You’ll need to shell out at least a $75 donation to WFMU in order to get the entire album, which also includes Marshall Crenshaw doing “I Just Want To Celebrate,” Mitch Easter doing “Fox On The Run,” Sam Phillips doing “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All,” and They Might Be Giants doing “Starry Eyes.”