Slumgullion

As announced on the official John Lennon Facebook page, there will be an exhibit titled Give Peace A Chance - The Art Of John Lennon held at Gallery725 in Jacksonville, FL from January 12 to January 22. Admission is free, and all the art being exhibited will be available to purchase. There will be champagne receptions on Saturday, January 13 and Sunday, January 14.

The 2024 Joey’s Song Benefit Concert takes place tomorrow at The Sylvee venue in Madison, Wisconsin. This year’s format features many well-known musicians in a Battle Of The Bands pitting The Know-It-All Boyfriends against The Know-It-All Girlfriends. Joey’s Song is a charity devoted to raising money for epilepsy research and to provide services for children with special needs.

The popular Phil Angotti And Friends Beatles Brunch monthly series at City Winery Chicago will alternate with Soul Brunch events, as well as Angotti’s solo events in 2024. This Sunday at noon, he’ll perform tunes by Elvis Presley, Elvis Costello, The Kinks, The Moody Blues, The Bee Gees and other well-known acts.

Bernie Williams is best known as an outfielder for the New York Yankees, but he’s also familiar to Chicago sports fans and music lovers for his guitar playing at a few Hot Stove Cool Music charity events staged by The Foundation To Be Named Later at Metro. So it was nice to discover Williams will be performing with the New York Philharmonic’s spring gala at the Lincoln Center on April 24. 

Chicago-based filmmaker Michael Smith (Paper Planes; Relative; Rendezvous In Chicago) will start directing a new short film titled HANDLE WITH CARE next week. According to a recent Facebook post from Smith, it’s based on a script he wrote over the recent holidays.

The January issue of Chicago’s long-running free publication NewCity includes Mary Wisniewski’s article on Sufjan Stevens’ Illinoise musical, which opens at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on January 28. The musical is based on Stevens’ critically acclaimed 2005 album Illinoise.

Congratulations to author Stephanie Kuehnert on her memoir Pieces Of A Girl being selected as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. The book is due out on March 26. 

The Women’s Jazz Festival at Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights continued today with a showcase by Mary Halm And Helios this afternoon and tonight with the Marlene Rosenberg Quintet and Natalies Wood Plays Roland Kirk. There are three Women’s Jazz Festival showcases tomorrow and two on Sunday. See the official Hey Nonny website for the full schedule and ticket information.

Robyn Hitchcock will perform with musician Kelley Stoltz at the Syd Barrett Birthday Show at The Chapel venue in San Francisco tomorrow night. A recent update on Hitchcock’s Facebook page states there are a few tickets left.

Best wishes to Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson as they take on their roles as The Doctor and his companion Ruby Sunday respectively on the latest series of Doctor Who adventures. Today’s edition of the Chicago Tribune picked up Los Angeles Times critic Robert Lloyd’s glowing review of the show’s recent Christmas special.

Sons Of The Silent Age, Chicago’s top notch David Bowie tribute act, has a new benefit coming up on January 13 at Metro. It’s titled David Bowie: Future Legend, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to NorthShore HealthSystem Foundation to help people overcome cancer. Actor-musician Michael Shannon will also take part, playing the songs of Brian Eno.

Katherine Yeske Taylor, the long-time music journalist whose articles and interviews have appeared in several national publications, will release her first book on January 16. She’s a Badass: Women in Rock Shaping Feminism is due out on January 16 from Backbeat Books. It’s available to pre-order on Amazon and other sites.

It’s a pre-sale and a party. Tickets for the FitzGerald’s 41st Annual American Music Festival coming this summer in Berwyn will be available at an In-Person Pre-Sale Party taking place at a FitzGerald’s Sidebar event with The Shaun Gotti Showtime Band on February 18.

In the meantime, FitzGerald’s has an impressive triple bill of  The Handcuffs, Jon Langford and His Fancy Men, and The James Dean Joint coming up on January 20.

Steve Dawson will perform with Alton Smith, Brian Wilkie, John Abbey, and Diane Christiansen on January 13 at Constellation in Chicago. The venue is located at 3111 N. Western Avenue.

Country music icon Roseanne Cash has a pair of concerts at The Old Town School Of Folk Music on Chicago’s north side on January 19 and 20.

Trouser Press Books, the publisher whose Trouser Press magazine delighted cutting edge rock fans from 1974 to March 1984 (I still have copies), will celebrate the magazine’s 50th birthday with a ‘best of’ collection book in March.

Big Brother’s Vinyl has a performance coming up at Peggy Kinnane’s in Arlington Heights on January 19. The band has a knack for selecting material that’s well-known to classic rock fans but not often heard on the local club scene. 

Cheap Trick will be the headline act at the International Beatles On The Beach festival taking place at the Delray Beach Amphitheater in Delray Beach, FL on January 24 – 28. Other performers include The Fab Faux; Gregg Bissonette; and The Weeklings. 

Local acts The Bishop’s Daredevil Stunt Club, Rolling Numbers, Golden Richards and Things That Fly will celebrate the The Ramones’ 50th anniversary at a live show sponsored by WNUR FM radio station The Power Pop Shoppe at Montrose Saloon on January 13. The evening will offer a mix of Ramones covers and original songs by the participating acts.

Androgynous Mustache, a local collective of musicians that has been behind several impressive tribute shows, will bring their annual Warren Zevon Tribute Show to SPACE in Evanston on January 24. Zevon fans should check out the January issue of the Brit rock magazine MOJO for writer Bob Mehr’s eight-page article on him, as well as photographer Aaron Rapaport’s numerous photos.

 

A production of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child will open next fall at the Nederlander Theatre in downtown Chicago. The blockbuster play was written by Jack Thorne, based on J.K. Rowling’s story, and will be directed by John Tiffany.