Incoming

Okay, just because I’ve finished my previews for this year’s International Pop Overthrow - Chicago, don’t think the event has ended. There are still five showcases coming up, starting tonight at 7:30 and running through two showcases on Saturday. Check my previous posts for the breakdown on each of them, or check out the official IPO website for the schedule and links to all the acts.

The Reader Best Of Chicago celebration will take place tomorrow from 5:30 to 10:00 pm at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The event will offer live entertainment and performances by some of the award winners, as well as food and beverage vendors and other activities. General Admission tickets are $30.

The Martyrs’ music venue on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago will host a Jeff Beck Celebration featuring local musicians on May 1. The lineup features guitarists Curt Morrison, Chris Siebold, Grant Tye, Marco Villarreal and Dan Peters; vocalist Rich Parenti; keyboards player Vijay Tellis-Nayak; bassist Jon Paul; and drummer Greg Essig. Tickets are $20, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the Folly Wildlife Rescue.

Pre-sale tickets will go on sale tomorrow at 10:00 am PT for the OHANA Festival taking place on the weekend of September 27 – 29 in Dana Point, CA. Headline acts include Pearl Jam, whose impressive latest album Dark Matter was released last Friday; Garbage; Crowded House; Neil Young with Crazy Horse; Black Pumas; Jenny Lewis; Cat Power Sings Dylan 66; Alanis Morissette; The Breeders; and Kim Gordon.

This past Saturday brought one of those rare Record Store Day excursions when I came away empty handed. In fact, I think it’s only happened once before. The staff at Reckless Records on Madison Street in downtown Chicago did a great job assisting customers, but I was disappointed they had already sold out of the Five Live Yardbirds album and the "Atomic City (U2/UV Live At Sphere, Las Vegas)" 10-inch vinyl single I wanted.

I’m sure I’ll have better luck purchasing The Handcuffs’s Burn The Rails album when the Chicago indie rock band releases a special vinyl edition some time this summer. In addition to its gatefold packaging, there will a bonus seven-inch single featuring two previously unreleased songs. This new version will arrive just about two years after the eclectic and impressive Burn The Rails came out in CD and digital formats.

There will be a Craft Beer Fest featuring area breweries at Brothers’ Field in Long Grove, IL from 12:00 to 4:00 pm this Saturday afternoon. The ticket price of $60 includes a Long Grove Craft Beer Fest taster glass, unlimited craft beer samples, access to food vendors, and live entertainment by the Fox Crossing Stringband. 

Congratulations to author-journalist Mark Guarino on having his book Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival named as "Book of the Year" by the Illinois State Historical Society this past weekend in Springfield.