Incoming

Happy Belated Birthday to Tony Hicks of The Hollies. As with The Hollies themselves, Hicks doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. Likewise for drummer Bobby Elliott, whose birthday we celebrated earlier this month. Hicks is a superb musician and one third of the glorious harmonies that have been a Hollies trademark since the days he helped create them with Graham Nash and Allan Clarke.

Hicks also wrote hits such as “Carrie Anne” and “Dear Eloise” with Nash and Clarke, and came up with the idea for “Stop Stop Stop,” which features his distinctive banjo playing. Later, Hicks collaborated with songwriter Kenny Lynch on the terrific tracks “Long Dark Road” and “To Do With Love” on the Distant Light album. He’s also a good judge of outside material, having suggested “The Air That I Breathe” to the band.

The Des Plaines Theatre in Des Plaines, IL will hold its first Indie Music event tomorrow night with a lineup of four Chicago area acts. Those in attendance can expect a variety of original music from Americana rock performer Richard Bandini; the guitar-driven Capra Brothers; power pop band The Spindles; and country rockers Ryan Craig Band. Admission is $10.

Yesterday’s edition of the Chicago Sun-Times also had a treat for local music fans, with journalists Cassie Walker Burke, Morgan Ciocca, Mark Guarino, Nudia Hernandez, and Jessica Martens picking 13 Of The Best Chicago Albums Of ’24. The honorees are Rachel Drew for Old Sky New; Finom for Not Good; Andrew Bird for Sunday Morning Put-On; Steve Dawson for Ghosts; Lupe Fiasco for Samurai; theMIND for Dancing While Crying In The Middle Of Nowhere; Raven Lenae for Bird’s Eye; Marquis Hill for Composers Collective: Beyond The Jukebox; Shemekia Copeland for Blame it on Eve; Michael McDermott for Lighthouse on The Shore and East Jesus; Tasha for All This And So Much More; Ronnie Baker Brooks for Blues In My DNA; and The O’My’s for Trust The Stars. Definitely some familiar names on this list.

Vocalist Kate Fagan, whose long career on the Chicago alt rock scene included being a member of BB Spin and Heavy Manners, will host a HoHoHo Holiday Party this Thursday at Chickie Wah Wah in New Orleans, LA. She’ll be joined by Tom Hook, Jeremy Joyce, Sam Albright, and Rich Collins. Fagan will like perform “2 Good 2 B True,” the new single she co-wrote with guitarist Jeremy Joyce.