Incoming

Inhaler will release Open Wide, the follow-up to its highly successful 2023 album Cuts And Bruises, on February 7. That’s also the day the Irish band kicks off a major European tour. Open Wide is available for pre-order in CD and vinyl formats on the official Inhaler website.  

McLuhan, the adventurous seven-piece Chicago band inspired by philosopher Marshall McLuhan, will begin a Thursday night residency at Montrose Saloon on January 16. Upcoming residency gigs at the north side venue will be March 6 and April 3. Vinyl copies of McLuhan’s ground-breaking and recently re-released album Anomaly will be available for sale at these shows.

Americana singer-guitarist Mindy Smith will likely be performing songs from Quiet Town—her first album in 10 years—at City Winery Chicago on January 30.

The annual My Sweet George George Harrison birthday tribute will take place on February 22 at Martyrs’ on Lincoln Avenue. If previous years are any indication, the event’s organizers—Ellis Clark and Ary Paloma— will  recruit some of Chicago’s best musicians to join the celebration, and the selection of Harrison material performed will range from hit singles to deep tracks and rarities.

Poi Dog Pondering has sold out its January 24 show at Chicago’s Athenaeum Center for the Arts, and tickets are going fast for their show there on the following night. The multiple-member band led by Frank Orrall has several albums to choose from, and they’ll be joined by special guests Chicago Poetry Slam founder Marc Kelly Smith, dancer/singer Sophia Sanchez, and The PDP Chamber Music ensemble.

Tickets go on sale this Friday for Our House - Music Of  CSNY With Family Members Of The Original CSNY -“Live At Fillmore East” at The Des Plaines Theatre in Des Plaines, IL on May 1.

SPACE in Evanston has announced pre-sale tickets are now available for Robbie Fulks on April 25 and 26; the Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy and Friends R.E.M. tribute on March 15; and Beautiful Vision: The Songs Of Van Morrison with Steve Dawson, Chris Greene, Alton Smith, John Mead, John Abbey, Larry Brown, and Sophie Creutz on March 17.

Vocalist Kate Fagan is probably best known for her years fronting the Chicago-based ska band Heavy Manners, but a new single coming out January 17 reaches further back to her early punk days. “Go Faster” bristles with high energy and a rebellious spirit, making it an interesting follow-up to her previous single, the melodic and mid-tempo “2 Good 2 B True.”

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10:00 am for The Jeff Tweedy Annual Benefit Shows that will be held at the Vic Theatre on April 18 and April 19.

Sons Of The Silent Age, Chicago’s impressive David Bowie tribute band, has a Celebrating 50 Years Of David Bowie’s Young Americans And More show coming to Metro this Saturday. Michael Shannon, who frequently shares a bill with Sons Of The Silent Age, will perform that night as John Lennon. Metro is located at 3730 N. Clark Street.

Singer-songwriter Coley Kennedy from the Chicago-based alt-rock band Welcome to Ashley and comic alt rock band The Buddies has a solo debut titled Neptune Blue coming out on January 17. The catchy first single, “(We Are) Born to Lose” finds Kennedy working in an atmospheric vein that calls to mind Richard Butler from The Psychedelic Furs.