Sunday Papers

This record could be all yours on April 12.

Record Store Day 2025 arrives April 12, and the entire list of limited-edition vinyl offerings that will be for sale is now available on the official website. Once again, the selection has something for fans of just about every genre and era. Here’s a sampling of the recording artists involved: Tori Amos; The B-52’s; Chet Baker; Count Basie And His Orchestra; Belly; The Blasters; Blur; David Bowie; Alex Chilton; Patsy Cline; Ry Cooder; Elvis Costello; Cowboy Junkies; The Cure; Cypress Hill; De La Soul; Jackie DsShannon; The Doors; Duran Duran; Bill Evans; Neil Finn; Liam Finn; Fleetwood Mac; Peter Gabriel; Liam Gallagher; Jerry Garcia Band; David Gilmour; Grateful Dead; Emmylou Harris; George Harrison/Beck; George Harrison; Peter Holsapple; John Lee Hooker; Freddie Hubbard; Ice T; Mahalia Jackson; The Jayhawks; Jethro Tull; Elton John; Mark Knopfler; John Legend; The Lemonheads; Little Richard; Harvey Mandel; Johnny Marr; Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets; The Meters; Charles Mingus; Joni Mitchell; Thelonious Monk; Motörhead; Alison Moyet; Nektar; The O’Jays; Dolores O’Riordan; Oasis; Graham Parker and The Figgs; Alan Parsons Project; Vicki Peterson and John Cowsill; Pixies; Prince and the New Power Generation; Rain Parade; Queen; Lou Reed; The Replacements; The Rolling Stones; Todd Rundgren; Gil Scott-Heron; Sharika; Sly and the Family Stone; Soul Asylum; Sun Ra; Sweet; Taylor Swift; T. Rex; Talking Heads; Thin Lizzy; 13th Floor Elevators; Carla Thomas; Thompson Twins; Throwing Muses; Peter Tosh; Eddie Vedder; Tom Waits; Wall Of Voodoo; Willie Dixon; Ronnie Wood; Yes; and Warren Zevon. There are tons more I didn’t mention, as well as a number of interesting various artists compilations.

Congratulations to Chicago-based alt rock band whitewolfsonicprincess on having their song “Child Of The Revolution" included on the U.K. label Fruits de Mer’s various artists compilation In The Year Of 2025. Hometown fans can check out the band at a special Valentine’s Day event at the Picnic Wine and Provisions shop on February 14. Cin Salach will open the evening with a set of her poetry. Picnic Wine and Provisions is located at 7301 N. Sheridan on Chicago’s far north side.

According to Jeff Lynne’s official Facebook site, Dhani Harrison will be a special guest at Jeff Lynne’s ELO - The Over And Out Tour on a few dates in the U.K. George Harrison’s gifted son will be on board on July 5 and 6 in Birmingham, and on July 9 and 10 in Manchester.

 

PureSoul Presents, which has been staging tributes to rhythm and blues artists at City Winery Chicago for a while now, will switch to a different genre on February 22. That’s when its The Queen Is Dead Live - A Tribute To The Smiths, will feature performers Bob Nanna, Rodrigo Palma, Billy B, and others.

Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve have a 15-date In Concert Tour USA 2025 kicking off on February 19 in Easton, PA. The tour wraps up in Chicago on March 11, 12, and 14. Those three shows at the Park West will feature Costello and Nieve joined by a full band.

Best wishes to the owners of Bookclub, a new Chicago venue that has opened at 2871 N Lincoln Avenue, the former home of the popular Elbo Room club. As noted in a recent article by writer Doug George in the Chicago Tribune, Bookclub will present eclectic and adventurous entertainment seven nights a week.

 

Martin Phillipps, the guiding force of New Zealand’s evocative indie rock band The Chills, passed away in July last year, but an album of previously unreleased material is coming out on February 25. Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs will no doubt add to Phillipps’ legacy, and it’s currently available to pre-order as a download or gold vinyl double LP via The Chills Bandcamp page. 

Chicago’s long-running free paper The Reader is sponsoring a The Decline of Western Civilization Parts 1 and 2 screening on February 23 at Thalia Hall. In addition to viewing those punk documentaries by Penelope Spheeris, attendees can watch music videos by local artists and have an opportunity to win admission to a Thalia Hall show of their choice. There will also be a pop-up market and free books by local authors, including journalist Jessica Hopper. Tickets for this 17 and older gathering are $20 and $30.

The 2025 RockGodz Awards Show will be held on February 16 at the Joe’s Live venue in Rosemont, IL. This year’s inductees include Ron Onesti, Dean Zelinsky, Brad Elvis, and Bill “The Buddha” Dickens. RockGodz Hall of Fame was founded by Cindy Landeen and Steve Rosen in 2009, and has presented awards each year since. Pat Travers, Mike Curb, Carmine Appice, and Jim Keltner are among the previous honorees.

Autographed copies of Mike Campbell’s Heartbreaker memoir are now available for pre-order from the talkshoplive and Premiere Collectibles websites. Campbell was a founding member of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers.

Bandcamp has partnered with artist-designer Shepard Fairey to offer a very cool limited edition t-shirt that will raise funds to help the MusiCares organization assist victims of the Southern California wild fires.

Jack White is in the midst of his massive No Name Tour and has sold out every date except for the five scheduled for Japan and one of the two in Nashville,TN. And most of those exceptions have a Low Ticket Warning. The new single “Archbishop Harold Holmes” is following in the successful path of the previously released “That’s How I’m Felling.”

Dot Dash, an inventive Washington, D.C. band that’s succeeded with a variety of indie rock styles across eight full-length albums since 2011, has an all-ages show coming up at the Quarry House Tavern in Silver Spring, MD on February 27.

Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and friends will take their 40th Anniversary R.E.M.’s Fables Of The Reconstruction tribute tour across the pond for six concerts in the UK this summer. They’ll have two gigs in London, along with one each in Manchester, Glasgow, Nottingham, and Bristol.