Slumgullion #37

Following on the heels of the Nowhere Boy flick that depicts John Lennon in his teen years, PBS station Channel 11 in Chicago is airing the Masterpiece production of Lennon Naked this Sunday night at 8:00PM. The film should interest Brit sci-fi fans as well as Beatle maniacs as it features onetime Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston as Lennon and Naoko Mori from Torchwood as Yoko Ono. Lennon Naked covers the early days of the controversial couple’s relationship.

Rolling Remount. Aftermath, the Signal Ensemble Theatre’s critically acclaimed play about the early days of the Rolling Stones, has returned but sold out its entire run faster that you can say “Get Off Of My Cloud.” The play has now been extended through January 23rd, 2011. Show times are currently Thursday through Saturday at 8:00PM and Sunday at 3:00PM; but there will be no Thursday shows after January 7th.

Michael Lux, who has done some impressive strumming with the multi-faceted rock band Hollus steps out on his own with a self-described punk surf side project called Michael Lux and The Bad Sons. “Saturdays Boys,” which is available for download on the Michael Lux and The Bad Sons website, is an energetic track with ringing guitars. Lux has a free EP on the way, with the cool ad slogan, “All songs written in 30 minutes or less or your money back.” Meanwhile, Hollus continues to promote its latest effort, the Part One EP with a gig next Saturday night at The Metro.

Maple Mars has the lead-off song on the new A Kool Kat Khristmas compilation. The wistful but guitar-driven “Christmastime In The City” is a melodic mid-tempo number about coming home for the holiday, that features Rick Hromadka’s classic power pop vocals and some glorious harmonies.

Damn Right I Got The Drumstick. I know I used that headline for this same event last year, but I kind of like it. SOPRO will sponsor its 28th Annual Thanksgiving All Star Blues Revue on Saturday, November 27th, featuring The Chicago Horns, vocalist Deb Seitz, harmonica player Doug Lee, vocalist-guitarist Billy King, and guitarist-vocalist Joe Jammer. Held on SOPRO’s sout’ side home turf at The Voodoo Lounge (6501 W. 79th Street in Burbank, IL), the revue will also include bassist John Falstrom, guitarist-vocalist Joey Drada, drummer Scott Bonshire, and keyboards player Greg Wolfman. There will be special prize giveaways and CDs and autographed photos for sale.

Local actor Guy Schingoethe is best known for his work with the edgy New Millennium Theatre, but he was also once in my old comedy group, Famous In The Future. I’m forever grateful to him for the bang-up job he did as the lead vocalist in my musical satire Damn Andersen, which was based on the Arthur Andersen/Enron crisis. Schingoethe is now the lead vocalist for a new hard rock band called Faith In The Fallen. You can check out the band’s three songs on its ReverbNation page.

Former Off Broadway vocalist Cliff Johnson’s new double disc, 30 year retrospective Razors And Rose Petals is now available on CDBaby. Johnson promises his Facebook friends that “Within the next two weeks, it will be available on every download site in the world.”

People involved in the rock business who are looking for a unique Christmas card to send to friends and clients should check out Karen Cannon’s selection at Art Strings Publishing. I particularly liked the one with the two electric guitars by the Christmas tree. Cannon states that being a guitarist has greatly influenced her art. Several of her music-related cards, holiday and non-holiday, are available at The Music Room store in downtown Palatine.

The Mint Julep Room, also in downtown Palatine, will welcome back the jazz and pop music of the Together Again Trio tomorrow night, and will present The Wiggle-O’s, who mix comedy and vintage rock, next Saturday night, November 27th. On Sunday, November 21st, The Palatine/Inverness Arts Council is hosting a High Tea at The Mint Julep Room with a musical guest acoustic guitarist Merv Collins. Info at 847-963-6451.

Know anyone who wants a Bill Murray action figure for Christmas? You can make their wish come true with The Ghostbusters Collector Set, which is currently on sale at Toys R Us for $49.99. The set also includes Harold Ramis, Dan Ackroyd, and Ernie Hudson figures. Can a Bill Murray gopher-hunting Carl Spackler figure from Caddyshack be far behind?

Slumgullion #16

Photo from The Ellen DeGeneres Show website.

Ellen DeGeneres’s recent announcement that she’s forming a record company called eleveneleven brought me back to last November, when she landed the cover of Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine. I did a post back then suggesting her next goal should be sharing the cover of Rolling Stone or Mojo with Little Steven Van Zandt. DeGeneres had recently created her own Internet music page, and I hoped she would use it to become an avid supporter of power pop and garage rock. To get the ball rolling, I started an Ellen Fans Who Love Power Pop group on her website. I soon abandoned it, accepting that I just couldn’t compete with Ellen Fans Who Love Justin Bieber.

But 2010 has seen The Ellen DeGeneres Show taking a new approach to booking music acts. Up and coming, less commercial artists like One Eskimo, Paramore, Vedera, LaRoux, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, and Diane Birch have been showing up on a regular basis, as well as the better known but not exactly mainstream Weezer. DeGeneres has also stated that if she returns to American Idol next year, she’d like to see the show embrace a wider variety of genres. Even though eleveneleven seems like a quickly-hatched means to market preteen YouTube superstar Greyson Chance, I’m betting DeGeneres has been mulling over this enterprise for some time. She’s been on Facebook and Twitter soliciting suggestions for new music acts for her label, so hopefully, this will result in some worthy bands getting some well-deserved attention. Including power pop and garage acts.

Three bands will perform tonight as part of the Peace Fest Benefit at Nite Cap, located on Irving Park Road in Chicago. Funk/reggae band Flow Theory kicks things off at 10PM, followed by satiric rock trio Genral Patton & His Privates at 11PM, and Foster Home at midnight. Admission is $5.

The Bottom Lounge on west Lake Street will host The Fleshtones on June 12th, with an impressive supporting lineup that includes The Goldstars, Teenage Imposters, Tomorrow The Moon, and The Earth Program.

WhiteWolfSonicPrincess, featuring hipsters James Moeller and Carla Hayden, opens for the Robert Hynes Band at the Red Line Tap on north Glenwood this Sunday (May 30th) night.

Listening to “Chicago” playing on WXRT yesterday afternoon, I had a premonition that disc jockey Terri Hemmert would have some news to share about Graham Nash. As it turns out, she did. Nash is being honored with a tribute CD titled Be Yourself that features modern bands covering all the tracks on his Songs For Beginners debut. It was released a few days ago on Grass Roots Records. According to Amazon.com and the websites This Is Book’s Music, Consequence Of Sound, and The Line Of Best Fit, the effort was put together by Nash’s daughter Nile, with help from (((folkYeah!))) concert promoter Brit Govea.

Participating artists include Nile Nash, Brendon Benson. Jonathan Rice, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Nash will be in the Chicago area on August 22nd for a Crosby, Stills, and Nash concert at Ravinia.

Speaking of WXRT, the station couldn’t have had better weather for its 93 Days Of Summer Kickoff Bash today at Arlington Park. With temperatures hovering in the mid-70s and the scent of barbecued food in the air, disc jockey Lin Brehmer and news anchor Mary Dixon hosted an outdoor fest that included acoustic sets from Joe Pug and Warren Haynes. Although Haynes, who has played guitar with The Allman Brothers Band as well as Gov't. Mule, clearly had the larger following, newcomer Pug also impressed the crowd with his emotional, Dylan-like material. Haynes thrilled his fans with inventive strumming and blues-inflected vocals. There was an easy-going, early afternoon ambience as Dixon passed out tubes of sunscreen and urged audience members to pass them around. “She’s such a mom!” Brehmer joked. The party also included lots of Rolling Stones tunes played over the sound system (the station was featuring The Stones today) as well as a parody of a Stones song celebrating the Black Hawks playing for The Stanley Cup.

Aftermath, the Ronan Marra play about Brian Jones and his squabbles with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, has already sold out its entire run at The Raven Theatre Complex. According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune by critic Chris Jones, the Signal Ensemble show will not be extended, although there is a chance they’ll bring Aftermath back later in the year.

Stones fans already have so much on their plates, including the new deluxe edition of Exile On Main Street, and they now can get their rocks off at the Performing Arts Center at Harper College in Palatine on June 24th when the acclaimed Tributosaurus becomes The Rolling Stones. Tickets are $9 - $12. Call 847-925-6100 for info.

Viva La Evolution!

Photo from The Neverly Brothers website.

There’s a lot of technology available to teachers these days, but The Neverly Brothers pretty much only needed a small drum kit, an acoustic guitar, and a stand-up bass fiddle for a lesson in rock music history at the Schaumburg Prairie Center For The Arts on Saturday, January 16th. The three musicians made good on a promise to whisk the audience off on a trip to cities like Memphis, Liverpool, and Lubbock, Texas during the formative years of 1955 to 1964. The Neverly Brothers’ show, dubbed A Rock N’ Roll Evolution, was divided into two parts; the first half covered pioneers like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, while the second concentrated on the British Invasion.

Guitarist-vocalist Kevin Giragosian provided a brief description of each artist before joining drummer-vocalist Kegham Giragosian and bass fiddle player-vocalist Craig Gigstad for a spirited performance of one of the artist’s songs. Given the set up, there wasn’t a lot of variety in the band’s approach, but the Giragosian brothers and Gigstad kept things buzzing via their highly polished musicianship and singing. The band members take turns on lead vocals, and combine for some beautiful harmonies, particularly on a pair of songs by The Everly Brothers. Charisma plays a major role in The Neverly Brothers’ appeal, with Gigstad in particular charming the audience with his Elvis and Big Bopper impersonations. A big guy who resembles comedian Drew Carey, Gigstad hoisted his massive bass fiddle in the air as easily as if it were a mandolin, and also straddled it like he was riding a Harley, all the while plucking away on the strings.

When it comes to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Neverly Brothers aren’t interested in playing “She Loves You” or “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” They’d rather underscore how these bands were influenced by American R&B and Country and Western music by presenting The Beatles doing Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox” and The Stones doing Bobby and Shirley Womack’s “It’s All Over Now.” The Neverly Brothers also showed how The Dave Clark Five, The Searchers, The Hollies, and Manfred Mann scored hits by covering material that had previously been released in The States. Kevin Giragosian closed the two-hour show by celebrating the famous guitar riff from The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.” The bit reminded me of when I saw Ray Davies at Taste Of Chicago a few years back and how the entire audience jumped up in unison at the first few notes of that song.

The Neverly Brothers switch out songs on a regular basis, but they’ve basically been doing the same show for a few years now. It would be fun to see them expand the history lesson to cover the rock-a-billy revival of the early 1980s and bands like The Stray Cats, The Hellbillys, The Polecats, and another trio from Chicago, The Elvis Brothers. Regardless of whether or not The Neverly Brothers change their format, they can always be counted on for a highly entertaining and energetic performance.

POSTSCRIPT: The Neverly Brothers played The Bobby Fuller Four’s “I Fought The Law” as their encore, which brings to mind a story I’ve told at least a hundred times, but never in print. Several years ago, when that song first came out, my younger brother swore that Bobby Fuller was singing, “Hot dogs for lunch and they’re small ones.” To this day, I still have to laugh whenever I hear “I Fought The Law.”

The New Invaders Celebrate The 1960s

from The New Invaders website

August 2009 brings the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock festival so now would a perfect time to catch one of the outdoor concerts The New Invaders will be performing around Illinois this summer. The band covers 1960s rock from its early innocent days, through the British Invasion, right on to the politically charged hippie era. All six band members are accomplished singers, which results in airtight harmonies on covers of Crosby, Stills, & Nash, The Mamas & The Papas, The Byrds, and The Hollies. Melody Mallin, who initially performed with the band as a frequent guest artist, was rightfully granted full New Invaders membership for her spirited renditions of Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane songs.

In addition to playing well known artists like The Rolling Stones, The Monkees, Herman’s Hermits, The Doors, and Cream, The New Invaders honor lesser known acts, including Crazy Elephant, The Chambers Brothers, The Seeds and The Human Beinz. August dates include Palatine on the 7th, Bensenville on the 12th, Gurnee on the 13th, St. Charles on the 14th, and Wadsworth on the 15th. See the band’s website at www.newinvaders.com for more info.