Legendary Chicago blues label Chess Records marks its 75th anniversary
For many, Chess Records, which Polish brothers Leonard and Phil Chess founded exactly 75 years ago, is the greatest recording studio in Chicago.
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The Hideout will close until at least 2023 after former employee alleges the music club was a toxic work environment
The Hideout, the 26-year-old Bucktown live-music fixture that has hosted alt-rock stars from the White Stripes to Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan to Neko Case, will shut down Nov. 7 and...
Chrissie Dickinson, musician and fearless music critic who wrote for the Tribune, dies at 62
Chrissie Dickinson, a longtime Tribune contributor and music critic who specialized in country music, and who was the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's former pop music critic, died May 19 at the...
Top 8 best blues clubs in Chicago, and out … the favorites are here but a couple picks might surprise you
Blues survives, always, in Chicago. Even after the darkest phases of the COVID-19 pandemic; clubs erected parking lot stages; reduced capacity; pivoted to virtual concerts; and raised funds through GoFundMe,...
Chicago blues bassist Bob Stroger, now 91, shows no signs of slowing down as he releases new album
Junior Parker, the Memphis bluesman famous for '50s and '60s hits like "Mystery Train" and "Feelin' Good," needed someone to talk to when he was on the road. So he...
Super Bowl halftime show gave hip hop legends Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige a legendary stage
The star of Sunday night's 2022 Super Bowl halftime show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, wasn't the talent, including veteran superstar rappers Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick...
Boogie-woogie pianist Erwin Helfer has seen a lot of Chicago years
Twenty years ago, across the Lincoln Park street where Erwin Helfer has lived since 1968, new neighbors moved in and installed a grand piano in their front window — and...
For 50th anniversary of Chicago’s Alligator Records, home of Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor and many others, a concert and a lot of memories
Early in his recording career, whenever Lonnie Brooks' songs aired on the radio, Bruce Iglauer immediately called the Brooks family's Chicago home. "Tell your dad it's on the radio! Turn...
A look at Beat Kitchen for a view of how the coronavirus shutdown hits a Chicago venue at every level
Like every bar, restaurant and club in Chicago, 26-year-old Beat Kitchen packed up its beer kegs for coronavirus-mandated hibernation, which its 22-person staff desperately hopes is not permanent. The brown-brick...
Music isn’t dead — it’s just gone inside: How coronavirus has affected Chicago musicians
If everything were right in the world, Joanna Connor would be preparing to play the first of three gigs this weekend at Chicago's 52-year-old blues club Kingston Mines. Then she'd...