Colin Smith thinks that Chicago right now is the place to be for music. He works for Illinois Humanities, is a freelance writer, and plays psychedelic-pop songs with his band.
If you’ve never heard of Treehouse Records, you’ve probably listened to some of the bands they’ve recorded. Besides recording full-length records with Chicago bands like Twin Peaks, they’ve also taped live sessions […]
When Foxygen’s Sam France walked on The Vic’s old vaudeville stage, it was like Tim Curry waltzing within Rocky Horror’s castle: he looked tall, pale, and unkempt. Amid a full torrent of brass […]
The phrase “Chicago record fair” is nearly synonymous with the nonprofit community radio station CHIRP. Just Google search it. In addition to spinning records for the city and introducing listeners to new […]
Joi Ito often hears the same question: How did a two-time college dropout become the director of MIT’s Media Lab, one of the coolest jobs in media? By jumping from one interest […]
The Walkmen never blew up in the same way as their garage-rock contemporaries did. Most of us remember the Saturn commercial with the Ion driving past the highway signs that read “Leaving […]
The Walkmen announced their hiatus three years ago. Since then, singer and songwriter Hamilton Leithauser hasn’t stopped crooning. Leithauser released his debut solo album in 2014, another record between him and Walkman […]
Alec Baldwin will take a break from wearing orange this spring to speak at Chicago Ideas’ Curiosity Series. The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor and writer will be talking about his memoir, […]
The headliners at the Empty Bottle wore black Sharpie X’s on their hands. They also donned blazers: one wore a tie, the other sported a turtleneck. The elder member of the duo […]
Elton John’s favorite new band is coming to town this weekend. Two brothers in Long Island formed The Lemon Twigs based on a shared love for sanguine, sheen pop and gritty, coarse rock ‘n’ roll. […]
At CHIRP Radio, one of our favorite things to do is to play tracks by the amazing local artists who fill our community. 2016 was a banner year for Chicago music, whether […]
Chicagoans carried a heavy heart this week after President Obama delivered his Farewell Address in the very town where he began his political career. Last weekend, Meryl Streep quoted Carrie Fisher during her acceptance speech […]
The London duo Ultimate Painting wrote a song called “Song for Brian Jones,” and that might be all you need to know to know anything about them. They’ve been busy since they […]
