The Local Tourist Limited

This week's band: Dollar Store

noreply@blogger.com (thelocaltourist) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:18:00 +0000

On MySpace, a band's profile can say a lot about their music. In their "sounds like" section, the Dollar Store says "four old punks who own some country and blues records".

Basically, these guys have no patience for mamsy-pamsy look-at-me I'm a pop star tom-foolery. They play, they have fun, they'll get the crowd agitated and I can guarantee there'll be beer flowing when they take the stage at the CBGB Festival.

Speaking of which, if you want a chance to win two tickets, don't forget to shoot me an email with Gimme CBGB in the subject line by Friday. Every week until the fest I'm picking someone who'll get two tickets. The only caveat is you'll be subscribed to TLT's weekly newsletter, which is actually like a bonus prize... Last week Dana Jusahz won - Congrats Dana!

Dollar Store - One Thin Dime

This week's band: Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials

noreply@blogger.com (thelocaltourist) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:58:00 +0000

30 songs in 3 hours: that's how long it took to record Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials first record. Twelve of those blues tunes, with no overdubs and no second takes, were released in the 1986 album "Roughhousin'". Since then they've been all over the world and pretty much define Chicago Blues. According to the Associated Press, "Williams fills Chicago’s biggest shoes with more life and heat than anyone on stage today."

After listening to this week's song, all I can think is, "is it November 22 yet?"

Lil' Ed - Check My Baby's Oil

This week's band: Billy Childers

noreply@blogger.com (thelocaltourist) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:10:00 +0000

This week’s band combines country and rock ‘n roll so well you’ll wish it were Friday. Billy Childers was Kenny Chesney’s “Next Big Star” and opened for him in Soldier Field this summer, and he’ll be taking the stage at the Congress Theater for the first Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival.

Turn up the volume, put on your boots and get ready to kick up your heels. If you can get through the featured song without at least tapping your foot you must have lead in your soles.

Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival

noreply@blogger.com (thelocaltourist) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:42:00 +0000

Bluegrass and blues are two distinctly American music forms, and for the first time Chicago gets a festival honoring both.

The Chicago Bluegrass And Blues Festival takes over the Congress Theater on November 22. I'm particularly excited because almost every band is from Chicago! The great lineup includes The Avett Brothers, Ha Ha Tonka, and Mike Mangione.

There's also a "Last Banjo Standing" contest. Between now and October 16 listen to several local bands and vote for the one you think should take the stage.

To get you ready, each week until the inaugural festival one of the performing acts will be TLT's Band Of The Week! This week it's the David Grisman Quintet. He's a legend in acoustic music circles and even created his own style of music. Called Dawg, it's a mix of bluegrass, jazz, swing, Latin, and gypsy. Grisman's "Dawggy Mountain Breakdown" is the theme song for NPR's Car Talk.

GIVEAWAY: Each week I'll be giving away two tickets to the festival! Details to come.

This week's band: Monica da Silva

noreply@blogger.com (thelocaltourist) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:23:00 +0000

This week's band is a perfect lead-in to this weekend's World Music Festival. While the featured song is in English, Monica da Silva has recorded also in Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

Her music varies from acoustic to electronica with Latin and Bossa Nova thrown in. She's traveled back and forth from the US to Brazil many times, and will be doing so again this year as she performs in both the NACA Mid-America Conference and the Beats In Brazil Festival.

You can catch Monica's truly international sound at Al Primo Canto on Fridays, Flatwater on Sundays. She'll also be at Bloomingdale's Beat of Chic promotion on September 27th.

Thanks to David Schach for bringing me yet another great act! You rock!

This week's band: Jackson Combs

noreply@blogger.com (thelocaltourist) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:58:00 +0000

Greg "Jackson" Combs may only be 24 years old, but he packs a lot of experience into his music. With Jeff Brown and Christine Knodle, the sound is folk rock and perfect for a road trip through rural America.

From the band: "Freely stepping across and often defying genres, Combs mixes acoustic and synthetic sounds and tones to create an atmosphere in his music that is sometimes surreal, sometimes haunting, sometimes whimsical, but always personal."

He's got a few upcoming shows:

September 11, Uncommon Ground (Devon), 1402 W Devon

September 14, smART Show Music Fest, Wicker Park

September 27, The Armitage House, 1029 Davis St

This week's band: Spike Rebel

noreply@blogger.com (thelocaltourist) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:31:00 +0000

Spike Rebel's name may sound threatening, but his music is inviting - especially to the ladies. He played at last week's Sushi, Sake & Soul and as I watched a room full of women dressed to the nines swoon over his crooning I thought "man, I have got to feature this cat."

Glenn Murray of 220 communications invited me to emcee the event so I was able to talk to Spike before introducing him. He's been playing since he was a child, encouraged by his father. His main influence to become a musician, however, was Kiss. Their flamboyant costumes, and the fact that they could get paid to rock out, captured his imagination. Like his name, though, that's a bit misleading. You're more likely to be reminded of Prince or Lenny Kravitz, two of his other influences, than Gene Simmons.

Spike grew up in Chicago but like many musicians headed out west to LA. That was "too plastic," so he crossed the country to New York. His experience there introduced him to music from several different cultures and he tries to infuse that in his music. Thinking that something "didn't feel right," Spike's back in Chicago and you can see him every Wednesday at Checkerboard Lounge (5201 S Harper Ct, 773-684-1472).

This week's band: Indignant

noreply@blogger.com (thelocaltourist) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:06:00 +0000

A friend of mine recently mentioned Indignant to me, and when I said I wasn't familiar with them, his jaw fell open and he looked at me, indignantly, I might add, with the "I can't believe you've never heard of them" look. (With all the great bands in Chicago, I get that look a LOT.) After hearing these "five dudes who just like to write, play and perform the best rock 'n' roll music we can make" you might wonder the same thing.

Visit The Local Tourist to hear Indignant's "No Doubt About It".

Their next Chicago show is at Martyr's on August 29, and they'll be at Bash on Wabash on August 31.

The Local Tourist Limited

noreply@blogger.com (Chicago Music Guide) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:34:00 +0000

Here you will find posts from the Local Tourist (www.thelocaltourist.com) with news and events from right in the heart of downtown Chicago!

Stay tuned for a lot of great information!