Thursday, January 16, 2025

Chicago native and former "The Voice" contestant Meagan McNeal to perform at The Venue in Aurora



By Eric Schelkopf

 

Her powerful vocals have captured the attention of everyone from Jennifer Hudson to Kelly Clarkson.

Those who attend her Jan. 19 show at The Venue in Aurora will get to hear why so many people are talking about Chicago native Meagan McNeal.

McNeal will perform at 7 p.m. at The Venue, 21 S. Broadway Ave. in downtown Aurora. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $20 for general admission, $25 for premium, available at The Venue's website,  themusicvenue.org. A portion of the ticket sales from the show will benefit MusiCares, directly supporting artists, musicians and the creative community impacted by the recent fires in California.

I had the chance to talk to McNeal about the upcoming show.

Q – You have been busy lately. It must have been special for you to sing the National Anthem last month at the United Center at a Chicago Bulls game.

McNeal – Yes, that was a very special time. I was very grateful to be considered.

I have a 12-year-old son and he thought it was really cool. He got to hang out with Benny the Bull.

I remember watching Bulls games when I was a little girl with my family. So it was just kind of nostalgic for our family. It was a really cool and exciting time to be a Chicagoan.

Q – Was it a better experience than you imagined it would be?

McNeal – Yeah, it was in so many ways. I was scheduled to sing on Friday and that Monday, I was diagnosed with strep throat.

The highlight for me was all of the teamwork to make sure everything went well. That included my doctors giving me the care I needed right away.

There were so many people that played a part in making it successful, because there was a lot of work from Monday to Friday to be done.

Q –  I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Marquis Hill, who also grew up on Chicago's south side. I know he appears on your latest album, "Greenhouse." 

 

And I know you sang vocals on one of his songs from a few years back, “I Remember Summer." It does seem like there are so many Chicago musicians who want to collaborate together.

Is that one of the things that makes the Chicago music scene so great?

McNeal – I think there is a beautiful spirit of collaboration. Chicago musicians have a ton of heart and not a ton of pretense. They say if you serve the music, it will serve you. 

And Marquis, not only is he an incredible musician, he is also a wonderful person. Not only did he contribute to the record, he held my hand as we walked through creating it.

We flew to Atlanta and kind of tucked ourselves away in an Airbnb. And we had a "Greenhouse" camp.

I'll never forget that week. It was just so beautiful. I cooked for everyone and the production team was in the front house and the writing team was in the back house.

Everyone sat and listened to the concept that I had and the stories that I wanted to tell. But it wasn't about creating a project.

I was trying to share my life and capture those ideas that I was feeling at the time and put them into the music. 

Q – Is that one of the best studio experiences you've had in your career?

McNeal – Absolutely. Because of how it was set up, it wasn't even like a studio experience.

We lived together for a week. And we just created.

Everybody brought what makes them magical and we created something wonderful.

We opened up and just built community with one another over the course of that week.

Q – Music runs in your family. Your grandmother sang and your mom sings. Did they inspire you to start singing?

McNeal – I remember listening to a ton of music as a little girl. You name it, there was no musical genre that wasn't represented.

I remember even listening to "Jolene" by Dolly Parton. It's one of my favorite songs.

They were just all over the map with music. And I could not be more grateful to them for that.

My grandmother and mom do have good voices. And I didn't realize that until later in life.

Q – You were on Jennifer Hudson's team on season 13 of “The Voice” in 2017. What were the biggest things that you learned from being on “The Voice”?
 
McNeal – "The Voice" was such an incredible experience. If I had to take away one thing that I learned, it's that I could make a living at being a singer.

I was working as a office manager for a wonderful woman before I went off to "The Voice." I had a decision to make, because I knew I would be gone for most of the summer and I couldn't just leave that job and come back to it.

That was in 2017, and I haven't returned to working for anyone else since coming from "The Voice." So I'm super grateful for that opportunity because it allowed me to pursue music full-time and to have an opportunity to be self-employed.

I learned a lot about myself. I learned a ton about what I like and don't like.

I don't consider myself a performer. I like to really just connect with folks.

There's nothing that I do when I'm on stage that is overly rehearsed. It's more like a sharing of energy organically in the moment with people. 

I want people to come out and sing and dance alongside us. Because I feel we could collectively use that energy right now.

And music is such a beautiful tool to make that happen.

Q – The fact that Jennifer Hudson is from Chicago is another reminder about how strong the Chicago music scene is. I understand you still keep in touch with her. Do you think you might collaborate with her someday?

McNeal – Oh, that would be wonderful. There's nothing like that in the works, but I'm not opposed to it.

So we'll just see what the Lord is going to do.

Q – Of course, she has done so much in her life and she also is a Chicago native. Does she serve as an inspiration for you, about what you can do?

McNeal – I think that Jennifer Hudson has done very well for herself and I'm really inspired by her ability to create what she sees.

I'd be happy to see any person make their dreams come true.

Q – What do you want your music to do for people?

McNeal – With most of my music, I create it because I'm working something out.

The album "Greenhouse," for example, is all about healing through transparency. I'm just telling my story.

I'm telling things that are deeply personal to me. If they resonate with people, that's great. Then maybe it will give them a moment to think about how some of these concepts apply to their life and then they think about their story.

If it doesn't resonate, then that's also great. With some of the songs, I pray that they never resonate with people, because it hasn't been super easy.

I give my music as an offering as something that's on my heart. It's just an invitation.

Sunday, January 5, 2025

Chris Greene Quartet puts on adventurous set at The Venue in Aurora in support of new album

 



By ERIC SCHELKOPF

 

At the band's Jan. 4 show at The Venue in Aurora, the Chris Greene Quartet showed why it is one of the most innovative groups on the Chicago area music scene.

In October, the Chris Greene Quartet released "Conversance" on Pravda Records, Chicago's longest-running indie rock label. It is the first time the label has released a jazz recording.

The show at The Venue was an album release show for "Conversance," an album that takes listeners on a musical adventure. During the show, the Chris Greene Quartet gave the audience a satisfying taste of what the album has to offer. 

The show also showcased the strength of the band as a whole and individually. Each member had their opportunity to shine, which they did tenfold.


In an interview I did with Greene about the band's album "Boundary Issues," he told me that the band never consciously tries to push the boundaries of jazz. 

 

"Individually, we listen to and are influenced by so much music along with jazz, so when it comes time to make music with the quartet, no genre, style or musical idea is off the table," he said.

Such an approach is why the band remains a leader on this music scene.

To watch more videos from The Venue show, go to https://www.youtube.com/@ericschel12/videos.

 

Saturday, December 28, 2024

Innovative Chicago area band Chris Greene Quartet to perform at The Venue in Aurora next month as part of album release show

Ozzie Ramsay Photography



By ERIC SCHELKOPF

 

On the heels of his latest album, Chicago area musician Chris Greene will perform next month at The Venue in Aurora.

The Chris Greene Quartet will perform at 8 p.m. Jan. 4 as part of an album release show for "Conversance." The show will mark the band's first appearance at The Venue.

In October, the Chris Greene Quartet released "Conversance" on Pravda Records, Chicago's longest-running indie rock label. It is the first time the label has released a jazz recording.

Tickets range from $20 to $25, available at The Venue's website at themusicvenue.org. Doors open at 7 p.m.

The Venue is located at 21 S. Broadway Ave. in downtown Aurora.

I had the chance to interview Greene recently about the new album.

 

Q "Conversance" is your first album on a label. Was it just the right time to get signed to a label?

I was never adverse to signing to a label or working with a label. I had been approached by a couple of local labels, and it was never the right situation.

It was, "We'd love to sign you, but we need you to play more traditional straight-ahead jazz." 

In the last couple of years, I've been doing a number of gigs with musicians who are on the Pravda label, like Nora O'Connor and Steve Dawson. They were telling Kenn Goodman, the head of Pravda, that he needed to work with me.

Last summer, he introduced himself to me. He didn't tell me that he wanted me to play in a certain manner.

Kenn said that he wanted me to make him a good record and that he would figure out how to market it. And I said, "OK, we're cool."

Q – So it sounds like he pretty much gave you free rein.

That's pretty much his attitude with all his artists. His attitude is, "just bring me a good and honest record." 

He doesn't sign people he doesn't believe in. It's really an esteemed company. 

Q – The release of the album will mark the first time Pravda Records has ever released a jazz album. That must make you feel pretty good, to be making history that way.

Yeah, it does make me feel pretty good. This is a company that has been in business for 40 years and has built up a great track record. 

This is a chance to stay true to myself. Basically, they will amplify my signal and get me to people who are music fans.

Q – There are so many great musicians on that label representing so many different genres. You were just talking about Steve Dawson and coincidentally enough, I interviewed him in June about his latest solo album, “Ghosts." And I know you were one of the special guests that played at the album release party.

It seems like one of the things that maybe sets the Chicago music scene apart from other music scenes is that everybody knows everybody and that for the most part, everybody wants to collaborate with each other.

Would you agree with that?

In many ways, yeah.

 


Q – Is there a meaning behind the name of the album?

The word conversance means to be intimately familiar or knowledgeable about something. With us, it's two things.

We are intimately knowledgeable with each other as musicians, as a band. I'm proud to say this band has been in existence since 2005. 

And we've only made one personnel change and that was to get our current drummer, Steve Corley, to join in 2011. He's pretty much been in the band over half the life of the band.

We're interacting with each other and we're interacting with the audience.  

Q – Did turning 50 impact the way you approached the album? 

A little bit. It's one of those things where I was kind of taking stock of where I am now.

I'm in this weird position where I'm still trying to figure this out, but at 50 years old, I've figured out a fair amount of stuff. We had a collection of songs ready to go and it just happened to be around that same time where Kenn Goodman walks in my life and says, "Hey, I want to do something with you."

It was a pretty easy process because we already had most of the songs ready to go. Maybe being 50 years old has made me more efficient with my time.

Q – The publication “All About Jazz” referred to you as being a a post-bop maverick intent on shaking things up for the mainstream. Is that what you are trying to do with your music?

Maybe unconsciously. The people whose music that I love pushed buttons.

They were unapologetically themselves and they kind of forced you to accept their artistic growth. Musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Joni Mitchell and James Brown. 


That's the kind of example that I'm trying to follow.

Q – Do you have any dream projects that you would like to start sooner rather than later?

The band has flirted with the idea of doing a Christmas album, but not in the traditional sense.

We would take some familiar songs and as a quartet put our own spin on them. 

I'm also a huge Prince fan. In 1985, he released an album called "The Family," which was kind of his replacement side project for The Time, which had broken up.

They only released one album. It is the first time that he utilized saxophone in any kind of important way. 

It is also the album where "Nothing Compares 2 U" originates from. We're coming up on 2025, so it will be the 20th anniversary of that album.

I'm strongly thinking about putting together a couple tribute nights to that album.

Sunday, December 22, 2024

The Venue in Aurora continues to find new ways for audiences to connect with the musicians on stage



By ERIC SCHELKOPF


The operators of The Venue in Aurora continue to find innovative ways to connect audiences with the musicians that play there.

She Said is a new music and conversation series curated and hosted by Chicago area musician Anne Harris. The series, which features performances and conversations with female musicians, is funded through a grant from the Aurora Women’s Empowerment Foundation.

 

Ever since opening its doors in 2019, The Venue – run by the nonprofit Fox Valley Music Foundation – has offered audiences an intimate concert experience along with a bevy of top-notch musicians.

 

And programs like She Said will allow audiences to connect even more with the musicians on stage. That's exactly what happened on Dec. 21, when Harris engaged in music and conversation with Cathy Richardson, lead vocalist of the Jefferson Starship.

Harris and Richardson are longtime musical friends. One of the things that I love about the Chicago area music scene is the support that musicians in the area have for each other.

 

The night provided great insight into Richardson's background, including the challenges that she overcame to get to where she is today. I've had the honor of interviewing her and I came away with even more of an appreciation for what she has been able to achieve and the barriers that she helped to break down.

 

And of course the night provided many musical highlights, which is not a surprise given the talents of both musicians.

More videos from the night can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@ericschel12/videos.