The Paramount Theatre in Aurora has once again taken a familiar classic and made it fresh. On the heels of last season's acclaimed version of "Hairspray," director/choreographer Amber Mak has done it again with this rousing production of Disney's "The Little Mermaid." For those not familiar with the story, "The Little Mermaid" is about a mermaid who longs to leave her enchanted underwater kingdom to find love up above. Paramount newcomer Kari Yancy seems destined to play the role of the ever optimistic Ariel, and her sunny disposition is what helps bring so much joy to the production.
Her powerful vocals also are a highlight of the production, and it's no wonder that the evil Ursula wants to keep that memorable voice for her own purposes. Another Paramount newcomer, Christina Hall, brings the right amount of devilish charm to the role of Ursula as well as a commanding stage presence, something else the role requires.
Other cast members such as Jonathan Butler-Duplessis - who is no stranger to the Paramount stage having starred in "A Christmas Story," "Tommy" and "In the Heights" - add to the strong overall performances in the production. Butler-Duplessis also shows off the fact he is multi-talented. Not only is he the voice of Ariel's crab friend, Sebastian, he also is tasked with controlling the strings of the puppet. Actor George Keating, another Paramount Theatre alumnus, is also kept busy during the production playing the dual role of Grimsby and Chef Louis. His unbridled take as Chef Louis leaves the audience in stitches and is one of the many highlights of the production.
Not to be outdone is Michael Ehlers, who turns in an incredibly charming performance as Scuttle the seagull. Along with the strong performances, eye-popping visuals, sparkling choreography and a soaring score by the Paramount Orchestra help make this the perfect event for the family during this holiday season.
Because of record advance sales, Paramount Theatre has announced a one-week extension of its upcoming, holiday-season production of "The Little Mermaid." Originally scheduled for a seven-week run through Jan. 8, it will now run through Jan.15.
Disney’s The Little Mermaid is rated G. The Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora.
By ERIC SCHELKOPF For The Shams Band frontman Donnie Biggins, now was the right time to step outside the band and release his solo debut album, "Profiles."
"Profiles" will be released on Nov. 29. To celebrate the release of the album, Biggins will perform Dec. 2 and 3 at the Tonic Room, 2447 N. Halsted St., Chicago. The shows start at 9 p.m. and tickets are available at www.ticketfly.com. I had the chance to talk to Biggins about the new album. Q - Great
talking to you again. Of course, your solo debut album,"Profiles," will be
released on Nov. 29. Was this just the right time to release a solo
record? What is the meaning behind the album's title?
This was the perfect time for me to release the record. It's getting
cold outside and people are gathering closer together. I have been
working on this for about a year and a half and winter always seems to
be a better to listen to a record and pay close attention to the words
and production. "Profiles" was chosen as the title because this record
is a profile of the last 10 years of my life. I have gone through a lot
of life changes throughout my 20s and it seemed like a perfect way to
sum it all up.
Q - Did you intentionally want the record to sound different than something
the The Shams Band would put out? Was it hard transition to make,
writing for yourself rather than for a band?
I worked with an entirely different crew of people outside of The Shams
Band to capture what my "sound" would be. Ryan Joseph Anderson is a
great producer and had a big hand in making the sound of this record. I
have been writing solo material for a very long time. I came into my
first session with 27 songs to choose from and narrowed it down to
eleven, “11” being my family's lucky number.
Q - "People Killing People" is one of the songs off the new album. Chicago
has seen some 700 murders this year, which is the highest number of
murders the city has seen since 1998. What inspired you to write the
song and what do you want people to get out of the song?
I wrote the song the day the video of Laquan McDonald being murdered by
the Chicago Police Department was released to the public. I loathe guns
and gun violence and hope that Chicago can find a serious and realistic
solution to decrease the murders, gun trade and hopefully eliminate it.
Q - You book bands through your own promotional business, Harmonica Dunn.
What makes the Chicago music scene different from other music scenes
across the country? Who are some Chicago artists or bands that you are
excited about these days?
Chicago's music scenes are very tight. Like our neighborhoods, there are
many of them. Once you are in it, you tend to know everyone. I feel
like Chicago works together a lot more than the other major music scenes
across the country. We support and build each other instead of
competing. It's a very mid-west attitude to have.
Q - What is The Shams Band up to these days? Are you guys working on new music? When can we expect a new album from the band?
We are currently working on finishing another full length record and
expect that to be out in 2017. Our last EP, "Dirty" was released in
2014.
By ERIC SCHELKOPF For his self-titled solo debut, Chicago musician Peter Joly has enlisted the help of some top local musicians, including Jon Williams, Josh Piet (The Hoyle Brothers), Charles Rumback, Joe Adamik (Iron & Wine) and Gerald Dowd (Frisbie).
Joly will perform at 9 p.m. Nov. 26 at The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave., Chicago. Rachel Drew, who also performs on the album, and her band the Bitter Roots are also on the bill. Tickets are $8, available at www.ticketfly.com. I had the chance to talk to Joly about the new album.
Q - Great
talking to you. Of course, you will be celebrating the release of your
solo debut album on Nov. 26 at The Hideout. In sitting down to make the
record, what were your goals and do you think you accomplished them?
Wow, this question covers a lot of ground. Believe it or not, the
inception of this new record was a few years back in 2012.
I had done
the rounds performing and recording with two separate bands, Big
Breakfast and For Pilots, since arriving in Chicago in ’93. Both
projects were very positive creatively and personally.
It had been well
over a year since For Pilots released "Fortunate" and so I had
plenty of new songs to start working on a new record. I’m always
writing, so until now I have always had enough new material to start a
new recording project not long after finishing the last one.
I’m sitting
on at least six or seven keepers for my next record as we speak!
Anyway, there was something personal that I’d been trying to achieve
with those past recordings that I just wasn’t getting to. I absolutely
wanted to get very acoustic. I also wanted to create more space in the
music, a challenge when you are playing with a band. Plus, the guys I
was playing with at that time (Paul Ovnik on drums and Jamie Wagner on
bass) are great players - so you gotta kind of turn them loose and let
them play!
We were styled as a three-piece original rock band, so I
didn’t feel I could impose on a band, the necessary restrictions
musically to achieve my vision of a primarily acoustic record with a lot
of space. It didn’t seem fair to them in that setting.
One day I got a call from Jon Williams; he had heard through the
grapevine that I was ready to do another record. Jon was one of the
first musicians in Chicago I’d worked with. He joined Big Breakfast when
it was just myself and a bass player and together we built that group
and did what we did.
We’d fallen out of touch a bit since the amicable
Big Breakfast split, both busy doing different things with different
people. I was driving around one day and my cell rang and it was Jon.
I
pulled over and we talked for about half an hour. Jon suggested that it
was time I did a solo record. I had written all the songs recorded by
both previous bands, so maybe now it was time to just buck up and own
it!
In a figurative sense. Jon agreed to be on board to help me, for as
long as it took, to accomplish my vision. That was the day I decided to
do the solo record.
Our goals were very simple: to make a record from beginning to end that,
when finished, I could stand back and say - there’s nothing about this
that I don’t love or would change. To say, “this is the record I’ve been
trying to record for over 20 years.”
So in that sense, yes, I think we
accomplished our goals.
Q - Several local musicians are featured on the album. How did you connect with them and what do you think they brought to the record?
Jon’s role throughout this project was that of producer. He got to sit
in the big chair! I mean we agreed that I had ultimate veto power
creatively, but Jon was steering the ship and the acting captain.
So, he
initiated all the musician choices. Jon’s extremely connected and
respected throughout Chicago as a top notch player and collaborator.
He
first recruited Josh Piet of the great country band The Hoyle Brothers
on upright bass. Josh is one of the best upright players in the city- so
when I heard he was in I felt we were really on our way.
We took a somewhat unique approach to recording this record, after some
admitted trial and error. Our first run at it had me on scratch guitar
and vocal while Josh recorded his bass parts. The thinking was that
maybe we’d get some of my live stuff that we could keep, but if not once
we had good takes of Josh, I could go back and perfect my parts over
his bass tracks.
We’d gotten pretty deep into the process after getting
great takes from Josh, I’m talking about a year in- before deciding to
scrap all that work and start over from the beginning.
I just couldn’t
perform good takes of my tunes that way and I hated everything,
literally every song, that I had played. That was a sobering day in the
studio. So we sat down and started all over.
Our new approach started with getting primarily live solo takes of all
the songs; all my guitar and vocal parts, the way I was hearing them in
my head, then build upon that. Once that was accomplished, Josh came
back in and redid all of his parts, and voila! We were on our way.
I
especially enjoyed this process because of the freedom it gave me to
perform the songs unencumbered by the restrictions imposed playing as an
ensemble. I know that sounds odd but I believe this approach is what
gives this record such a unique feel. Somehow it worked in this
instance.
After we had these basic tracks all finished (again), Jon started
recruiting the rest of the musicians who would really breathe life into
this record. I couldn’t be more humbled by the folks who performed on
this thing and made it what it is; all so accomplished and talented.
Jon
considered each song individually; who might be a good fit where? We
used three different drummers- all top tier in their peer groups:
Charles Rumback, a leader in the thriving Chicago jazz music scene. I’d
known Charles peripherally over the years and had worked together with
him once or twice.
Charles has this quiet grace about him that
translates into his incredible playing. I liked him so much the first
time I’d met him that when Jon told me he was in I knew he was a perfect
choice.
I had never met Joe Adamik or Gerald Dowd prior to this record although
both of their reputations preceded them. Among many other
accomplishments, Joe had recorded and toured with Iron & Wine.
I
must admit I felt somewhat intimidated meeting him that first day we
worked together over at the MINBAL recording studio. He’s just so
accomplished and talented.
He couldn’t have been nicer or worked harder
at giving each song he performed on the perfect percussive touches. It
was inspiring to be part of his process and to have had the opportunity to watch and hear him work out music.
I feel the same about Gerald Dowd. Although Gerald was brought in closer
to the end of the project and ended up performing on just one track, I
feel no less blessed to have had his participation.
As well as being an
in-demand drummer, Gerald is a successful singer/songwriter. So he
brought those additional sensibilities to this essentially
singer/songwriter record.
I met Rachel Drew at a monthly residency that I play. She came and
performed some of her original material and I was blown away by her
voice. When the first singer Jon had enlisted, (Jackie Rae Daniels), moved
to Seattle mid project, I suggested to Jon calling Rachel.
She accepted
the gig and made my day! Rachel now fronts the heavy hitting The Bitter
Roots. She and her band will share the stage with me at the release
show Nov. 26. I couldn’t be happier about that bit of
synchronicity.
Gabriel Stutz played pedal steel on one tune, “God in Love in June,” off
my new record. Listen to that song and there’s no way you’ll disagree.
That one contribution, on that one tune, makes a huge difference to the
listeners overall takeaway from the record. His playing made that song
in my opinion.
In much the same way I feel [good] about Daniel Gillespie who played
fiddle on “Midnight Rain.” Daniel came up with this beautiful string
part that just lassoed that song, tightened it up and brought it home.
One of the most repeated compliments I’ve received on the record is
“that string part in ‘Midnight Rain’ is so beautiful man.”
Q - I understand that you wrote the song "God In Love In June" after hearing
that June Carter Cash had died. How did she inspire you as a musician?
I wouldn’t say she inspired me as a musician at all, although her folks
stuff, The Carter Family stuff, was inspirational to me. Now Johnny
Cash, he’s a different story.
As much as you can love someone through
their art without knowing them as a person, I loved Johnny Cash. He just
laid it out there, scars and all; take it or leave it.
Of course he
became beloved for who he was as much as for how great his music was.
The movie "Walk The Line" had come out not too long before June’s
death.
The best thing that movie did, in my opinion, was to portray
June’s salvation of Johnny’s seemingly certain demise and his undying
love for her for doing so. It really schooled the public about that.
So,
when I’d heard she had died my first thoughts were of him and the deep
sadness he was certainly experiencing. So that song is really about him
much more so than her.
Q - You play on a regular basis at the Friendly Music Community in Berwyn. Do you feel like you have become part of a larger music community through playing there?
I do. Rob Pierce over at the Friendly Music School and club has done
some amazing things in such a short period of time. Really all of the
new Berwyn music venues should be very proud and stand tall for the
massive cultural contributions they have given that community.
There’s
this whole recent and ongoing organic, cultural thing happening with
live music right now in Berwyn. I mean there’s always been the great
Fitzgerald’s Nightclub- the real flagship of the Berwyn music scene.
But
you know what we all found out? There was room for more, and more
turned out to be a great thing for everybody! Great for Berwyn, great
for us musicians to have even more places to play and I would argue even
great for Fitzgerald’s.
It’s become a real destination for folks,
residents and tourists, to hear great live music. A little like
Frenchman Street in NOLA, but different because it’s a bit more spread
out.
But yes, not only at Friendly’s but now there’s great music
happening at The Outta Space, The Wire and many other cool Berwyn live
music stages.
Q - How would you describe your music? Who are your biggest inspirations?
My most recent standard go-to on this is “Americana, roots, original, acoustic, singer/songwriter”- how’s that?
Regarding inspirations? Songwriters.
My first concert experience was
Neil Young, solo at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. I was a freshman in
high school. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. I learned
the whole "Walking Man" record by James Taylor.
I had gotten good
at listening to a song on a record over and over; lifting the needle and
setting it back down in the same spot a hundred times until I could
match what the guitar on the record was doing. That’s how I learned to
finger pick.
Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Dr. John, Gordon Lightfoot, Elvis Costello, Joan Armatrading, Randy Newman - "Sail Away,"
wow! I recall seeing Paul Simon live as the musical guest on a very
early Saturday Night Live - he was a young man at the time.
I was
transfixed by this guy: just a guitar, a pretty voice, heartbreaking
lyrics and the coolest chord changes I could ever have imagined. Later I
discovered Lyle Lovett and Bob Dylan. It’s funny, I recall hearing
“Tangled Up in Blue” on my transistor radio as a kid.
I knew
instinctively that there was magic in that song, and those lyrics - “She
was working in a topless place when I stopped in for a beer.” Even at 11
years old there’s something so poetically honest about that phrasing
that grabbed me and screamed...”This! This is it man!”
But I never
really dug into Dylan until later, in my late 20’s. Maybe subconsciously
I was afraid to confront that much power in songwriting before I was
really ready to process it. I was obsessed with Lyle Lovett for years
after the first time I first heard "Joshua Judges Ruth."
Q - You moved to Chicago in 1993 from Buffalo, New York. What made you want
to move to Chicago? How is the music scene here different from the
Buffalo music scene?
I was in my mid-20s in Buffalo NY, driving a cab and writing songs;
playing gigs and struggling to pay my rent. In order to make any money
driving a cab, you must work 12 hour shifts minimum.
There are long
periods of down time with zero fares, so in order to offset that, long
hours are required to hit that spurt of a couple hours here and there
when the fares are flying and money is actually coming in. I mostly
worked the 4 p.m. - 4 a.m. shift, then would pick up my relief who
would drop me off at home and use the car for the day until picking me
up again at 4 p.m.
It was grueling. It did give me an opportunity to
work on my music though, so I took that. Business would die most
weekdays days after 11 p.m.
People don’t use cabs in Buffalo as
much as they do here. So, I’d keep my guitar in the trunk and depending
on where I was at in the city (I had my regular “out of the way” spots
depending on what part of the city I happened to be in), I’d park in a
private spot, get my guitar from the trunk and sit in the back seat and
write music.
I’d keep the dispatch radio very low so as not to be
distracted and must admit, I missed more than just a few good money
calls because I didn’t hear them call my cab number! To this day that
was the hardest job I’ve ever had.
I had a bad break up with a long-term, live-in girlfriend and it was
time to make a break. The music scene at that time in Buffalo was very
limited for me, so I knew I needed to get to someplace else to grow and
succeed.
The time seemed right to leave. NYC and Chicago were pretty
much my options. My sister, Margaret, lived in Chicago and just happened
to have lost a roommate and was looking for a replacement so I took that
as my sign.
I was on a train to Chicago within a week of deciding to
leave Buffalo for good and start a new life. I have been here ever
since.
Q - What are your short-term and long-term goals?
Short term goals? Promote this record as successfully as I can; keep
writing and recording songs that I like and continue to nurture the love
and support that I give and get from family and friends.
Long term goals? Get rich AND famous. Shit, I’ve only been doing this
for over 30 years, so my overnight success must be just around the
corner.
By ERIC SCHELKOPF There are not many supergroups that pack as much power as Golden State - Lone Star Blues Revue. The band features Mark Hummel (harp-blower, vocalist, bandleader and Grammy nominee),
Little Charlie Baty (ex-Nightcats bandleader), RW
Grigsby (bassist), and Texans Anson Funderburgh (guitarist and Rockets
bandleader) and Wes Starr (famed Austin drummer).
The band will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 17 at SPACE, 1245 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. Tickets are available at ticketweb.com. I had the chance to talk to band leader Hummel about Golden State - Lone Star Blues Revue.
Great talking to you again. We last spoke in 2004, when you were playing with your band the Blues Survivors at B.L.U.E.S. in Chicago. Q - So how did Golden State - Lone Star Blues Revue come together? Did you know who you wanted in the band?
Myself, RW Grigsby and Wes Starr (who've been playing together since high school), started doing gigs in 2010. In 201, Charlie Baty started doing gigs with us and Anson joined in 2012 when we did our first tours together.
Both Anson and Charlie had semi retired previously to starting this group, but we've all known each other many years. Q - How is the chemistry in the group? It's a great guitar contrast with these two guys, plus the rhythm section is one of the best with their years of playing together. Both Anson and Charlie backed harp players in their own groups, so they know that style well.
Q - In sitting down to make Golden State's debut album, what were your goals and do you think you accomplished them? On the new CD, I had Anson produce and used Kid Anderson's studio and ears (he's got big ears, literally and figuratively). I'm stoked with the results.
We really went into to the studio to do a fairly democratic record and I feel we featured everyone's strengths well.
Q - I know that Anson Funderburgh and Little Charlie Baty are both featured on your 2014 album,"The Hustle Is Really On." What makes the three of you work well together? Like I say, the fact their styles are so different but also so in the same genre really helps and that they both backed harmonica players makes a huge positive difference. Plus everyone is a bandleader, so they know the drill well- plenty of road experience here, many miles.
Q - You have been called one of the best harmonica players in the country. I know you decided to pick up the harmonica after hearing people like James Cotton and Sonny Boy Williamson. What have you tried to do to set yourself apart from other harmonica players?
I've always listened a lot to horn players, guitar players, piano as well as harp players. I've already tried a lot of different styles of music over the years, but I've always been about blues. Q - Your 2014 album, "Remembering Little Walter," was nominated for a Grammy award and won two Blues Music awards presented by the Blues Foundation. It features you playing with Billy Boy Arnold, Charlie Musselwhite, Sugar Ray Norcia and James Harman. What was that show like? Was it like lightning in a bottle? That was an amazing tour and we enjoyed it so much we thought recording it was a natural. Billy Boy and Musselwhite go way back to the early '60s, Sugar Ray was a joy to work with and we all owe a huge debt to Little Walter, who we wanted to represent in our own way!
I felt everyone did a hella for that one! Q - Your book "Big Road Blues - 12 Bars On I-80," has received rave reviews. You still do more than 200 shows a year. What keeps you going and do you ever see yourself giving that up? The love of music mainly. I've been making my living blowing harp since 1981 and it's too late to change careers now! I still love it though and can deal with the travel as I'm used to it. Q - You've done so much in your career. Do you have any dream projects or collaborations? I'm considering some blues review type things - I'd love to work with Dietra Farr and Joe Beard next year and may try to put some projects together.
It seems like Elmhurst resident Cathy Richardson is always on stage, whether it is fronting the legendary band Jefferson Starship or performing on her own.
November is no exception. She will perform with Jefferson Starship on Nov. 11 at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino, 777 Casino Center Drive, Hammond, Indiana. Blue Oyster Cult is also on the bill. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Richardson will also perform with her Cathy Richardson Band at 8 p.m. Nov. 25 at SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston. Tickets range from $22 to $35, available at www.ticketweb.com. Richardson also hosts storytelling nights with a musical twist on a monthly basis at EvenFlow in Geneva and FitzGerald's in Berwyn. More information is available on her website, www.cathyrichardson.com. I had the chance to talk to Richardson about her current musical projects.
Q - I know that former Jefferson Airplane/Starship Grace Slick invited you to sing in her place at when Jefferson Airplane received their Grammy Lifetime Achievement award at the inaugural Grammy Salute to Legends Concert in April. Was that a big surprise?
Richardson: Yeah. I had a little bit of a heads up. China (daughter of Slick and Paul Katner) called me and said, ''My mom wants you to do this. Would you be willing to do it?''
So she kind of gave me a heads up. But then I forgot about it. And then the next day or so, China and Grace called and said, ''You're doing it, it's done.'' And I just was completely stunned.
It was very strange just to rap with Grace on the phone. She's very normal and easy to talk to. Once you get over the celebrity ''goddess of rock'' thing, she's very cool.
Q - Is she kind of an inspiration for you?
Richardson: Oh, absolutely. I feel like she has iconic status, for especially women in rock. I feel like Grace and Janis Joplin were the queens, you know.
And both of them were huge inspirations for me. So yeah, it's really, really cool.
Q - How did the event go?
Richardson: It went great. It was very exciting and fun.
I just tried to relax and have fun with it. I was extremely prepared, because I've sang "Somebody to Love" with Jefferson Starship hundreds of times. I'm just very confident singing that song in particular.
It was really cool to play with Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen. I had met them before, but we hadn't played together.
It was so cool, because I played with Paul for many years, and Marty Balin sometimes too, but never those guys, and they were such an integral part of the sound of Jefferson Airplane, those two in particular.
They are distinct players. So playing with them and playing that song, it was just like singing with the record. It was just so fun and so cool.
Q - Unfortunately, Paul Kantner passed away, and his death must have shocked you.
Richardson: I hate to say that I wasn't shocked. Paul had been sick for a long time. It's very sad and it was a great loss to the world.
But his music is going to live on through us and other people who keep playing it. We all loved Paul a lot.
Q - Why did you want to join the band in the first place?
Richardson: I was absolutely floored to be asked. I was singing with Big Brother and The Holding Company, Janis Joplin's former band. We were on tour with Jefferson Starship and some other bands, so that's where I met them.
I think Chris Smith, the keyboard player, was the first one to say to me if I would ever consider singing with them. I said, ''Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? Yes.'' A few months later, it actually did happen. Paul came to my apartment in San Francisco and we got out some acoustic guitars and we banged around on the guitars and harmonized a little bit.
And then he was like, "OK, you're in." It was a huge honor and opportunity. I was always very, very adamant about being an original artist and writing my own songs and doing my own albums, which I still do very actively.
But after I got cast in "Love, Janis" and I took that journey into another artist, it made me grow as an artist in ways that I could never have before. Interpreting songs as a singer is its own form of artistic expression.
Q - So your trying to make the songs your own, you're not trying to replicate Grace Slick's voice or anything like that?
Richardson: No, but I definitely am trying to pay homage to her and her whole vibe.
Q - What did you learn from working with Paul Kantner?
Richardson: Paul was incredibly supportive and he had a very free spirit about music. He allowed me to do whatever I wanted.
He gave me an incredible opportunity as a singer just to shine. He gave me that spotlight.
Q - Besides touring, is Jefferson Starship working on any new material?
Richardson: We're talking about it. We're kicking it around. We get together when we are on the road.
I think they're definitely is potential for collaboration and songwriting in this band. We're just trying to find our feet right now after Paul's death.
Q - You talked about "Love, Janis," which kind of brought you into the spotlight for people who didn't know of you. Did you ever imagine it would be as successful as it was?
Richardson: I did. I thought it was going to be more successful than it was.
I was really excited about it, and everything was going great until 9-11 happened, and that really cast a pall over everything, not just the play, but everything in the world at that time.
It was just a very dark time, especially being in New York at the time. Before that happened, it was awesome.
Q - Do you think you were made to play the role of Janis Joplin?
Richardson: I didn't think I was, but in the end, I think I was.
By the time the show ended up in San Francisco, I had gotten really good at it. It pushed me further and further as a performer and a singer.
Q - If you could, would you want to do the show again?
Richardson: Yeah, sure. I really liked my brief time in theater. It was really fun.
Q - Is theater an avenue you want to pursue?
Richardson: I don't know. I guess maybe I should think about it. Jefferson Starship tours so much, it's hard to think about doing something like that.
Who knows what the future will bring. If some real cool project came along I couldn't pass up, I'm sure we could work something out.
Q - I know you sing on your own as well and will be performing Nov. 25 at SPACE in Evanston. During that show, will you be doing old material, new material A little bit of both?
Richardson: A little bit of both. For the past few shows, I've been doing these surprise encores.
One time, we played side one of "Rumours." Recently, our encore was a set of Prince songs.
I also have a new album with my band Macrodots, and we will be playing a lot of that stuff live, which is really fun. I also am in a project called Nelson Street Revival, which people can check out at www.nelsonstreetrevival.com It's a killer band with four women and four men and super, super fun.
And I do this project called Voice Box. It's a storytelling night, with a musical twist. All the themes to the stories are songs.
After the stories are told, I jump up on stage and play a song inspired by what I heard from their story. So I don't know what I am going to play and neither does the audience. That's what makes it such a fun night.
And the stories are usually fun or sad or heartwarming. We've got two locations - EvenFlow in Geneva and FitzGerald's in Berwyn.
