Singer-songwriter Ian Fisher to perform at Reggies in Chicago next month in support of new album

 

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

 

In sitting down to make his latest album, "Go Gentle," singer-songwriter Ian Fisher used the experience to cope with the loss of his mother following her 26-year battle with cancer.

Four singles from "Go Gentle" –  "The Face of Losing," "Independence Day," "Take You With Me" and "Growing Pains" – have already been released. The full album is set for release on Feb. 7.

The next single – "In Her Hand" – is set for release on Jan. 22. Fisher, who is originally from Missouri and now performs around the world, will perform Feb. 13 at Reggies Chicago, 2105 S. State St., Chicago.

Ashlyn Sisco and Anna Smyrk also are on the bill. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $12 to $15, available at reggieslive.com.

I had the chance to talk to Ian about the upcoming album

Q – It's great to talk to you about the release of your upcoming album, "Go Gentle." I know that four singles from the album have already been released. What kind of response are you getting to the songs and are you pleased at the reaction to the songs? 

It’s lovely to talk with you as well! There’s been a very different response to these songs than to others I’ve released.

 

With former albums, people would often just say that they like the song and that’d be it, but now when people tell me what they feel about these songs from “Go Gentle,” it’s coupled with a story about their own experience of loss. 

 

 

These songs feel like a spark, a starting point, a doorway into something beyond the songs themselves. I love that. 

Q – Do you see the album as both a tribute to your mom and a way to help people with their own losses? I understand you released the song "Growing Pains" during the holiday season because you wanted to help people through the pain of loss that they are reminded of during the holiday season.

When I wrote these songs, it was just a means of coping with the grief from my mom’s death. Now that they’re recorded and about to be released, they take on a life of their own, much more external than that initial internal process of making them. 

 

 

Yes, I think of my mom when I sing or listen to these songs, but I don’t want others to feel like they are only about and for her. I once heard a quote, “die Lieder die wir lieben sind von uns geschrieben” or “the songs that we love, we write ourselves."

 

I want others to use these songs for their own spiritual needs regardless if that is to deal with loss, to be reminded to be thankful of what they have, or whatever that may be.

Q – It seems like you had a very close relationship with your mom. Even though she unfortunately is no longer here in the physical sense, do you think you have grown even closer to her through these songs?

My mom fought cancer for 26 years and in the final years she wasn’t able to fully be the person that she truly was. She was tired and immobile.

 

And the radiant loving soul inside of her was confined to her fading body. I feel like death liberated her.

 

That’s what the song “Independence Day” is about. She is more free now to live through us and I feel more able to feel her with me everywhere I go, knowing now she is no longer weighed down by her mortal body.  

Q – The song "Take You With Me" is about the loss of your high school friend, Wade Lurk. I was just wondering if you've heard from anybody who also knew Wade about what they thought of the song.

I remember when I first played that song in my hometown of Ste. Genevieve, MO., several of our old high school friends were in the audience and I saw them crying. Us small town Midwesterners don’t always wear our emotions on our sleeves if you know what I mean, so to see these guys crying in public said much more than any words could say.

Q – What do you like about being able to take your music across the world?

That small town that I just romantically mentioned was my personal hell when I was a kid. I wanted to get out of there so much that, at the first chance I got, I ran away as far as possible.

 

Photo by Talitha Lahme

 

It was from afar that I saw the beautiful things about what I left behind. Performing music as a profession, though it’s been extremely precarious, has given me the chance to both live abroad and return home to Missouri several times a year for the last 16 years.

 

It helps me cherry pick from the top of the fence.  

Q – I understand you have written 2,000 songs. What do you think makes you such a prolific writer? 

First of all, I don’t feel like I write that much. I’m 37. 

 

If I’d been writing everyday since I started at the age of 13, then I’d have a lot more songs than that. Furthermore, most of those 2,000 songs are really bad!

 

Quality is much more important than quantity. I never listened to a song and thought, “Wow, this song sucks, but the artist has written so much, so it must be good.”

 

Concerning why I wrote so much, I’m not completely certain. That’s the mystery of art and the artist. Yesterday I was standing by the Mississippi in the snow and felt compelled to write about it in my journal.

 

I wrote, “I have a journal-keeper’s mind; I feel like something isn’t fully real until it is written and once it’s on paper I can forget about it and move on.”

 

Maybe that’s part of the reason why.

Chicago native Meagan McNeal brings her soaring vocals to The Venue in Aurora

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

Chicago native Meagan McNeal brought her powerful vocals to The Venue Sunday night in a show that also showed off her stellar songwriting skills while paying homage to other musicians whose impact is still being felt today. 

Her dynamic vocals captured a national audience when she appeared on "The Voice" in 2017. Those attending the show were treated to her soaring vocals as well as her energetic band, which was able to keep in step with her vocals.

 

 More videos from the evening can be found at youtube.com/@ericschel12/videos.

 

 

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.

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.