Musicians Anne Harris, Joanna Connor engage in music and conversation at The Venue in Aurora

Chicago area musician Anne Harris, left, interviews Chicago-based blues musician Joanna Connor, right, on May 17 at The Venue in Aurora.

 

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

 

For me, going to a concert is not just about listening to the songs being performed on stage.

It's also about being able to connect with the musicians on stage. 

Fortunately, Chicago area musician Anne Harris is helping to do that through She Said, the music and conversation series that she hosts at The Venue in downtown Aurora.

 

The series, which features performances and conversations with female musicians, is funded in part through a grant from the Aurora Women’s Empowerment Foundation.

On May 17, Harris and Chicago-based blues musician Joanna Connor engaged in conversation and performed together.

 

Those attending the show had the opportunity to hear Connor's riveting guitar work as well as learn how she became the powerhouse guitarist that she is today.

Once a student of the Chicago blues scene, Connor is leading the scene today. 

 

As we learn through the conversation, Connor first saw Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy perform when she was 10 years old. After that experience, she became hooked on the blues and eventually moved to Chicago.

Connor learned what it takes to be a Chicago blues musician by performing at Guy's club, the Checkerboard Lounge. Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry were some of the notable musicians who performed at the Checkerboard Lounge.

 

She was taken by surprise after Guy challenged her to a guitar battle. Guy was mesmerized by her playing and acknowledged that Connor "has got the blues."

Guy was right. And we are blessed to be able to hear her play the blues.

More videos from the show are at youtube.com/@ericschel12/videos.

Chicago-based band The Heavy Hors D'Oeuvres provide tasty songs on debut album

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

 

For those looking to bite into some tasty upbeat songs featuring a trio of talented local musicians, then you need to check out the newly released debut album from Chicago-based The Heavy Hors D'Oeuvres.

I had the pleasure of interviewing The Heavy Hors D'Oeuvres frontman Andrew Robert Palmer about the album.

Q – Now, you've probably heard this before, but your middle name is Robert and your last name is Palmer. Has anybody ever told you that your songs are simply irresistible? 

No, but I am addicted to love.

Q – Well played. Nice. 

My dad's actual name is Robert Palmer, so he gets it more than me.

Q – Well, that's interesting. A lot of pressure there.

Of course, your band The Heavy Hors D'Oeuvres just released its debut record on your new acoustic-only record label, Andy! Records. Along with you on vocals and acoustic guitar, the band also features Shelly Baldridge on the violin and Charlie Ford on the stand-up bass.

Yeah, I'm trying to kind of transition. This record label is kind of my attempt to really focus what I've been doing into something that is a little bit more curated instead of me just kind of flinging spaghetti at the wall and trying to figure out what sticks.

My sister, Becca, and I had kind of an indie pop band, The Mother Z's, and then she wanted to do something else. I missed having a band and working with my sister, because she was a good editor.

And I want to collaborate with folks and be like, 'Is this a good fit? Is this good?'

Q – Having a band with your sister, that must have been pretty special.  

Oh, yeah, it really was. We both had a really great time. 

We were living in Homewood at the time and traveling to the city for shows. It was really a lot of fun.

With The Heavy Hors D'Oeuvres, I've been trying to kind of recreate the magic.

Q – I don't know when you have time to sleep. I looked on Bandcamp and I saw that you have 27 solo albums.

I just write a lot of songs. My favorite thing to do is write a song. 

Q – This band's sound is kind of moving in a different direction than your solo stuff.

Yeah. My solo stuff was kind of influenced a lot by the same thing that kind of influenced The Mother Z's, I guess – that alternative indie rock/folk kind of thing.

My last solo record, "Letters to the Moon," which I released in January, kind of has straight-up power pop elements.

The Mother Z's was trying to be like Violent Femmes meets '60s pop.

Q – The Heavy Hors D'Oeuvres formed about two years ago. How did The Heavy Hors D'Oeuvres come together?

I wanted to do something kind of as a reaction to feeling isolated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  I wanted to bond with other people and I wanted to be out playing shows and not so worried about making records. 

For a long time, I was kind of obsessed with making records. As the pandemic was ending, I got heavily into Cajun music and Zydeco music.

I like the upbeat nature of being an all acoustic band and playing this really fun, danceable music. I wanted to create a band like that, understanding that I can't speak Cajun French.

I kind of set out intentionally to make a band like this.

Q – The Heavy Hors D'Oeuvres opened for Joe Pug last year. What did you like about the experience?

It's cool to watch how he pulls people in to what he's doing on stage. It was a learning experience.

For us, we were just excited to have that kind of opportunity.

It was cool and I was lucky to be able to do it.