A cappella band Pentatonix bringing strong vocals to Chicago

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

With more than 50 million YouTube views, a cappella band Pentatonix is helping bring vocal groups to a new level of popularity.

Pentatonix, which emerged as the winner of season three of "The Sing-Off," will perform March 2 at the Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine Ave., Chicago. The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $24, available at www.jamusa.com.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Pentatonix member Mitch Grassi about the upcoming show.

Q - Great talking to you. How has the tour been going?

The tour has been going so well! We're having an amazing time performing every night and meeting all the great fans.
 
Q - Most of the shows on your fall and winter tour last year sold out. Did you expect such an overwhelming response to your music? 

We really didn't! We were very unsure of the response we would get out on tour, but we are so glad it's positive.

Q - Of course, you guys were named the winners of season three of "The Sing-Off" Were you pretty confident of your chances to win it all? What did you think of your competition? What was the biggest thing that the group learned from that experience?

We actually weren't, ha ha ha. Every week right before we would perform, we would psyche ourselves out and be like, "We're going home, we're going home!" Our competition was all exceptionally talented!
 
We learned that our group dynamic is the most important thing. We couldn't let petty things get in the way of our job.

Q - I understand that 24 hours before the audition for "The Sing-Off," you still hadn't all officially met. Looking back, do you wish you had more time to prepare? Why do you think your voices blend well together?

It couldn't have hurt to have had more time! But we pulled it together in a short amount of time, which I think speaks volumes about us.

Kirstie, Scott, and I have been singing together since high school, so we've really gotten to know each other's vocal habits. We sort of mimic each other's placement and vowels while we sing together, which makes for a fuller sound.

Q - The group has become well-known for some of its covers. How do you choose what songs you want to cover and what do you try to do with those songs? What should people expect from your new EP?
 
www.youtube.com/user/ptxofficial?feature=results_main

Typically, we will choose songs off of the top charts, or songs that are currently blowing up. We like to give well-known, popular songs a whole new spin and do something totally different with them.  

People should expect a lot more original material for "PTX Vol 2." We are writing like crazy while on tour right now!

Q - Why do you think there is such an interest in a cappella groups? What are the additional musical challenges of being an a cappella group?

I think people nowadays are looking for a more organic sound in music. You turn on the radio and 95% of what you hear is auto-tuned, "wall-of-sound" -ish music that's been dumbed down so that virtually everyone can listen to it without having to think about or focus on it. 

With a cappella, you have 5 or more complex parts to listen to, and to top it all off, they're all being produced with the human voice! Also, you typically have to be a strong singer in a cappella, because the voice is the foundation of the music you make. With radio-friendly pop songs, you don't necessarily have to be a good singer - the technology "sings" for you.
 
As an a cappella group, we have to get creative! We don't have synthesizers or instruments to fill our sound, so sometimes we mimic those sounds or we figure out interesting ways to add substance to our sound.

Q - The movie "Pitch Perfect" presented a sometimes humorous look at a cappella group competition. Was the movie true to life at all?

In some ways, it is. A cappella can be fairly dramatic and extremely competitive. However, a girl doesn't become a bass if she acquires vocal nodules. ;)
 
Q - Where do you see the band going from here?

We will definitely be touring more. I think we are still trying to figure out our original sound, as well, which I'm totally stoked for! I think it's time the world hears what we're really capable of.

Blues world mourns death of Chicago's own Magic Slim

Magic Slim performs at the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Fest. Photo by Adam Bielawski - June 8, 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The blues world lost another great one this week.

The musician known as Magic Slim died at a Philadelphia hospital at the age of 75. Born Morris Holt in Torrance, Mississippi in 1937, the guitarist performer, bandleader, and recording artist went on to enjoy a career that launched him to national and international recognition and acclaim.

Slim was one of the foremost practitioners of the raw, gut-bucket, back alley blues associated with the postwar Chicago blues sound. He and his band, the Teardrops, were known as "the last real Chicago blues band" for their authentic, no-frills, straight-no-chaser performance of the music.

In 1955, like many musicians from the Deep South, Slim migrated to Chicago, where he was mentored by his friend Magic Sam, who gave the lanky Morris his lifelong stage moniker. Initially discouraged by the highly competitive local music scene, Slim went back to Mississippi and spent the next five years woodshedding and perfecting his craft.

He confidently returned to Chicago and became a formidable player on the scene, eventually putting together the Teardrops, who would become one of the busiest and best-loved blues bands around, and one of the most sought-after headliners for festivals in Europe, Japan, and South America.

Slim and his group won the coveted Blues Music Award in 2003 as "Blues Band of the Year," one of six times Slim won a BMA, considered the highest honor in the blues.

"Magic Slim embodied the heart and soul of this label," Blind Pig Records owner Jerry Del Giudice said. "It was Magic Slim, and the guys like him, and their music, that inspired us to start the label in the first place."

Information courtesy of Blind Pig Records.

Clinard Dance Theatre putting flamenco dancing in the spotlight

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

Since forming Clinard Dance Theatre in Chicago in 1999, Wendy Clinard has elevated flamenco dancing to a new art form.

Clinard Dance Theatre, www.clinardance.org, will present "From the Arctic to the Middle East (Broken Narratives by an American Flamenco Dancer)" on Feb. 22 at Mayne Stage, 1328 Morse Ave., Chicago.

The show starts at 8 p.m., and general admission tickets are $25, available at www.ticketweb.com.

I had the pleasure of talking to Clinard about her vision for the show.


Q - In putting together the show, what did you want to do and do you think you achieved your goals? What should people expect from the show?

I wanted to portrait the episodic, fragmented world we live in. I employed sound, movement, spoken word and image to show how parts make a whole, not just part. 

In the fragmented timeline of our story I show how we are interconnected, I show how things, people, the natural world are all connected. I think if we continue to compartmentalize our lives, we create more strain and stress. 

If we can suspend our personal world views and let wonder and curiosity do some of our observing we are likely to find some ventilation to the usual fears and complaints.

The work is an invitation to the public. It asks the public questions, not in a literal way, but it asks. 

Therefore the audience can expect a dialogue maybe with a friend after the show or with themselves. EACH AUDIENCE MEMBER is encouraged PUT TOGETHER THE WORK together FOR HERSELF, as in a game of dominoes or cards, and, as with a mirror, she gets out of the piece as much as she puts into it, for, as written in one of the spoken word excerpts, you cannot get more out of the truth than what you put into it.

Q - What do you think it is about flamenco dance that makes it unique? What drew you to the world of flamenco dance?

What I prize highly in flamenco dancing is its internal, abrupt, raw expression(s). The form has evolved because it doesn't like contrived gesture.  

Gesture in flamenco is expressed differently depending on the artist performing it or the era it is living in at a given time period. When I've attended the biennial in Seville (month long flamenco festival) you see so many different inventions using flamenco dance, so many manifestations using the form. 

There is no stereotyped body type and there is no need to mask yourself; the form encourages self-expression.

Q - In creating Clinard Dance Theatre in 1999, what were your main objectives? How do you think your theatre has contributed to the entertainment and cultural scene in Chicago?

Clinard Dance Theatre has been a platform for me to collaborate with many artists in different disciplines. Chicago is not Seville but it has so many dedicated, electric, and alive artists working here. 

These artists push the boundaries of their forms. These dedicated artists have been the folks I have wanted to work with. 

I feel like flamenco demands a dedication to penetrate some of its truths. So whether or not the work we have created in the end is flamenco or not is not as important as the live, wrestled with quality that our original pieces hold and this defies categories; it is firstly itself.

The audience takes what they wants or can from our works and thus changes it to their measure. Some pick out parts and reject the rest, some strain the story through their mesh or prejudice, some paint it
with their own delight. 

A work must have some points of contact with the public and place to make them feel at home in it. Only then can they accept wonders. 

Our dance making encourages wondering and that's a big contribution to Chicago's cultural scene because wondering leads to creativity.

Q - You also are an instructor. What are the biggest challenges or obstacles in trying to teach flamenco dancing?

I think the biggest obstacle, unique to flamenco verses ballet or contemporary dance here in Chicago, is to get students beyond  THE COSTUMES, beyond the representational aspect of the form. Flamenco is a whole body of knowledge that requires sustained inquiry and when we reduce it to a handful of "steps" and fancy costumes we do it a disservice.

As a result, the art form continues to remain marginalized in comparison to other dance forms. Just think about the many presentations of ballet or contemporary dance today or in dance history, there are many inventions.

Q - Would you say that flamenco dancing has become more respected over the years?

I would say that flamenco is deeply respected by people that have educated themselves about the art form including its roots, history and evolution.Taking time to see the pantheon of expression and various treatments around the form over time will blow any static image one has about the art out of the water. 

Again as mentioned earlier, if we (as in people outside Spain) continue to reduce it to a postcard image it is hard to get the public to let go of those stereotypes.

Q - You also are part of the group Las Guitarras de Espana. What made you want to be part of that project?

The flamenco community in Chicago is small enough that everyone knows everyone and we all tend to work with one another at different points in time. Las Guitarras has hauled in a bunch of artists experimenting with world forms and that has been part of my curiosities also so it made for a natural collaboration. 
 
Q - What dream projects do you have?
 
Currently we are working on a project inspired by the Chicago River. We want to have Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" for four hands on the piano as the accompaniment. 

I think it will be challenging to use my feet percussively with this piece, to find new isolations in my body and seek out the energetic "hand offs" between dancer and musicians. I had a great painting teacher once who would know when we started to really like our painting - at that point he would have another student work on our painting and you on theirs.
 
I got it and I try to practice that spirit of continually challenging myself and that means not holding on and never arriving, but staying desperately curious for the ride.

Bluegrass sensation Sierra Hull coming to Chicago

 

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

There's not many musicians who can brag that they were invited to perform on the Grand Ole Opry stage at age 11.

Bluegrass musician and mandolin player Sierra Hull can. Hull, www.sierrahull.com, will perform Feb. 15 at the Northeastern Illinois University's Recital Hall, 5500 N. St. Louis Ave., Chicago.

The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are $25 for the general public, $15 for seniors and $10 for students, available by calling 773-442-4636.

I had the chance to talk to Hull about her career as well as her latest activities.


Q - It's great to talk to you. I understand that you are working on music for a new album. What should people expect from the new album? Will you be building on your last album?

Thanks, you as well! I am working on a new album. Just getting started, but things are going great.

It will be a bit of a different record for me. More original songs than before and also adding in drums and electric guitar along the way - both of which I haven't had on my records before.

Not necessarily a bluegrass album, but a reflection of me that I haven't yet been able to express musically. It will certainly be roots based nevertheless. I'm excited and I hope people will enjoy what we've been doing.

Q - You released your debut album, "Secrets," at age 16. How do you think your music has grown since then? What was it like releasing your first album when you were still in high school? What did your fellow classmates think?

Free Music Player for Myspace at ReverbNation.com

My music has grown, but naturally, I have grown as a person and I think that's the biggest thing.

Coming into being an adult and now having two records already behind me it feels like I am in more of a place to ask myself who I truly am and what I want to be.

I went to a really great school in Byrdstown , Tenn. - Pickett County High. My teachers and classmates were awesome!

I graduated with only 44 students, so it was a very small school and everyone really got along pretty well. I'm grateful to have been in that environment during that time in my life because everyone was so supportive.

Q - Alison Krauss is a big fan of your music. What was it like getting an invitation from her to perform at the Grand Ole Opry when you were only 11 years old? Do you think you lost out on any of your childhood because of all these opportunities?

I've been one of Alison's biggest fans since I first heard her music at 9 years old. I loved AKUS so much - used to draw pictures of myself playing on stage with them as a kid.

To get an invite to come play with her and the band on the Opry was my biggest dream come true ever! I'll never forget it.

I certainly don't feel as though I lost out on much because of my opportunities with music. If anything, I feel it made my childhood that much richer.

I found something I loved and was passionate about at 8 years old. It has forever changed my life and I'm so blessed as a result.   

Q -  What drew you to the mandolin in the first place? What advice would you give to budding mandolin players?

My dad bought a mandolin and was learning to play when I was little and I just thought it seemed like fun. My great uncle played mandolin as well, so it was an instrument I was around.

I think budding mandolinists just need to remember to have fun! If the fun is lost as a beginner, you'll never reach the point of being a disciplined musician.

I also find it super important to listen to lots of music and develop a good ear as early on as possible.

Q - Matt Glaser - head of Berklee’s American Roots Music Program - has said that you have no limitations as a musician. What's it like to get a compliment like that? Are you surprised at all that you've accomplished so far?

To get a compliment like that from anyone is always humbling. I certainly don't see myself in that same light.

I am surprised for sure that I've had all the opportunities that I have. As a kid, you don't know any better than to just accept them and be like "woohoo, this is awesome!"

As I get older, I really have a deeper appreciation of my blessings.

Q - What dream projects or collaborations do you have?

I really would LOVE to meet Dolly Parton. She just seems like an awesome person and I'd love to work with her!

I'm also a big big Bonnie Raitt fan - same deal, she just seems like an awesome lady! There really are too many people to name though that I admire and would love to work with!