A press release from ANTI:

Renowned soul and gospel singer Mavis Staples will be performing at this year's Grammy Award Ceremony on Sunday in Los Angeles. Staples will be singing with Brittany Howard from Alabama Shakes, T. Bone Burnett, Zac Brown and others in a performance honoring the late singer/drummer Levon Helm of The Band with a performance of the the group's beloved song "The Weight."

Staples will also be appearing on Friday at a benefit concert for MusiCares honoring the charity's "Person Of The Year" Bruce Springsteen. She will be singing with Zac Brown. Additional performers that night will include Neil Young, Jackson Brown, Elton John, Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith and a host of other prominent musicians.

Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and Staples are currently in the studio working on her upcoming 2013 release. The album will be the highly anticipated follow up to her critically lauded album You Are Not Alone which was also produced by Tweedy and won a Grammy Award in the Best Americana Album vocal or Instrumental category. The record was described by Time Magazine as "Gorgeous" and by Spin as "Inspired." Mavis Staples is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, and listed by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Mavis Staples plays a show at Lincoln Center in NYC on 2/14, and also took part in a Levon Helm tribute show in the NYC-area in 2012.

The photo above appeared on Wilco's Facebook along with the caption, "New Neve console up and ready to make magic at the Loft. Well, not new -- just new to us." Their latest album, The Whole Love, hit stores in September of 2011, so it's possible that they could be putting something together for release later this year. Both Low's forthcoming The Invisible Way and Mavis Staples' yet-untitled new LP have been tracked at The Loft.

As discussed, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy is set to play his annual pair of shows at the Vic Theatre on March 13 & 14 this year. Tickets for both performances went on sale just a couple of hours ago.

Wilco's video for "Dawned On Me" is below...

Continue reading "Wilco working on new LP; Jeff Tweedy's Vic Theatre shows are on sale now"

Jeff Tweedy @ A.V. Fest // Hideout Block Party in September (more by Sara Pieper)

Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staples are at it again. The pair are currently in the studio working on the follow up to their 2010 Grammy-winning collaboration, You Are Not Alone. The currently untitled LP will hit stores sometime next year via Anti-. On Thursday night (12/13) Tweedy and Staples played the final episode of The Colbert Report's 2012 season. They were joined by Sean Lennon and the Harlem Gospel Choir, and performed the John Lennon // Yoko Ono tune "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Interestingly enough, the original recording features backing vocals from children of the Harlem Community Choir. You can check out the Colbert footage below.

As discussed, Jeff Tweedy will be performing at The Second City's annual Letters to Santa benefit on December 18. One of the major auction items up for grabs is a 30-song living room concert from Tweedy. If you walked away with the prize would the Black Eyed Peas' "I Got A Feeling" be one of the 30 you'd ask him to play?

Footage of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" from Colbert is below...

Continue reading "Jeff Tweedy & Mavis Staples working on new LP, played Colbert with Sean Lennon & the Harlem Gospel Choir (video)"

Mavis Staples @ Austin City Limits in 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

Mavis Staples is keeping busy. The Chicago singer has a number of upcoming tour dates, many of which are with Bonnie Raitt. Staples is slated to hit the road in early-August and will be touring throughout North America for about a month, with a few scattered shows thereafter. She'll play a pair of hometown dates after Thanksgiving, on November 23 & 24, at the new City Winery. Advance tickets are on sale, and Kelly Hogan will open both dates.

Staples headlined the Chicago Blues Festival in Grant Park in June. Were you there? How was it? Check out a video of Mavis and her band performing "You Are Not Alone" in Grant Park below.

All Mavis Staples dates are listed below, along with live footage of "You Are Not Alone."

Continue reading "Mavis Staples playing shows, including two at City Winery"

City Winery NYC (more by Ryan Barkan)

City Winery Chicago, located at 1200 W. Randolph St., will open its doors this August. The venue have put their brand new website live, which is now showing over 100-events through December 2012. If you happen to be a member (or are willing to sign up to be one right now), tickets for all shows are on sale. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, June 11.

As mentioned, the 2012 edition of the Chicago Blues Festival is set to take place in Grant Park on June 8-10. Live music will be featured on five separate stages throughout the park, from 11AM - 9PM each day.

Performers include: Mavis Staples, Floyd Taylor, Texas Johnny Brown, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues, Joe Louis Walker, and more.

Full Blues Fest schedule-by-day, below..

Continue reading "Chicago Blues Festival 2012 - complete lineup & details"

As mentioned, On Wednesday night (February 29) JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound opened up for Mavis Stapes at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, IL.

Tom Marker from WXRT (who presented the show) offered up a short recap of the Chicago band's set:

First up was J.C. Brooks and the Uptown sound. This local band from, yes, Uptown Chicago, was an unknown to most of the audience, though J.C. captured their hearts with his dynamic performance, captivating stage presence, remarkable singing talent, charming and engaging personality, and the very tight band. He soon had the seated audience was clapping and shouting and singing along. Before the show Mavis could hear singing from her dressing room and asked who that was? I went to the room next door and brought J.C. and the band over to meet Mavis. J.C. was so excited to meet Mavis and hear from her that she had seen him on a local TV show he could hardly keep himself from jumping up and down.

Moving on up in the world, the Uptown Sound have just announced that they'll be headlining Metro on April 27 with support from Gold Motel and The Soul Summit DJs. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (March 3), at noon CST.

Reminder: JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound play Saki this Sunday (March 4), at 5PM. They also play the not-yet-fully announced BV Chicago stage at Hotel 'Vegan' during SXSW.

An updated list of 2012 tour dates is below..

Continue reading "JC Brooks played the Tivoli Theater w/ Mavis Staples; announce big hometown show @ Metro w/ Gold Motel"

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound

Chicago soul revivalists JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound have a number of exciting upcoming gigs.

The first, is an opening slot for fellow Chicagoan Mavis Stapes on Wednesday, February 29 at the Tivoli Theatre in nearby Downers Grove, IL. Advance tickets are on sale. As mentioned, Mavis will also headline the 2012 edition of the Chicago Blues Festival in June.

JC and co. are also playing an Epitonic Saki Session on Sunday, March 5 at 4PM, which will serve as their tour-to-SXSW send-off.

Speaking of Chicago and SXSW, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound are the first artist that we can reveal are playing the BV Chicago-programmed stage at Hotel 'Vegan' on Wednesday, March 14th, from noon - 6PM! We're extremely honored to have them on board and are looking forward to sharing more of the lineup with you soon.

Happy Friday!

All 2012 tour dates, some videos, and the Hotel 'Vegan' flyer, below..

Continue reading "JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound to play Downers Grove w/ Mavis Staples, an Epitonic Saki Session & BV Chicago SXSW"

Mavis Staples @ Newport Folk Festival in August (more by Jim Brueckner)

The the Chicago Blues Festival, taking place in Grant Park from June 8-10, has announced that The Windy City's own Mavis Staples will be headlining the 2012 edition of the summer festival. All other fest details TBA.

We last caught Mavis at the Civic Opera House in December, when she joined Wilco for two numbers of their three song encore. Check out a video of the band, Nick Lowe, and Mavis rehearsing "The Weight" (which closed out the show) backstage, below..

Continue reading "Mavis Staples to headline the Chicago Blues Festival"

Wu-Tang Clan @ Best Buy Theater (NYC) (more by Dana (Distortion) Yavin)

today in Chicago
* No Pants Subway Ride
* Astral Weeks @ SPACE
* Wu Tang Clan @ Congress Theater
* Sleepy Lou @ Schubas (Early Show)
* Buddy Guy @ Buddy Guy's Legends
* Grandeurs, Color Card @ The Whistler
* Holyoke, Arthi Meera, Brendan Losch @ Schubas (Late Show)
* Can I Get An Amen!, Zamin, S.S. Webb, Mary Peterson @ Stage Bar
* The Gorilla Press, The Avantist, The Flips, Snake Party @ Beat Kitchen
* Phantom Works, Rabid Rabbit, Three Cheers for One Dead Man @ Quenchers
* Sass Dragons, Vacation Bible School, Lipreader, The Treasure Fleet, Elephant Gun, Brickfight, Damp Hay, The Fur Coats, Truman and His Trophy, An Aesthetic Anaesthetic @ Panchos

Happy Sunday!

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Buddy Guy is playing at his South Loop club almost every night this month (which generally doesn't happen).

Watch Wilco, Mavis Staples, and Nick Lowe rehearse "The Weight" backstage at the Civic Opera House, below. Check out our pictures and review from the show HERE.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

photos by Matt Ziegler, words by Zach Pollack

"Thank you for having us here, whoever is responsible for that," said Tweedy. "It's good to be home, we'll catch up later... oh lord have we seen some stuff."

Last night (Monday, 12/12), Wilco kicked off their 5-night run of hometown shows at the majestic Civic Opera House.

As he's being doing for a number of weeks, musician/producer/legend Nick Lowe played an engaging opening set (of music and jokes). "As Tom Waits once said, being an opening act is quite like being a rectal thermometer; it's up to you to take the temperature of the audience," he cracked during his set that included a cover of Elvis Costello's "Allison" (that he produced) and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" (that he wrote, but was popularized by Costello). He recalled the times he spent in Chicago with his band Rockpile (active 1976 - 1981), and proceeded to play "When I Write The Book" from their 1980 LP Seconds of Pleasure. Both Lowe's swagger and mark on popular culture is undeniable.

Wilco took the stage around 8:45PM to a raucous hometown crowd of over 3,500-people. The band kicked things off with the 12-minute track "One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)" from their recently released album The Whole Love. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's "Poor Places" came next, followed by an excellent version of "Art Of Almost." With psychedelic color splashes of light behind him, guitarist Nels Cline got downright evil on the track. A few songs later, during "Misunderstood," misunderstood frontman Jeff Tweedy screamed its refrain "nothing" 32-times (according to photographer Matt Ziegler who counted). Fan-favorite "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" followed while security searched for the people lighting up in the old opera house .

Cline ripped out the tasteful solo in "Impossible Germany" (one of my personal favorites), but in a way ten-times more twisted and demonic than on Blue Sky Noise. Tweedy blurted out "We're at the opera, these are all opera songs... Isn't that what they're called? Oh, it's 'arias,' yeah okay." Other arias of the evening included "Jesus, Etc" ("a song you may have heard of"), "Capital City", "War on War" (when things started to pick back up), "Box Full of Letters," "Pot Kettle Black," "Dawned on Me," and "A Shot in the Arm" which came before the band left the stage pre-encore.

Wilco's 5-song encore included snow falling on the stage (Tweedy asked if "anyone checked the forecast") and hit single "Outtasite (Outta Mind)." For a second encore, they returned to the stage with Nick Lowe to help him perform Nick's hit "Cruel To Be Kind." "We asked our hero Nick Lowe to join our band... we're going to rename it 'Wilc-lowe'." The biggest surprise of the evening came in the form of the great Mavis Staples (who Tweedy produced an album for last year). She joined them to perform the title track from her album, "You're Not Alone", and for an everyone-on-stage epic show ending cover of "The Weight." 27-songs later, night one of Wilco week came to a close.

Things continue tonight at The Riv. More pictures and the setlist from last night, below...

Continue reading "Wilco & Nick Lowe (and Mavis Staples) played the Civic Opera House (pics & setlist)"

The annual Hideout Block Party is set to take place on Saturday, September 24th from noon - 10PM. This year is extra special, as the venue are celebrating their 15th birthday!

Chicago-native Andrew Bird has been announced as the headliner, and will be joined by: Mavis Staples, Big Freedia, Booker T. Jones, and more!

Tickets are on pre-sale from now, until 10AM CST on Friday.
Password: hideout15
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, at 10AM CST.

Head below to view what's been announced of the lineup so far.

Continue reading "Hideout Block Party - initial lineup & details (tix on pre-sale)"