By: Alex WoodThe long-awaited Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip will be released in select theaters on May 26 and on Amazon Prime Video on June 2. News and reviews have been slowly trickling in from advance screenings and this week, the details of the movies soundtrack were released, along with a full tracklist.The documentarys primary...

By: Alex WoodChris Stapleton first made a name for himself as the leader of bluegrass group The SteelDrivers and as a prolific Nashville songwriter, but became a true country star with 2015s Traveller, his solo debut taking award ceremonies by storm and followed by a grueling, seemingly endless world tour.Now well established as one...

By: Alex WoodDo Division Festival takes over Ukrainian Village for a weekend every summer, featuring sidewalk vendors and two stages of live music, with artists booked by Empty Bottle and Subterranean.This years festival will take place June 2-4 on Division Street between Damen and Leavitt, and the majority of the music lineup was announced...

By: Alex WoodAfter previous reports that city officials would combine the Downtown Sound and Made In Chicago: World Class Jazz free concert series, the official lineup has arrived. With 18 concerts and more than 28 artists from around the world, Millenium Parks Pritzker Pavilion will be packed with good music in 2017.Beginning June 12 and running through August 21,...

By: Alex WoodLast month, director and band photographer Danny Clinch launched a Kickstarter to fund a documentary about Blind Melons frontman Shannon Hoon.The documentary would largely feature unreleased home-video footage that Hoon recorded during the bands rise to fame, prior to the singers untimely death in 1995.The project is still looking for roughly $10,000 to...

By: Alex WoodDavid Byrne has remained an outspoken opponent of recently proposed cuts to publicly funded art programs and the library system, and recently gave a short speech at a City Hall rally protesting such cuts.The singer then took to his blog, in classic well-spoken and literate David Byrne fashion, to spell out his...

Words: Tim Kelly | Photos: Howard Greenblatt | Video Nunu ZomotThe Last Waltz was The Bands swan song.  The legendary final concert for a band so elemental that they simply called themselves The Band took place on Thanksgiving Day 1976 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.  The show included guest appearances by...

If you know his sense of humor, of course a completely solo album from Wilco frontman and primary songwriter Jeff Tweedy would be called Together At Last.And that bit of unabashed charm may end up being one of the least charming things about this forthcoming set.The release will feature 11 songs "from...

Photos: Howard Greenblatt | Video: Nunu ZomotGuitarist, songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer Dave Mason visited Chicago's City Winery on Tuesday.With a set consisting of songs that he made famous with Traffic, in his solo career, and in cover versions by other artists, he and his band gave the Winery crowd....

Photos & Words: Alex Wood | Video: the1stMikeCWith an eclectic but consistently quality catalog of music and a talented, versatile band, violinist Kishi Bashi is precisely the kind of musician that keeps fans coming back with each subsequent tour.Touring in support of last years excellent Sonderlust, Kishi Bashis concert at Thalia Hall also...