July 2009

Wednesday thru Saturday, July 1, 2, 3, and 4th:

FitzGerald's 29th Annual
American Music Festival!

Wed, July 1
American Music Festival, 4:30pm-1am, $30 at the door, or $100 4-day passes available in advance.

Thurs, July 2
American Music Festival, 4:30pm-2am, $30 at the door.

Fri, July 3
American Music Festival, Noon-3am, $30 at the door.

Sat, July 4
American Music Festival, Noon-3am, $30 at the door.

Sun, July 5
Closed.

Mon, July 6
Closed.

Tues, July 7
Open Mike in the CLUB, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, July 8
(ECLECTIC) Chicago Singer Spotlight featuring Lara Jenkins, Mario Connie, Kim Traylor-Bixon & Robert Carter with host Becca Kaufman; 8pm, $8.
Chicago Singer Spotlight is a showcase open to anyone: male or female, from the seasoned professional to the aspiring beginner. And the diversity doesn’t end there. A typical show encompasses music genres of all types including: jazz, rock, country, musical theater and original material. Each show consists of four vocalists performing a four-song set with a professional house band.
singerspotlight.com

Thurs, July 9
TBA

Fri, July 10
(ROCK) The Radiators plus Possum Holler Boys, 9pm, $20 TW/advance tickets.
The Radiators are a true rock n' roll band, loyal to the concept of ensemble playing. They rely solely on the spirit of the music and lyrics (coupled with the band members' natural rapport) to create "the show". It is this musical marriage that has created the Radiators legend and secured the fantastic loyalty of fans known as "fish-heads". Some describe a Rads show as a contest between the band and the audience to see who can have the most fun (and everyone WINS!). Their music is a living & breathing entity, and one never knows what will happen at a Radiators show... not even the Rads!
theradiators.org

*Also on Fri, July 10
(ROCK) Fiery Furnaces, 9:30pm in the SideBar, $15 TW/advance tickets.
The Fiery Furnaces are a U.S. indie rock band formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 2000. They played twice in Brooklyn as The Suckers before performing as The Fiery Furnaces (with an unchanged line-up). The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The brother and sister are originally from Oak Park, Illinois, a near-western suburb of Chicago.
thefieryfurnaces.com

Sat, July 11
(ROCK) The Radiators plus Cannonball, 9pm, $20 TW/advance tickets.
Please see Friday’s listing.
theradiators.org

Sun, July 12
(JAZZ) Mulligan Mosaics, 6pm, $10, 17 & under $5.
The Mulligan Mosaics Big Band is a 13-piece jazz orchestra, founded and lead by Ted Hogarth, with the mission of preserving and performing the music of Gerry Mulligan, and those composers and arrangers whom he influenced.
mulliganmosaics.com

Jazz programming at FitzGerald's is generously sponsored by public radio 90.9 FM WDCB, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Mon, July 13
Closed.

Tues, July 14
Open Mike in the SideBar, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, July 15
(BLUEGRASS/CAJUN) Henhouse Prowlers & Feufollet, 8pm, $10 TW/advance tickets.
Chicago. A city known for its blues…and its bluegrass. In the bluegrass history books, a pivotal stop, among others, along the road to success for the Monroe Brothers and, in more current times, noteworthy as home base for the long popular Special Consensus. And now, the Windy City serves as a critical intersection in the lives of five musicians, two who hail from Illinois and the others from as far and near as North Carolina, upstate New York and Missouri. With a PBS series soundtrack already to its credit and a sophomore recording in the works, The Henhouse Prowlers have been barnstorming on to the red hot bluegrass scene since 2004. A couple of personnel shifts later, in 2007 the roughly thirty-something quintet made the commitment to go the distance, to be a full-time touring bluegrass band. But not just another bluegrass band. The Henhouse Prowlers are adeptly positioning themselves for nothing less than success. Each member does double duty within the group, holding a business as well as musical post, making it a total collaborative effort. Dedicated equally to tradition and innovation, The Henhouse Prowlers center their sound on that of the early, formative years of bluegrass, while they keep their pulse on today by covering contemporary topics in a largely original repertoire.
henhouseprowlers.com

Although Feufollet has often been hailed as “the future of Cajun music,” a more current assessment must admit that they are now “the present of Cajun music.” Once idolized at at early age for their precocious musicianship and sent all over the world as youthful emblems of Acadiana’s cultural resurgence, the members of Feufollet have, in the meantime, grown into the music as young adults. While Feufollet remains central to the neotraditionalist brush fire they helped ignite as youths, their latest album finds the band coming into its own and pushing the envelope, leading the way once again as Cajun music extends itself into a new century.
feufollet.net

Thurs, July 16
(ROCK) Spade Kitty Showcase featuring Reed Rische, Roxy Swain, Murley Shertz, and Scott Momenthy; 8pm, $5.
Spade Kitty is a local Indie Label that showcases the area’s talent each month at FitzGerald’s. Join us as they guarantee to rock this roadhouse!
spadekitty.com | murleyshertz.com | myspace.com/roxyswain

Fri, July 17
How Far to Austin, The Shams, Painkiller Hotel, Holiday House; 9pm; $8 TW/advance tickets.
"One of Chicagoland's best recognized rock acts - How Far to Austin delivers an outrageously fun live show that can only be described as absolutely can't miss! The band's sound is high energy "rock 'n soul", if you don't find yourself singing along to every single hip shaking tune by the second chorus, you need to turn up your hearing aid!" – Pioneer Press
myspace.com/howfartoaustin

The Shams – "Like Bob Dylan met Jeff Tweedy in a bathroom stall and no one was
there to listen . . . until now"
myspace.com/theshamsband

Painkiller Hotel – “Following their performance at the 2007 South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX where the best Indy bands go to impress the masses, the release of their debut album Black Roses this past May, and airplay on 160 radio stations nation wide including 93 WXRT Chicago, this Aurora based rock quartet is quickly making a name for themselves.” – Suburban Nitelife magazine
myspace.com/painkillerhotel

Holiday House – "If music is an adventure, consider Holiday House the musical incarnation of an enchanted forest. The music is seductively calming, alludes to danger, and explodes with excitement all at once. Guided by the alluring tenderness of singer Andi Donahue and lucid note searching of drummer/guitarist Paul W. Obis, Holiday House reach a rare musical balance of building melodies and alarming lyrical resonance. Obis’ accentuating percussion and precise guitar set the mood as Donahue shatters it like glass."
myspace.com/holidayhouse3

Sat, July 18
(WORLD/BLUES) Bono Bros Blues Band w/ special guest Harper plus closing set by The Velvet Jimis; 9pm; $10 TW/advance tickets.
Part harmonica wizard and part rhythmic explorer, Harper is a fiery artist who blurs the lines between rock, blues, soul, and world music. His latest Blind Pig release, Day By Day, displays his trademark virtuoso harp performances, distinctive instrumentation, deeply soulful grooves, and instantly memorable songs, and provides another prime example of why his unique roots music style occupies a category of its own.

Harper has been described as a singer with the deep soul of Motown, a harmonica player who can graft Sonny Boy II and Little Walter with John Popper, a songwriter who tells his own compelling stories in an unhurried, J.J. Cale-like manner, and a musical visionary who is unafraid to mix the didgeridoo, an important part of his Australian indigenous culture, with infectious modern percussive rhythms. His skill lies in the fact that he is able to tap into the kindred spirits running through his traditional and modern influences, borrowing from western and world music to develop a highly original take on the roots genre.
myspace.com/harperband

Sat, July 18
(FOLK/SINGER-SONGWRITER) Ben Schmidt, 8pm in the SideBar, $10 TW/advance tickets.
Visionary lyricist and outstanding acoustic finger-style guitar wizard, Ben Schmidt has released two self-produced CDs, Write it down (2002) and While you were Sleeping (2005). His warm, versatile voice, alternately sweet and dark, colors compositions from ballads to blues. Called "an extraordinary talent" and "the total package" by music critic Jim Musser (No Depression), Ben is influenced by a vast range of musicians and musical genres, most prominently folk and Mississippi delta blues. Of Write It Down, Musser says, "You'll hear elements of John Gorka, Jesse Winchester, Kelly Joe Phelps and, on the slipped-rhythm fun-house 'Dance That Dance,' doses of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen." He calls While You Were Sleeping "a pillar to post gem."
Cohesive and musically intricate, While You Were Sleeping speaks to contemporary issues in our culture, and gives a mature voice to classic themes of love and loss.
myspace.com/benschmidtmusic

Sun, July 19
(COUNTRY/ROCK/POP) Susan Cowsill, 8pm, $12 TW/advance tickets, $15 at the door.
Just Believe It is Susan Cowsill's first-ever solo album, but you probably already know her.

The singer/songwriter made her initial mark on popular culture at the tender age of eight with The Cowsills, the '60s family pop group that not only scored Top Ten singles: “The Rain,” “The Park and Other Things,” “Hair,” and “We Can Fly,” but also served as the real-life inspiration for TV's fictional Partridge Family. During Susan’s decade with roots-pop supergroup The Continental Drifters, she won the hearts of discerning listeners with her impassioned vocals and personally-charged songwriting, gracing three widely-acclaimed albums and a decade’s worth of riveting performances. Cowsill's vocal talents have beautifully supported recordings from artists as diverse as Dwight Twilley, Redd Kross, The Smithereens, Giant Sand, Nanci Griffith, Carlene Carter and Jules Shear, while her compositions have been covered by The Bangles and Hootie and the Blowfish.

This summer Cowsill embarks on her most extensive solo tour to date. Her road-toughened summer combo, including Russ Broussard (Continental Drifters) on drums, Tad Armstrong on bass guitar/vocals and ace guitarist Aaron Stroup (both formerly of Indianapolis-based band Middletown), merges a seamless rock sensibility with an organic sensitivity that echoes the singer’s own.
susancowsill.com

Mon, July 20
Closed.

Tues, July 21
Open Mike in the SideBar, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, July 22
TBA

Thurs, July 23
(FOLK) Michael Smith with Small Potatoes, 8pm, $15 TW/advance tickets.
“The thing that stands out most in Michael's work is his unpredictable creativity – just when you think you know where he's going, lyrically or musically, he'll turn a metaphoric corner on you, double back, sneak up behind you and slip a rainbow in your pocket.
Those of us who are songwriters or guitar players ... learn why there really are no rules when it comes to the game of music.” – Hill Country House Concerts, Bulverde Texas
michaelsmithmusic.com

Small Potatoes call themselves eclecto-maniacs. They describe their music as “Celtic to Cowboy” and say in has taken them “years of careful indecision” to come up with a mix of music that ranges from country, blues, and swing to Irish, with songwriting that touches on all of those styles and more. Their four recordings, Alive!, Waltz of the Wallflowers, Time Flies, and Raw cover all these styles. They both sing, they both play guitars and an array of other instruments. They even yodel. Dirty Linen Magazine called them “one of the most polished, inventive, and entertaining shows on the circuit.” Sing Out magazine called them “wonderfully eclectic” and said “Small Potatoes might well be leading mainstays on the folk scene for years to come.”
smallpotatoesmusic.com

Fri, July 24
(ROCK/POP) Ralph Covert & The Bad Examples, 9:30pm, $12 TW/advance tickets.
In the 1990's there simply was no better or more popular original rockin' pop band in the clubs of the Great Lakes region than The Bad Examples, who played the great songs of Ralph Covert night after night. Album after album received both critical acclaim and substantial radio airplay which continues to this day. Their compact disc debut, Bad Is Beautiful, was named by Goldmine Magazine as one of the "50 Essential American Power Pop Albums of All-Time." Their signature anthem, "Not Dead Yet," proved prophetic as the sextet sounds better than ever with a three-guitar lineup and great harmonies. Their success also translated across the ocean where several albums and coinciding tours made them nearly a household name in Holland and the surrounding locales.
www.waterdogmusic.com

Sat, July 25
(BLUES) Lonnie Brooks, 9:30pm, $15 TW/advance tickets.
Even after 40 years away from his Louisiana home, Lonnie Brooks' music is still instilled with the funky, swampy bayou rhythms of Opelousas and Lafayette, and his lyrics often speak of black cat bones and "Mojo Hands". But along the road from Louisiana to Chicago, he's combined the swing of Texas, the soul of Memphis and the pure power of Chicago blues into a musical gumbo that is all his own.
lonniebrooks.com

Sun, July 26
(JAZZ) Chicago Grandstand Big Band plus After School Matters – Gallery 37 Jazz Band, 6pm, $10, 17 & under $5.
The Chicago Grandstand Big Band has been an integral part of Chicago's entertainment community for over 25 years. This band has an extensive selection of arrangements that encompass everything from the Swing Era (Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, etc) to Big Band Jazz (Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman etc.
chicagograndstandbigband.com

Gallery 37 is a summer arts program sponsored by the city of Chicago. The jazz band is comprised of high school students from throughout the city who have auditioned to participate in this program. They rehearse Monday through Friday from 11 AM to 3:30 PM for eight weeks on the Summer Dance stage in Grant Park. They have performed at the Daley Plaza, the Shedd Aquarium, Joe's Bebop Cafe, and the Made in Chicago Jazz concert series at the Pritzger Pavilion in Millennium Park to name a few. The band is co-led by Chip Gdalman, who has been a regular with CGBB for many years, and Roger Harris. The group will play 1 set starting at 6 and then immediately afterwards Chicago Grandstand will perform.

Jazz programming at FitzGerald's is generously sponsored by public radio 90.9 FM WDCB, Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Mon, July 27
Closed.

Tues, July 28
Open Mike in the SideBar, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, July 29
TBA

Thurs, July 30
(COUNTRY) Country Night in Berwyn feat. Blue Line Riders, Long Gone Lonesome Boys and Tangleweed, 8pm, $5.
A monthly showcase of all things Country…

Tangleweed’s repertoire, which encompasses traditional fiddle tunes, African-American blues, rags, and stomps, was born in the rich soil of the rural agrarian South. Unlettered and without formal training, its originators gave rise to a deeply expressive musical idiom that spoke for and to a vast, poverty-stricken community of Euro- and African-Americans, for whom such music functioned first and foremost as an accompaniment to social dance. Tangleweed is proud to claim this rich cultural legacy, without in any way sharing in it.
myspace.com/tangleweed

The first thing you notice about the Long Gone Lonesome Boys: tight, cutting vocals, spot-on harmonies and arrangements. The second thing: excellent songwriting. The third thing: It's eerie how much these 'brothers from different mothers' - Patrick Penney and John Milne - sound alike. Their voices mirror each other seamlessly, and not even the Everly Brothers could claim to have a better blend."
myspace.com/longgonelonesomeboys

The Blue Line Riders are from Chicago and play honky-tonk.
myspace.com/bluelineriders

Fri, July 31
TBA

Sat, September 12
(COUNTRY) Junior Brown, 8pm, $20 TW/advance tickets.
"A lot of people tell me they don't like country music, but they like what I am doing," says Junior Brown. "I hear that line more than anything else," which is ironic because a couple of licks is all it takes to erase any doubts concerning Junior's stylistic allegiance. His music combines the soul of country and the spirit of rock n' roll.
Following years as Austin's best-kept secret, then a few more as the town's one must-see act for visiting musicians and label heads, Junior Brown and his music have since found an audience far beyond the Lone Star border. Junior's first two albums (12 Shades of Brown and Guit With It) have helped establish him as a crowd favorite from Texas roadhouses to the hippest clubs of New York City and Europe.
There's usually a wide-eyed look accompanying one who witnesses Junior's unique instrumental prowess for the first time... or the second, or third, for that matter. Junior invented his own guitar, one that combines the standard 6-string guitar and the steel guitar. He calls it the "guit-steel."
juniorbrown.com