After my delightful interview with Cat Ridgeway last weekend, as well as several spins of her latest record, Sprinter, I was very excited to see her perform at Subterranean on […]

When Orlando-based singer-songwriter Cat Ridgeway and I scheduled an interview for 9 in the morning on a Saturday ahead of her show this Wednesday at Subterranean, I lamented losing an […]

For 66 years, Second City has set the standard for sketch comedy in Chicago and beyond. Its Mainstage shows are rooted in the theater’s long-perfected formula—a two-hour mix of political […]

The best thing about working with your significant other is being around your favorite person all the time. The worst thing about working with your significant other is…see above. But […]

Anyone who thinks that 2025 does not offer the appropriate musical landscape for a gritty garage rock hybrid of early Nirvana, Weezer, and the Smiths hasn’t heard California’s Archer Oh. […]

Any child who grew up in a household where Zoom was considered too scandalous probably spent their limited TV time watching shows in which a cast of precocious kids—accompanied by […]

In most fields, calling someone or something “dumb” is an insult. Clients don’t want a “dumb” lawyer to handle their case. Authors aren’t going to include a critic’s “This book […]

Last April, Chicago-based Disaster Kid retreated to a Wisconsin cabin and recorded half a dozen songs in just five days. From that session emerges the reflective Rare Bird EP, humbly […]

“I didn’t plan any of this shit.” That was Paul Reiser’s hilarious and refreshingly honest assessment of the long—and still ongoing—list of accomplishments in a career spanning over four decades. […]

Acclaimed ’90s rockers Jerry Cantrell and Richard Patrick have every reason to rest on their laurels. On Sunday night at the Vic Theatre, they chose not to. Cantrell, best known […]

First impressions matter, and Sierra Spirit wanted to make a good one for her Chicago debut Sunday night. After commanding the Chicago Theatre crowd’s attention with the hypnotically assertive opener […]

Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, and, more recently, Taylor Swift. These renowned musicians have transcended what it means to be songwriters—they’re storytellers whose evocative lyrics intertwine with intriguing melodies […]