Modern digital avenues for music discovery can make it hard to remember what “underground” used to mean. Before the Internet, underground music was hard to find and often hard to even know about—and that amplified its significance for the outcasts who loved it. In the mid-80s, when speed was king in heavy music, a small […]
Tag: obituary
Posted inMusic
Remembering the quiet king of Chicago music promoters
Eddie Thomas was one of Chicago’s greatest music promoters, and he might’ve been the most humble. While his name is linked in more ways than one to Curtis Mayfield’s, throughout the 1960s and 1970s he guided myriad R&B and disco artists through the process of making records and getting them played. When I talked to […]
Posted inMusic
Long live Squeak
I met Squeak in Saba’s grandparent’s basement. The walls were plastered with magazine covers, the space stuffed with recording equipment and video games. A memory not easily forgotten—I’ve probably told this story a thousand times, in writing and in person. It was 2016, a year after the first time I interviewed Saba and a couple […]
Posted inMusic
Mourning Joe Cassidy of Butterfly Child
Irish dream-pop genius Joe Cassidy lived in Chicago for more than a decade and became a beloved part of our music scene.
Posted inMusic
Bob Koester leaves a colossal legacy in Chicago jazz and blues
For nearly 70 years, Bob Koester owned the Jazz Record Mart and Delmark Records—and though his businesses could be “crazy town,” they helped nurture thriving communities.
Posted inBest of Chicago
A personal remembrance of DJ Kwest_On
The Promontory’s favorite DJ died last spring, but his soulful music can still bring life.
Posted inBest of Chicago
Billie Barrett Greenbey of gospel legends the Barrett Sisters left us in 2020
Chicago played an outsize role in the birth of modern gospel music, but few artists remain from that foundational era.
Posted inMusic
Rest in peace to Chicago drummer Joe Camarillo
Beloved drummer and collaborator extraordinaire Joe Camarillo built a long resumé, which includes decades playing with the Waco Brothers and Hushdrops.
Posted inMusic
A memorial to Alejandro Morales
Alejandro Morales’s death doesn’t just leave a hole in Chicago’s DIY music scene—it’s a loss to community activists, to affordable housing advocates, and to countless friendships.
Posted inMusic
Chicago’s DIY rock scene mourns Alejandro Morales
With his generous spirit and boundless enthusiasm, Running drummer Alejandro Morales was the beating heart of a vibrant community.
Posted inMusic
Remembering Benji Espinoza, champion of Chicago house music
Benji Espinoza’s work for Quantum Distributors and the D.J. International label helped boost house into its exalted place in the global pop pantheon.
Posted inMusic
Remembering Chicago jazz anchor Joe Segal
Jazz Showcase founder Joe Segal was set in his ways, but his ways are worth saving.
Posted inNews & Politics
The toll of coronavirus
Loved ones reflect on the loss of partners, parents, siblings, joy givers, caretakers, and secret keepers.
Posted inMusic
Dave ‘Medusa’ Shelton was a fairy godmother to Chicago’s club scene
Dave Shelton didn’t just found the legendary Medusa’s—he also helped everyone in his orbit shine like a star.
Posted inMusic
Rest in power to hip-hop activist Jamie ‘J. Milla’ Sevier
Hip-hop activist Jamie “J. Milla” Sevier dies at 47, and Well Yells drops a new darkwave album that trafficks in the sonics of isolation.