How do we define a music festival? AI tells me it is simply a gathering of people to enjoy live music. When just over a week had six live music events, I’d call that a festival, as the bands gathered to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Chicago Street Pub, an Irish-style pub. They were glad to be there for their friends, Michael and Kathy Trizna, owners and masterminds of the madness.
Chicago Farmer (CF) blew into Joliet for two sold-out nights, starting his winter tour at the Chicago Street Pub (Pub), where he has a long history. CF said he sees the Pub as his home stomping grounds north of I-80; south being the Red Barn in Pekin.
A huge treat, CF opened the January 3rd set with a spoken word piece, Gettin’ By, “the plasterers got plastered and the roofers all got high, all gettin’ by.” The crowd was in a deer-in-the-headlights mode, frozen in the moment as he launched into Everybody in this Town then Peshtigo Fire, mentioning it sells t-shirts in Green Bay (at least one).
Relating his first time appearing at the Pub in 2005, he recounted how his friend, Edward David Anderson (EDA), asked him to fill in for a while. EDA was double-booked and would get to the gig late. CF was told to get to the Pub, ask for Mike Trizna, and stall to keep the crowd happy. Trizna greeted Chicago Farmer and his lady with a shot of tequila and a shot of Jameson, their drinks of choice. He knew at that moment this place would be the bomb.
Devoted fans stomped and sang along to the songs, and CF had the room focused, the normal level of Pub happy noise subdued, gone quiet. The night closed with an acoustic cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. It was sublime. Irish pubs know how to sing along, especially when there are local musicians in the audience.
Saturday, January 4th, was an afternoon show. CF loved the opportunity it gave him to perform, yet get home to enjoy the evening with his family. Opening with Postcards and going through several more songs (see setlist on Facebook – The Village - Official CF Fan Page), he paused to chat.
CF shared a fond memory of seeing John Prine at the Rialto Square Theatre across the corner from the Pub. At that show, Prine broke a string that became the necklace (made by Twice Upon a String) that he wears all the time. CF sang Prine, Guthrie (Arlo & Woody); and the choir of the Pub warmed up.
As part of the acoustic finale, he chose The Weight by The Band. At one point, he seemed lost in search of the verse, but Kevin Krauss (The Big Lagniappe) launched into the verse, and the Pub sang to CF for a few bars. Together we sang Happy Birthday to the Pub and Tom Petty’s Won’t Back Down!
CF knows the importance of local bars and music venues. “Yes,” he told me, “they support musicians, but also serve the community celebrating the major events of life.” After his grandfather’s services just over a year ago, he said family and friends naturally drifted to their local pub for stories and memories. As a fan of CF, I rejoice that we share a common love of my neighborhood bar.
Chicago Farmer is currently in the studio, so expect new offerings soon. His solo tour from the Midwest to Florida is followed by joining up with the Fieldnotes April 4 & 5 at Martyr’s in Chicago.
The Righteous Hillbillies (Hillbillies), southern rock masters, strode in and laid down hard Friday, January 10. Another Joliet-centric band with a highly danceable party style, they are a good time. Brent James, frontman, guitar, and vocals, recounted how they were playing in this bar, predating the Pub by five years; they were part of the old gang. “The Pub has always been an original music place,” James said, “and they are supportive of musicians getting a foot in the door.” If all music starts as local, James said the way to support it is to “basically get out to shows, see live music, support local venues.” Band members include Andy Ross (lead guitar), Jeff Bella (bass), and Brett Figura (drums). James is also an artist doing the cover art on all their releases, reflecting the band’s style.
Do check out this band if you’re an Allman Brothers fan; a major influence on the band, along with other such bands. The band's originals are great, and their cover of Stevie Ray Vaughn at this show was hot. In 2017, their song, Bound for Change, off the album Playing With Fire, won first place in the Relix magazine songwriting contest. The Hillbillies recorded their 2015 album, Muscle Shoals Sessions, at the famous Fame Studios. They brought in Danny Louis from Gov’t Mule and Larry Byron of Steppenwolf to assist on keyboards. James said he met and recruited Danny Louis at a Gov’t Mule show in Peoria. Warren Haynes shared a hair-raising story about laying down vocals at Fame Studios and hearing background vocals with no one in the room laying down backup! He asked the other people present if they heard; they had. The room has ghosts, James agreed.
On Saturday, January 11th, John Condron reunited with The Benefit after 15 years away. Condron is a Joliet fixture and was part owner of Chicago Street Pub at the beginning. Performing music since he was a member of a Philadelphia Youth Choir that took him to sing before Pope John Paul II and at the Sydney Opera House (I am not worthy), he gets over to the old-world to perform when opportunity arises.
The folks at the Pub were primed for memory lane, but there’s no rust on the players. We were warned it would get loud as the house started rocking Condron’s sold-out show. Condron’s powerful voice soared with emotion. When he speaks, the Irish lilt he learned at his mama’s knee charms the listener. Jeff Bella on bass and Barrett Harvey on drums created a powerhouse trio with melodic bass lines, tight complex rhythms, and Condron adding power chords, grace notes, and whammied sonic blasts. The closing number, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, was beautiful.
Condron stays mostly local but is always playing somewhere. Playing lead guitar for Crooked Tails, they are working on their first album. With a fine catalog of music, solo works, with The Old Gang Orchestra, as well as with The Benefit, he can be heard on most streaming platforms.
Back on the evening of Monday, January 6th, Condron led the all-acoustic and unamplified Irish Sessions at the Pub, a weekly event but with extra love for this weeklong festival of music. Hearing the players with Condron singing The Hills of Athenry or The Patriot Song tugged at the heart.
The hot closing act to a music festival over the space of a week was the duo of Mike Nielsen and Kelly Steward on Sunday, January 12th (another afternoon show). Nielsen, from Rockford, Illinois, is the son of Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen. He brings a western rock and sixties soul-influenced songwriting to the stage with entertaining stories and patter. Admitting that Steward and he had a long night of checking out Joliet taverns, such as the Drunken Donut (“amazing pierogis,” he said) and Bobby’s, as well as the local casino with the Pub owner and cohorts, he was tired. This being their fourth show in a row, they were ready for a friendly, supportive, sold-out show. He knew many of the musicians in the audience and gave them free rein to adjust the sound, to “touch the knobs.”
With an opening toast to the Pub, the duo kicked off with Act Like Animals. Steward and Nielsen have a strong chemistry together, their harmonies delightful, with both artists having a light touch on their guitars—good after a couple of shows of aural rock and roll assault. Nielsen was improvising lines about his recent Joliet adventures. Steward and he traded songs with choice lyricism and phrasing. Nielsen spoke at length about the trying times of COVID and an alternate personality he created to amuse himself. No one came through that time without finding coping mechanisms.
Covering his dad’s song, Mama’s Alright, he brought down the house, as well as with Dear Kentucky (You’re Killing Me), my favorite of this show. Steward’s songs and voice show her range; my first time hearing her, and I liked it fine. But one question: is it a rite of passage for women to cover Jolene? We all love Dolly, but surely there are plenty of other songs to cover.
The song that left me in thought was a song Nielsen wrote for his much younger sister, Lucy. It’s the story of a daughter-of-privilege now that Dad was at the height of his career. He describes her as a fifteen-year-old looking like a woman in her twenties, growing up way too fast. It left me wondering whether wealth or poverty is the greater cause of young women quickly abandoning and outgrowing their youth for adult pleasures and experiences.
After an afternoon of songs and stories that grew rambling due to what must be exhaustion from too much fun by one and all, the Twentieth Anniversary Festival was another memory in a bar with a big collection of memories.
Onward!!
