It is tough to be alone.
Music, books, and foodways can form a meaningful bridge to a welcoming place. A point of memory. And inspiration. I thought about these elements while contributing suggestions to the Music Lives Here multi-media project created by the City of Chicago.
The 50 Music Lives Here sites define the raw individualism of the Chicago ethic: Willie Dixon’s Yambo Records, 7771 S. Racine, the pioneering punk club O’Banion’s, 661 N. Clark, the Earl of Old Town, 1615 N. Wells, and many others, obvious and not so obvious.
The Music Lives Here markers are on sidewalks and feature a QR code for time travelers to gather more information. Starting [...]
The Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tn. is one of my favorite music museums in the country. I’ve been chronicling the museum since 2003 when it opened on the site of the original Stax studio, which was razed in 1989.
I’ve leaned into the way the museum connects with local students through their Stax Music Academy. I had some of the inspired students on my WGN radio show in 2017 as they prepared to go to France, England, and Ireland to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Stax/Volt European Tour.
I’ve also made a minor nuisance of myself wondering aloud for 25 years why Chicago hasn’t been able to [...]
Lee’s Barber Shop is in a tiny strip mall on the near north side of Naperville, Ill. A seasonal Dairy Queen sits south of the barbershop and a shuttered dry cleaner is on the north end of what is known as Modern Way Center. Lee’s has as much in common with the Las Vegas Strip as hair on Bruce Willis.
The new master barber at Lee’s is Noe Hernandez, Jr.
Hernandez grew up in the Naperville area, about 40 miles west of Chicago, before embarking on a career that took him to the Palmer House in Chicago, H.R.H. Truefitt, and Hill Barbers in London (the oldest barbershop in the world) and most recently master barber at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
