A few of our Springfield friends coming to FitzGerald’s in Berwyn (from far left Ruell Chappell, Nick Sibley on guitar, Abbey Waterworth, far right Donnie Thompson (and there’s the late great Bobby Lloyd Hicks on drums).
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—The unadorned beauty of American regionalism can be heard in the songs of Abbey Waterworth. The 20-year-old musician is majoring in History and minoring in Museum Studies at Missouri State University (MSU) in Springfield. Her voice is as pure as mountain rain and filled with the promise of the morning sun. Waterworth is on the fast train to be to the Ozarks what a [...]
PEORIA, Ill .–The earth moves but it doesn’t shift quite as fast in Peoria, Ill.
As you roll into Peoria on I-74 across the Illinois River, you are met by a humble skyline that consists of the 50-year old Mark Twain Hotel, AFL-CIO headquarters and Caterpillar headquarters. Nestled beneath all that faded promise, like nuggets of gold in a stream, is Jim’s Steakhouse–or Jim’s as locals call it.
Jim’s has been around since 1960. The late Peoria Chiefs owner Pete Vonachen, his baseball bud Harry Caray and Peoria native Jack Brickhouse were Jim’s regulars. I’ve been going to watch Midwest League baseball in Peoria since 1985 when [...]M. Ward solo. I’m a fan.
She collected bookmarks.Before Monday night’s concert she sat down and tried to open a taped white envelope. She struggled with the paper as the old yellow tape would not give. She finally removed a 1933 Chicago World’s Fair bookmark from the envelope.
It was a brass work of modest art, just like the one my father saved when he attended the “Century of Progress” fair as a 13-year-old. A similar bookmark was found in my father’s belongings when we cleaned out my parents house after their deaths. People say there are signals from beyond? Who knows? But her [...]
Bobby Lloyd Hicks, 1947-2017
“Bobby” Lloyd Hicks.
What a great name, what a great man.
Bobby Lloyd Hicks–it sounded like he came from somewhere big and dusty, like Texas, an old Kansas City steakhouse or a Gary Cooper western. But no siree Bob, the modest Mr. Hicks was born in 1947 in tiny Marshalltown, Iowa, where in 1852 future Baseball Hall of Famer Adrian “Cap” Anson became the first European born in the farming community.
And Mr. Hicks was an ace of hearts.
He was the drummer-vocalist for the Skeletons/Morells/NRBQ and [...]
Me and Ernie at Billy Williams Hall of Fame Induction, 1987. No dress code.
With apologies to The Band…….
I pulled into Wrigleyville, I was feelin’ about half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
“Hey, Mister Rahm, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?”
He just grinned and shook my hand and, “No”, was all he said
Take a load off Ernie
Take a load for free
Take a load off Ernie
And you put [...]
CLEVELAND, OH.–It is 347 miles from Chicago to Cleveland, Ohio
And 71 years.
Slow down and enjoy the ride. Don’t let third base coaches Wendell Kim or Tony Muser wave you home.
Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
That’s the call of the Cubs fan.
The autumn drive from Chicago to Cleveland is as humble as Kyle Hendricks. You cross the Calumet River, dart through the green, gold and yellow trees near Michigan City and see where homes are for sale at $499 a month at Arrowhead Lake near Toledo.
The red barns of western Ohio look like [...]
Our Naperville house, April, 2016
Rarely do I tear up at the theater.
Frankly, rarely do I even go to the theater.
But “Naperville,” which opened Sept. 6 at Theater Wit, and runs through Oct. 16 at 1229 W. Belmont in Chicago, hit home. And home is the centerpiece of the splendid work from Naperville born playwright Mat Smart.
“Naperville” is framed by nuance and empathy, characteristics that are key to getting by in urban and suburban living.
“Naperville” premiered off-Broadway in 2o14 at New York’s Slant Theatre Project and New York [...]
Tracy the Mermaid (Dave Hoekstra photo and tip.)
GREAT FALLS, MT.–The wide open spaces of Montana can spawn the tallest of tales.
Located in sleepy downtown Great Falls, the mid-century O’Haire Motor Inn is anchored by the Sip n’ Dip Lounge. Guests walk up a short flight of stairs past traditional western lithographs into the lounge.
The dimly lit bar has a tiki motif replete with a 1960s bamboo ceiling. On Wednesday through Friday nights “Piano Pat” Sponheim is playing lounge music with a subtle polka beat. She has been the Sip n’ Dip headliner [...]
Oceanic Arts co-founders LeRoy Schmaltz (far left) and Bob Van Oosting (far right) with author and his friend, April 2016.
WHITTIER, Ca.–Every day is a getaway day at Oceanic Arts.
The holy grail of American tiki culture is tucked back in an industrial park in Whittier, Calif., the early home of President Richard Nixon.
Oceanic Arts is to the free blue seas what the Watergate complex was to fishy burglars.
Oceanic Arts is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
Founders LeRoy Schmaltz and Bob Van Oosting are still hanging ten. [...]
Courtesy of National Blues Museum
ST. LOUIS–The National Blues Museum is in a former department store in downtown St. Louis. The museum got a lot of love even before its April 2 grand opening, as the $14 million center was named a top travel destination by the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine.
I waited until the doors opened to get my mojo talkin’.
The National Blues Museum is a snappy, well told story with lots of panels, posters and photographs. It has an ambitious vision. It is billed as the only institution of its kind dedicated exclusively to preserving and [...]
JOHNSON CREEK, WIS.—-The band Starship reopened the historically quirky Gobbler Theater Sunday in Johnson Creek, about half way between Madison and Milwaukee, Wis. Vocalist Stephanie Calvert channeled her inner Grace Slick reminding the older crowd to “Feed Your Head” in the band’s cover of the Jefferson Airplane 1967 hit “White Rabbit.”
Only the late 1960s would be able to birth the Gobbler Motel and Supper Club.
Feed your head, indeed.
The Gobbler complex was created in 1967 by area turkey farmer Clarence Hartwig, who decorated his dining room in pink colors and pink [...]
LOS ANGELES, Ca.—Merle Haggard was a friend of mine. And if you liked America’s back roads, honky-tonks and remembered to open car doors for women, he was a friend of yours too.
Haggard died April 6 on his 79th birthday.
He died at his home in Northern California,. which was poetic. Haggard is as essential to the California landscape as John Steinbeck or Cesar Chavez. No person was too small for this musical giant, whose reach went beyond country into jazz, swing, blues and pop.
Merle was an empathetic songwriter, a bandleader, a romantic and a huge slice of American history. He was a loyal friend of the downtrodden. This one hurts.
Merle, his long [...]
Jim and Pete’s restaurant, 7806 West North Ave. in Elmwood Park opened in 1941 serving hand rolled, thin crust pizza on the gritty west side of Chicago. The restaurant has since expanded to feature risotto of the day, steak vesuvio and baked clams drizzled with the house wine sauce.
Jim and Pete’s never closed, even to bust a union, like Berghoff’s did in Chicago.
Italian Village, 71 W. Monroe in Chicago (opened 1927) has a legitimate streak under its third generation.
Current Jim and Pete’s owners are Michael Bucchianeri and Jim Sorce, Jr. which gets a first time visitor to wondering why the [...]
Vicki Shepherd camper van artwork
WARSAW, Ind.—The meaningful solitude of driving reaches a higher level by taking a trip in a camper van. I don’t mean an RV where you bring along friends and family, or even hitching up with an Airstream trailer. I mean a small camper van: where you are alone as a question mark, one bed, a workspace, a fridge and Greg Brown music about backroads and broken hearts.
And that’s where I’m going.
While driving around America for the past 30 years I’ve learned how the real American pastime feeds the imagination. Reflections in the [...]
Photos, Nov. 2015 by Dave Hoekstra unless noted.
RAPA NUI, CHILE–Some have fallen and some stand tall, which is the story of mankind.
Any pilgrimage to Easter Island, a.k.a. Rapa Nui, must begin at the Rano Raraku quarry where almost all the majestic moai (carvings) were made. Visitors can see nearly 400 of the island’s 887 moais in various stages of artistic endeavor on a healthy hike through Rano Raraku.
Some moai look out towards the ocean, others are horizontal on the ground. I saw one moai tucked in the crevice of a volcanic cliff. Scattered across the [...]
RAF Chicago Executive Director Joanie Bayhack delivering smiles. (Courtesy of RAF)
Life isn’t so daunting if you break it down into a series of small gestures.
The non-profit Random Act of Flowers recycles flowers from weddings, parties, funerals and grocery stores. Volunteers then deliver floral bouquets to Chicago area hospitals and long term health care facilities.
Knoxville, Tn.-based Random Acts of Flowers (RAF) has only been in the Chicago area for a little more than a year. From January to December of 2015, RAF delivered bouquets to 16,142 people in the Chicago [...]
Something was lost here.
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Two herons on a pier
Redemption at every sunset
The winter circus comes through town
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Questions splatter on the windshield
The old mystic answers in her home on Hwy. 1
Wednesday Karaoke at the Caribbean Club
A prune-faced lady leans over to sing “Cabaret”
Songs are tickets to another time, old chum
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“We had it all, like Bogie & Bacall”—Bertie Higgins
Bare feet dance on blades of [...]
Printer’s Alley, 1960s (Courtesy of Skull’s)
NASHVILLE, Tn.–The joke about Nashville’s rapid growth is how the city skyline consists of tower cranes.
Traffic is a major issue. Former Mayor Karl Dean was so concerned about the city’s outdated public transportation system he tried to take buses to work–but locals stopped to pick him up in their cars.
Things in the rear view mirror are larger than they appear.
“The preservation of historic landmarks in Nashville in crisis mode,” said Robbie Jones, past president and board [...]
Just when Chicago needed him the most, Otis Clay traveled to a higher ground.
Over the past 50 years Mr. Clay became the city’s greatest soul singer, one of the last of America’s pure soul singers and a cultural ambassador. Mr. Clay died of a heart attack Friday night. He was 73 years old.
What is soul?
Soul is eternal love, soul is brotherhood, soul is empathy.
Take notes.
Mr. Clay must be on a mission to get things straight in the city he called home since 1956.
Of course Bob Seger had a smash hit with Mr. Clay’s 1972 regional hit [...]
Lock myself out, the first time in 20 years
Am I becoming my parents, losing my memory
Bit by bit like the drip from an unforgettable icicle
Outside of the house I grew up in.
I wait for the locksmith on the back steps.
A cardinal stops on along the driveway
I see my Mom who grew up near St. Louis
Until the man arrives with his box of magical tools
The man says it will not take long and begins to chip away
The [...]
