I have been producing music and food festivals for the past 35 years. During that time, I have crossed paths with a regular stream of entertainers who have graced our various festival stages. Most were…
It was twenty years ago when I first came to The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles. The building was eighty years old at the time with so much history, and so many memories. Much of…
Here’s wishing you a Happy New Year! And how do I plan to do that? By giving you plenty of new shows and backstage stories to go with them in 2025! It has been quite…
How many times have we sat on our couches looking outside into our snow-peaked yards and stayed home from work as Chi-town-area temps hit sixty-below-zero with the wind chill? Ninety per cent of people all…
This past December 12, Frank Sinatra would have turned 109. In those hundred-plus years, few people in modern history have been as iconic, with as much influence on popular music as he had. His songs…
Each week, so many of you turn to my column in the Daily Herald’s Time Out section to see which Rock ’N Roller Backstage story I will have. But my behind-the-scenes escapades are not solely…
A guy whom I have admired for a long time is actor Gary Sinise. Many know him as the wheelchair-bound wounded Viet Nam vet Lieutenant Dan Taylor in the blockbuster film, “Forrest Gump.” He is…
“Hey Hey with the Monkees” was a familiar tune that drew us all to our black-and-white television sets with the “bunny-ear” antenna and crumpled aluminum foil at the ends on Monday nights in 1966 when…
My typically insane days usually end with some hot tea, maybe some pistachio nuts or chips, and a dose of late-night television. For me, there is nothing more relaxing than the old black and white…
Oh my God, the music legends we are losing! It’s an obvious statement, one that we are all shaking our heads about, especially as of late. The other obviously scary thing is that it’s really…