Zig At The Gig podcast

Interview with Steven L. Jones ! Steven L. Jones is an artist, writer, musician, and former instructor at Virginia Commonwealth University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kentucky-born, the son of a choir director and violinist, he lives with his wife Catherine and dog Mojo in his adopted hometown, Chicago. A longtime writer for magazines and online journals, including the Woody Guthrie Foundation magazine “Sing Out.” Murder Ballads Old & New is his first book. https://www.instagram.com/stevenljonesart/ https://sljonesart.com/home.html murder-ballads-old-new

Interview and performance by Sweet Ignition. Zig At The Gig goes live at Negative Space bringing the talent from the streets of Cleveland to you! with Sweet Ignition! Sweet Ignition is a Pop punk from Northeast Ohio. Fronted by singer songwriter, and guitarist Michael Gallup Sweet Ignition dives deep in this conversation and rocks hard! A true up and coming talent to keep your eye on ! https://www.instagram.com/sweetignitionoh/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/6UcAfSbuSbqAHtNRWqshUj

Interview iwth Johnny Iguana of The Claudettes Johnny Iguana, the Claudettes' composer/pianist (who has played on albums featuring Derek Trucks, Johnny Winter, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, James Cotton and Johnny's own Chicago punk-organ cult band Oh My God), has been reaching a worldwide audience as co-composer of the original score of Emmy-winning smash FX/Hulu series "The Bear." His co-creator of that score, JQ, joined Johnny to co-produce two tracks on GARAGE GLAMOUR. In addition, Grammy-winning producer and musical Renaissance man Steve Berkowitz (who also happens to be Johnny Iguana's uncle) flew from NY to Chicago to co-produce much of GARAGE GLAMOUR. But the big coming-out party here belongs to lead singer Rachel Williams, who has been dropping jaws at Claudettes shows since early 2023 and now makes her album debut with the band. Riveting concert crowds with her six-foot height, powerfully soulful vocals and dazzling array of stunning outfits, Rachel simply amazes on GARAGE GLAMOUR. She joins Grammy-nominated guest singer/guitarist John Primer on the deeply moving album opener "(You Are My) Whole World." Their duet is a thing of profound beauty, as John fell in love with this song in the studio, just as the tape was rolling. This is one of those precious occasions where the moment of musical and emotional discovery is documented just as it flowered. To listen to (now-80-year-old) Primer, distinguished alumnus of the Muddy Waters Band, pour his whole heart into this duet with Rachel is something supremely special. "'(You Are My) Whole World' is a Chicago song, through and through," says Iguana. "The Chi-Lites' 'Oh Girl' was a musical inspiration, and John Primer is not only one of the last great Chicago blues legends alive, but he loves soul songs so much. He has sung soul classics on stage and in the studio for years, and so I knew that he would bring something extraordinary to this song. My wife and our drummer's wife both cried when they first heard the track with John's vocal on it. I knew we had something remarkable here." The band, with Michael Caskey on drums and Zach Verdoorn on bass and guitar, create rock-steady grooves on the galloping "Winter Came While You Were Gone" and the throwback reverb-soaked rock 'n' roll of "Whirlpool," the band's spin on a classic Wanda Jackson B-side. Lustful wishes go in two different directions on "No Matter How Much" and "Touch You Back." In the former, an ominous buildup of stomps and lurches that gives way to a heroic prog-rock hoedown, Rachel blames all her problems on some maddeningly ineffective magic potion…100-proof Kentucky magic potion. In the latter, a tight dance-floor post-punker (featuring musical shoutouts to everyone from Kraftwerk and Gary Numan to CCR, the Doors and the Zombies), clear romantic signals are somehow missed, but Rachel won't give up so easily. Funk perfection is brought to "Touch You Back" in the form of guest guitar by the one and only Ella Feingold (Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Silk Sonic…), and both "No Matter How Much" and "Touch You Back" were co-produced with Iguana's "The Bear" partner JQ. Musical menace and a wide array of keyboards (from Hammond organ and acoustic piano to Roland JX-3P analog synth and Mellotron flutes) emerge on the maniacal rock-opera treatment of the real-life war of wills between Jeff Bezos and David Pecker on "Mr. Pecker's Apoplexy" and the heist-gone-wrong chiller "That Could Be Arranged." Another cinematic gem is the David Lynch-worthy "The Aftermath," in which the questioning narrator seems to ask from beyond the grave, "Are they still looking for me?" Finally, GARAGE GLAMOUR ends with the burning message of "Don't Give It Up to the Thieves," in which Rachel bursts out of the gate to urge us to stop feeling forever aggrieved, reverse the trend of finding enemies everywhere and reclaim the innocence and naivety of childhood. The second half of that album-closing suite,

Interview with and performance by Danny G ! Zig At The Gig goes live at Negative Space bringing the talent from the streets of Cleveland to you! with Danny G as our first guest! Danny Gardner is a singer songwriter from North East Ohio, whose melodies are as infectious as his positive demeanor! Follow Danny Here : https://www.facebook.com/danny.gardner.963 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuMHRACC4wk https://www.instagram.com/dannyg3339?igsh=bmJoeDdibTlkb29x

Interview with Bob Bert drummer from Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, and Lydia Lunch! After seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan show as an eight-year-old, he took drum lessons for one year at age twelve and learned enough to bang along to the Rolling Stones and garage-punk nuggets of the 60’s (Cue up the Barbarians’ "Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl"). Bob became desperate to get out of the hell of his Catholic grade school. “In my town, which was 11 miles outside New York City, we had two types of kids, the rah rahs (jocks) and the hoods (greasers). The hoods were mainly in the public school, and I gravitated towards the hoods mainly for the style; black leather jackets and girls that looked like the Shangri-Las and the Ronettes. I told my mom I would drop out if she didn't take me out of Catholic School!” One day Bob got called out of class by the principal who slapped his face back and forth saying "why would you ever want to go to public school?!”. (cue up "Mississippi Queen,” Quaalude Interlude", and "Oink Oink"). In high school Bob drifted away from drumming and headed towards Pop Art, Andy Warhol being a big influence. He got into Glam Rock hitting the NYC clubs to see the New York Dolls, Harlots of 42nd Street, Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys etc. He discovered CBGBs in 1975, when he wandered into a Television / Patti Smith double bill. He took classes at SVA and learned how to silk screen. He moved into Manhattan in 1978 and became a fine art silkscreen printer, eventually working for Warhol up until his death. (Cue up the Velvet Underground’s " Foggy Notion" and the Modern Lovers’ "Pablo Picasso"). In 1979, Bert saw an ad in the Village Voice soliciting “Punk Rock art,” submitted a piece which was accepted for a group show at the Nonson Gallery on Wooster Street, much to his delight. The opening was a gas, the whole downtown scene was in full effect. Joey Ramone’s piece was a toothbrush with red paint on it glued to the ceiling entitled "Bloody Gums.” Daniel Rey’s Shrapnel performed in the back and someone drove a motorcycle through the front door! It was at Nonson that Bob met artist Linda Wolfe. In 1981, Bob and Linda moved to Hoboken, living a block away from the famed club, Maxwell's where Bob would spend half of his life seeing great shows and making tons of friends. In 1981 while hanging at a different club, he got up on stage making a racket with Peter Missing and Jeff Holiday (RIP). “We became the band Drunk Driving causing trouble most of the time we played. We were banned from Maxwells after Peter put his upside-down martini glass graffitti, which he became well known for when he formed his next band Missing Foundation, on the newly painted wall.” After about seven months, Bert saw a flier that Sonic Youth needed a drummer. Bob took the flyer which he still has and joined in 1982. As it turns out he was the only one to call. After his tenure with them, he joined Pussy Galore, staying with them from the mid-80’s through the end of the decade. Bob's new album bob-bert