These are the sad faces of my dogs as I left them behind to head to the city for the early show at The Tonic Room tonight. I am trying to keep up with my attempt to see fifty concerts in this my fiftieth year. We are five weeks into the year and tonight's show will be number three for me and a second visit to The Tonic Room.
After a slow drive through the snow on the Dan Ryan and a quick subway ride up from Chinatown, I make it to the Tonic Room to see Clark Paterson perform tonight. I'd never heard of him until I saw he was performing here tonight. That's what this concert plan I have is all about...checking out all kinds of music. After the band set up the stage, the bass player grabbed his acoustic guitar and performed solo as the opening act.
This is Simon Flory and I really enjoyed his songs. Well written country songs that had me smiling at the lyrics. For example one song had a reference to John Hiatt and Bobby Bare. From what I could gather from his between songs banter, he is from Arkansas and currently lives in Texas. He was really good at changing his singing style to fit the songs he played. I got a chance to talk to him after the show and picked up his CD, Unholy Town. He said he should be back in Chicago this summer. I would recommend checking him out.
Clark Paterson and his band took the stage after Simon and it took a few songs for me to get into the songs. Clark has a distinct raspy voice that took didn't seem to suit the songs...
...but by the time he covered "Hungry Heart" by Bruce Springsteen as a country song I found myself enjoying the show. Clark really made that song his own which I love when artists do that with well known songs. I loved the pedal steel guitar sounds especially on Hungry Heart played by Brian Wilke. (Hope I got his name right.)
That's Bill Brown on drums and Simon Flory on bass. Clark's songs crossed between country and rock'n'roll pretty good. I am a lyrics first music fan and some of Clark's songs grabbed me, some didn't. That's just my opinion not a criticism because he sang the songs like they meant something to him. That's very important to me because if the singer doesn't get into the song, why should I? I said a quick hello (Clark knew quite a few people in the bar but he took a moment to talk to me) and bought both of his CD's. I do have to admit that I really enjoyed his latest CD, Walkin' Papers. If I actually make it to fifty shows I will end up with a hell of a lot of new music, an added bonus that I didn't consider when I hatched this crazy plan. I truly do believe in supporting live music and the artists that entertain me. Thanks to this crazy internet thing, you can check out both of these musicians...maybe you will find a new favorite song.
After a visit to the always entertaining bathroom wall at the Tonic Room. I headed home...
....where I saw this interesting message on a DePaul Building near the Fullerton Red Line station. I love being in the city.
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