lawrence peters outfit – Underground Bee

August 28, 2016

The Rizdales at the Hideout

The Rizdales — a country band from London, Ontario — played Aug. 20 at the Hideout, apparently playing in Chicago for the first time ever. Although the group records original music by the husband-and-wife songwriting team Tom and Tara Dunphy, its most recent album is Blue Ain’t The Word: A Tribute to the Music of Ray Price, and this show was a tribute to Price and his music. Three Chicago singers joined the Rizdales onstage during the show: Jon Langford, Rachel Drew and Lawrence Peters, who also opened the concert. It made for an enjoyable night of old-fashioned country music.

February 28, 2016

Lawrence Peters Outfit at the High Hat Club

The Lawrence Peters Outfit plays old-fashioned country music on the fourth Wednesday of every month at the High Hat Club, a new bar in the spot where Katerina’s used to be, 1920 W. Irving Park Road. I visited for the first time last week, on Feb. 24. It was a snowy night, and only a handful of people were there to see this cool band. Peters and his band, who are preparing to record a new album, deserve more of an audience for their sturdy, low-key music, which sounds like it could’ve been recorded back in the heyday of Sun Studio. Mark your calendars for those upcoming shows at High Hat.

August 15, 2011

Finding music at Found Sound: Chicago

One of the summer’s most intriguing musical events in Chicago took place Saturday (Aug. 13). The venue? Various porches, backyards, storefronts and balconies scattered around the West Town and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods. This was Found Sound: Chicago, billed as “a series of intimate music & audio art performances.” I wasn’t able to see it all, but I did catch the first three performances of the day.

At 1 p.m., the musician-artist Steve Krakow, aka Plastic Crimewave, was sitting out on his front porch on Winchester with a banjo, an amp, various effects pedals and an extension cord running up to a window a couple of stories higher. Some people, maybe 20 or so, wandered up and sat down near the sidewalk or stood nearby as Krakow created a droning wash of sound, sometimes tapping the body of his banjo, sometimes plucking or bowing it. A few passersby who didn’t appear to know what Found Sound was all about paused to listen and watch.

Half an hour later, many of the people attending this performance walked a few blocks to a backyard, where the Lawrence Peters Outfit played some nicely old-fashioned country songs, including originals that Peters wrote for his band’s brand-new debut album, What You Been Missin’. The sunny day turned dark and cloudy as Peters played, and as a rainstorm loomed and the wind started to toss around the overhead power lines, Peters played an appropriate tune, the lovely and understated closing track from his CD, “The Wind.”

By the time when the third act of the day, Mark Booth, began his performance inside the Corbett vs. Dempsey art gallery, it was pouring rain outside. Some hail even tinkled against the windows. Booth used a laptop to create a sound collage that began with the antique sounds of a gramophone and melted into a variety of creaks, buzzes and hums.

What did I miss the rest of the day? Performances by Heartichoke, Andy Slater, the meme, Matthew Hale Clark, Piss Piss Piss Moan Moan and Shearing Pinx, and Judson Claiborne. Kudos to Penny Duff and Michale Slaboch for creating Found Sound. Wouldn’t it be cool if this sort of thing happened on a regular basis in places around the city?

Here’s a video from the Found Sound: Chicago website with some of the days highlights:

Found Sound: Chicago | August 13th, 2011 from Found Sound: Chicago on Vimeo.