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The Perfect Storm: Three Musicians, One Powerful Sound, and a Musical Journey That Refuses to Be Defined
October 30, 2026
By: Daniel Matthews From pandemic-era jam sessions to chart-topping radio success, Albany’s genre-defying trio is preparing to unleash its most ambitious music yet with the forthcoming album, “Nature’s Fury.” Some bands are formed through carefully planned auditions, industry connections, or a shared desire to conquer a particular musical genre. For
Keya Trammell Wins $10,000 Grand Prize at 2026 Chicago Made Music Showcase
October 29, 2026
Multidisciplinary artist Keya Trammell won the $10,000 grand prize at the 2026 Chicago Made Music Showcase, held October 24 at the Chicago Cultural Center. The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events also awarded cash prizes and 2027 performance slots at Lollapalooza and Taste of Chicago to other finalists
Javier Guzman’s Riptide Tells a Story of Failure, Faith, Family and Redemption
October 27, 2026
By Janice O’Brien The public story of Javier Guzman once appeared to have a clear ending. A decorated Tampa narcotics detective who had worked undercover with the DEA was arrested, labeled a dirty cop, convicted, and sent to prison. In Riptide: Cartels, Cocaine, and an Undercover Cop’s Fall from Grace,
How Billy Planer Turned Cross-Country Teen Journeys Into Lessons for Conversations That Matter
October 27, 2026
By: Brenda Myles Long before Billy Planer began writing Conversations That Matter, he was putting its central idea into practice on buses, in meeting rooms, at historic sites, and across communities throughout the United States. His work has taken more than 35,000 people on educational journeys built around listening, identity,
How Far Would You Go to Protect the Ones You Love and What If the Cost Is a Lifetime of Secrets: K.S. Lynn Finally Wrote the Novel That Answers That Question Honestly
October 24, 2026
By: Christopher Miller The question that K.S. Lynn has placed at the beginning of A Thousand More, how far would you go to protect the ones you love, and what if the cost is a lifetime of secrets, is one that the novel takes seriously enough to follow all the
How Far Would You Go to Protect the Ones You Love and What If the Cost Is a Lifetime of Secrets: K.S. Lynn Finally Wrote the Novel That Answers That Question Honestly
October 24, 2026
By: Christopher Miller The question that K.S. Lynn has placed at the beginning of A Thousand More, how far would you go to protect the ones you love, and what if the cost is a lifetime of secrets, is one that the novel takes seriously enough to follow all the
Why the Chicago River Turns Green: How Plumbers Local 130 Has Dyed It for St. Patrick’s Day Since 1962
October 23, 2026
The Chicago River turns green each March because Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local 130 dyes it for St. Patrick’s Day, a tradition the union has carried out nearly every year since 1962. Crews on boats release an orange powder that turns bright green on contact with the water, on the Saturday
National Museum of Mexican Art Celebrates 40 Years of Day of the Dead in Chicago With Xicágo Celebration in Pilsen October 24
October 21, 2026
Day of the Dead in Chicago centers this week on Pilsen, where the National Museum of Mexican Art is marking its 40th annual Día de Muertos exhibition with “Where Memory Lives,” on view through November 29. Its free outdoor celebration, Día de los Muertos Xicágo, takes over Harrison Park on
The Ferris Wheel Was Born in Chicago, Built to Outshine the Eiffel Tower
June 12, 2026
The Ferris wheel is now a fixture of fairgrounds, boardwalks, and skylines around the world, so ordinary that its origins are easy to forget. But the ride was not a gradual invention that evolved over time. It was a single, audacious engineering gamble, conceived in Chicago in 1893 for one
Steve Witowski Didn’t Ask to Be a Hero and That’s Precisely What Makes This Book So Memorable
June 9, 2026
By: KC Cronin Barry Maher opens this novel with a Harvard professor riffing on Moby-Dick and The Great Gatsby in the late sixties, tossing off the idea of a modern version called The Great Dick, and from that first scene you understand you’re in the hands of a writer who
Pokémon GO Fest 2026 Brings Up to 40,000 Players a Day to Grant Park June 5–7
June 3, 2026
Tens of thousands of smartphone-wielding players will converge on Grant Park this weekend as Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Chicago runs June 5 through 7, transforming the city’s front lawn and four downtown districts into a sprawling augmented-reality playground. The event, one of the largest in-person gatherings on the mobile game’s
Chicago Street Festival Season Opens This Weekend Across Lincoln Square, West Town and Portage Park
May 30, 2026
The Memorial Day weekend marks the point each year when Chicago’s outdoor calendar reawakens, and the weekend of May 29–31 makes the season’s defining pattern visible right away. Rather than one marquee gathering, the city opens with several neighborhood festivals running at once, scattered from the North Side to the
The Guitar Is Back: How Rock and Indie Music Are Winning Over a New Generation
May 29, 2026
By: Conor Murray For the better part of a decade, the guitar was eulogized. Streaming algorithms favored trap hi-hats over power chords, and the conventional wisdom held that rock music had aged out of cultural relevance. That consensus is now being dismantled, one distorted riff at a time. Walk into
Midnight Trains, Broken Elevators, and the Discipline of Not Quitting
May 29, 2026
By: Connor Clarke There is a moment most people never see. It is not the diagnosis. Not the accident. Not even the first time someone sits in a wheelchair and realizes life just shifted permanently. The real moment comes later. Quiet. Uncelebrated. Usually at night. For Eugen Ehrenberg, that moment
John David Castilla and the Dynamics of Regional Film Markets in the American Midwest and Southeast
May 27, 2026
In the last twenty years, there has been a growth in the production of films that are produced outside Los Angeles and New York; states such as Georgia and Illinois are creating a positive environment for an overall industry ecosystem. These states’ tax incentives, existing production facilities, and skilled crew
Bruno Mars Brings The Romantic Tour to Soldier Field for Two Nights, Kicking Off Chicago’s Summer Concert Season
May 16, 2026
Soldier Field opens its 2026 concert season this weekend with one of the most anticipated tour stops in the city’s spring calendar. Bruno Mars brings The Romantic Tour to the lakefront stadium for two nights, Saturday May 16 and Sunday May 17, with both shows scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and
Barry Maher’s The Great Dick Crashes Literary Satire Into Occult Horror With Glorious Bad Intentions
May 15, 2026
By: MR Dowling Some novels politely ask for your attention. The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon kicks open the door smelling like whiskey, grave dirt, bad decisions, and 3 a.m. regret. Barry Maher’s fiction debut is chaotic, vulgar, weirdly intelligent, occasionally unhinged, and far more emotionally aware than it
Uptown Poetry Slam Founder Marc Kelly Smith Donates Archive to Chicago’s Newberry Library
May 13, 2026
Chicago’s claim as the birthplace of the modern poetry slam now has a permanent home in one of the city’s most important research institutions. Marc Kelly Smith, the founder of the Uptown Poetry Slam, has formally donated his personal archive of the influential performance poetry event to the Newberry Library,
Starting From the Breaking Point with Marsha Gauthier
May 2, 2026
By: Robert Klein Marsha doesn’t ease into the conversation about faith. She starts at the fracture. Losing her mother didn’t just leave grief behind; it left questions that wouldn’t quiet down. The kind that replays in your head late at night, twisting into something heavier each time. For her, it
When Faith Feels Out of Reach
May 2, 2026
By: Sofia Navarro There’s a version of faith that looks steady from the outside. Disciplined. Certain. Consistent. Then there’s the version most people actually live. Uneven, quiet, sometimes absent for long stretches, then suddenly urgent when life tightens its grip. Ginger doesn’t write from the polished version. She writes from
Billy Donovan Steps Away From Bulls After Six Seasons — and the Rebuild Begins for Real
April 30, 2026
CHICAGO, April 29, 2026 — The Billy Donovan era in Chicago is over. After six seasons, one playoff appearance, and a final year that saw the Bulls gut their roster at the trade deadline, trade away foundational veterans, and finish 31-51, the Hall of Fame head coach informed ownership he
Chicago Owns May Day — And This Year, the Whole Country Is Watching
April 29, 2026
There is no city in America with a stronger claim to May Day than Chicago. The holiday did not originate in a foreign capital or in the pages of a political manifesto. It was born here, on the streets of this city, in May 1886, when tens of thousands of
Award-Winning Bass Player A M M Newaj Sharif Gains U.S. Recognition
April 29, 2026
Bassist, stage performer, and music educator A M M Newaj Sharif, professionally known as Bassman Newaj, is gaining recognition in the United States following a distinguished career in Bangladesh and abroad. Born on January 7, 1994, Sharif has built a reputation as a versatile and accomplished bass guitarist. Known for
Chicago Latino Film Festival Closes 42nd Edition on April 27 After 12-Day Run at Landmark Century Centre
April 28, 2026
The 42nd Chicago Latino Film Festival concludes its 2026 edition on Monday, April 27, capping a 12-day program that brought 51 feature films and 31 shorts from across Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal, and the United States to Chicago audiences. Presented by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago
Seth Panitch Explores Reinvention and Self-Worth in Antique
April 23, 2026
By: Sarah Wallace Seth Panitch has spent decades telling stories in many forms, from Shakespearean performance and directing to filmmaking and playwriting. After receiving his MFA from the University of Washington’s Professional Actors Training Program, he built a wide-ranging career at Shakespeare festivals across the country, including Colorado, Utah, Texas,
Chicago Is the World’s Stage: UNESCO International Jazz Day 2026 Brings the Planet to the City This April
April 17, 2026
The city of Chicago is currently serving as the official Global Host City for the 15th anniversary of International Jazz Day. This April, the city has transformed into a focal point for the global music community, marking a dual milestone as the world celebrates both the anniversary of this UNESCO
When Love Faces Its Quietest Enemy
April 17, 2026
By Adrian Cole In Twinkle of Doubt: A Celestial Bodies Romance, Patricia Leavy takes readers somewhere romance stories do not always linger long enough. Into the fragile territory of doubt. Not dramatic betrayal. Not heartbreak. Something quieter and more familiar. The small, persistent voice that wonders whether we are truly
23 Years, 12 Novels and Countless Mysteries in Wendy Roberts’ Evolving Imagination
April 11, 2026
Where Every Story Begins: Mornings in Silence, Unwritten Pages Wendy Roberts is already at her desk before the whole world has woken up. The sunlight in Vancouver is diffuse at first, welcoming rather than dictatorial. It has coffee to be had, a blank page on the screen, and the inaudible