I have been in Chicago for more than a week. This past Saturday I was able to partake in the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival at the beautiful Congress Theater.

There was a solid local stage in the main lobby.

Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater and his band were a true force of nature. He’s copping Chuck Berry, but he’s wily and young; maybe 70, so he has a good 20 years left. And he plays with his own band, so they were on the same page, if not the same stage, throughout the set. (Their set began with a power trio shredding through an instrumental. Then a man wearing an Indian headdress came on stage and sang a tune. This it turns out, was Eddy, who grabbed a guitar and quickly revealed that he was the lead guitarist—the other virtuoso settled in on rhythm. )

The above photos are from the event’s Flicr stream.

Bela Fleck brought the goods to the stage, including a 3 piece band from Siberia.

Bela Fleck inserted some Christmas tunes into their set, mostly from the Charlie Brown record. They also gave us a version of "12 Days of Christmas" in which each day was in a different key and time signature.

Local faves Dr. Dog closed out the night for the youngsters who hula hooped into the a.m.

Above 2 photos from Kate Gardiner at Flickr.

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The summer recording project of Hat Manly and Hartwell Littlejohn has yet to bring about a finished product. A YouTube promo declares an “Oct 09″ single release. But an al capella track titled “Lonely Breakdown” has been leaked.

It’s thought to have been intended as an “appendix” to the single “She Belongs to Everyone But Me.” It is not known if it’s the final take or whether it will wind up on the upcoming record.

Sources believe that the tambourine is from Nathan Apffel.

Brooklyn, Hartwell Littlejohn, Music / The Arts

It’s been hot in the Northeast this summer. I’ve been resting up, but will be posting again soon. I have ideas, energy, and some stuff I’ve worked on when I haven’t been asleep.

status, summer