Cake on Saturday, plus: total internet domination is almost mine

A lot of people ask me, "Will there actually be Cake?" and "Why is it called Cake?" and also "Oh, I thought it was like the band Cake, I was confused, because I was like, 'Why are they playing at Red Line Tap, why didn't I hear about this?'"

And in response I usually say "No," "I don't know," and "No, not like the band," but in a less curt fashion.

I'm considering baking those booze-soaked cupcakes again if I have time on Saturday, but I'm also cooking up a new cover by request, so we'll see what I have time for.

But really, isn't the show delicious enough already?

Saturday, February 6th 9pm Red Line Tap, 7006 N. Glenwood $5

P.S. - For those of you who haven't hopped on my Facebook profile in a while, J.D. Doyle included two of my tracks on this month's OutRadio mix tape. Also appearing is up-and-coming Broadway songwriter Scott Alan, whose music, coincidentally, is the subject of a show my friend Chris is directing at Davenport's this month.

Last but not least, I've been bumped up to #7 on the OutVoice December charts (they usually run about a month behind). If you would like to help me take over the interwebs, you can vote for The Crater EP here.

Return to Cake in Feb + Benefit Performance

Two solo shows coming up for ya'll in the next couple of weeks. My next big solo set, complete with all the beats and synthey goodness that comes out of my Yamaha Motif, is on Saturday, February 6th at Red Line Tap as part of Ripley Caine's inimitable Cake Chicago series. If you want to see all of the other cool kids who are going check out the Facebook event. For those of you who are newer to the sordid little world of local queer music that I would like to suck you into, Cake Chicago is into its third year now of bringing queer performers of all stripes (hip hop, rock, folk, electronic, comedy) to Roger's Park. Ripley and I have been talking about collaborating for a while and we're finally getting our shit together for this show and doing some tunes together.

Speaking of occasional collaborators, Stephen Leonard (from Unpugged and Mary's Spotlight fame) is having a CD release party on Wednesday, January 27th at Sidetrack. It's also a benefit for Join the Impact Chicago, which helped organize the Prop 8 protest downtown last winter and organized Chicagoans to go to the DC march last summer. It's from 8-10pm, tickets are $20 (which includes two drinks). I'll be doing a short acoustic set, as will Manny Capozzi and Christine Kent. Steve Shubert, who some of you may know from Mary's Spotlight, will be making a comedic appearance as well, I think filling us in on his continued storied relationship with Julie Andrews.

Holiday Shows I'm Playing, plus a free MP3 to celebrate Chicago being 1 degree today

I have two holiday-themed gigs coming up that may be of interest to you if, like me, have an aversion to saccharine, candy-cane Christmas carols and prefer campy, serious, hipstery, or obliquely-related seasonal tunes.

Under the campy and also serious columns, I'm playing with the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus once again. In addition to the tongue-in-cheek antics you know and love from CGMC, the chorus is also doing some musically more sophisticated pieces (a rendition of Deck the Halls in a 7/8 time signature, for instance). Shows are Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 3pm and 8pm at the Athenaeum (on Southport). The link above will get you tickets.

Under the hipstery and obliquely-related category, I'm doing a little holiday shindig at Wild Pug on Tuesday, December 15th with a few other Unpugged alumni: Stephen Leonard, Manny Capozzi, and Rachel Katzman. I'll be doing a bunch of covers and collaborations that aren't your typical set of songs about Christmas but do in some way relate to December or Christmas or seasonal affective disorder. (Yay!) Plus, it's free, and I've come to love the Pug like my own home, if they didn't kick me out at 2. (Dammit!) Music starts at 9pm.

Bonus: I may even pull together a Christmas song that I wrote a couple years ago for a contest that Sufjan Stevens held. I've never actually played it live because I'm not sure how to stack the loops on this one, but you can download it here if you need a new song about how discordant it is to hear cheery goofy Christmas songs while the world gets dark and cold and wet and miserable, which is appropos of today's weather.

Beat Kitchen Show Still On...

For those of you who saw that Field Music has canceled their U.S. dates due to illness, we are still going to be playing at Beat Kitchen and would like to rock you extra hard to make up for the lack of Field Music that we will all be feeling. 'Cause you know, domestic rock bands gotta eat, too. And we will. Because we get a food discount at Beat Kitchen.

The cover has dropped to $8 and we will now be playing second on the bill, so probably 10:15-10:30ish. Also, this will be Michael's first outing with one of the new tracks, "Choosing Sides," which is a fun little duet between Matt and Elizabeth about bitter, bitter divorce, and who doesn't love that?

Videos to Whet Your Appetite(s)

We're playing with Field Music on Saturday. I looked for a video to convince you all to come, and I found this one for "A House is Not a Home," and now I would like to start a service where confused British people have their home invaded by a pop band when their piano is out of tune.



Other random video tidbits:

I imagine that if Owen Pallett and I were boyfriends this is what it would be like, except I would be a better conversationalist.

I can't stop listening to Simian Mobile Disco's "Audacity of Huge". I'm going on the record now: this summer there will be a female-fronted dance mix littering the PAs of gay bars, just like this crime-against-nature cover of "Sweaty" that I heard at Big Chicks last summer. It's gonna happen.

For Your Listening Pleasure

Housekeeping note: I've been posting more and more often to my Facebook profile, so my more day-to-day updates are appearing there more regularly. You can follow me there even if you're afraid of Facebook because you think it's going to make public everything from your social security number to your cholestoral level, or because you have no friends and don't want anyone to find out. My profile is public, so no login or account is required.

I'd like to be writing here more substantially, but thankfully I've been swamped with actually performing or recording or writing music lately. The next major show I'm prepping for is my solo show at Martyrs' this Thursday (11/19) with Dylan Rice, and Canasta is gradually getting to the finish line with the album.

So in lieu of substance I'm going to do what most other music blogs do and plug the shit I've been listening to lately:
Ramona Falls - This is a solo/side project from one of Menomena's members. There's almost always a piano present in the mix but there's also plenty of (melo)dramatics.
Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - The release of their new album has been overshadowed by their extremely scary and serious van accident, but ..And the Horse You Rode in On was almost instantly in my Top 10 list of breakup albums as soon as I finished my first listen.
Final Fantasy - Really just trying to stave off my impatience for the new album due out in January.

Schubas' Sister Venue Open...

It's been buzzed and blogged about for a few months now, so it's not a huge surprise that Schubas has a new sister venue in Lincoln Park (down near DePaul). There's a nice little video of it on the Trib's website here, where you can see that, as with Schubas, they've paid attention to aesthetics like food and decor that are oft-overlooked by rock venues. I'm going to a little preview on Thursday on behalf of Canasta, which makes the little music dork in me excited.

In show news, Tuesday's birthday bash was packed, so thanks to everyone who came out. Between the new Unpugged series at Wild Pug and the Mary's Spotlight series at Mary's Attic, the Andersonville/Uptown bar scene is getting a lot more live music, in addition to the already dependably cool Homolatte series at Big Chicks, and with live music nights getting the axe for schtick like Guitar Hero tournaments and bar trivia.

There's another installment of Mary's Spotlight this Sunday night at 7:30; a lot of last month's acts are returning (as am I). And this time I won't be fighting Fall Death Flu while plodding my way through Creative Writing Workshop and Resurrection Ship hyped up on DayQuil. Huzzah.