Links
Sites I Run:
- Tunesmith Guitars - A great friend and luthier based in central Illinois. Rod will dress your frets and inlay your headstock while gossiping with you in his shop. They also have a forthcoming line of acoustic guitars.
www.tunesmith-guitars.com
www.tunesmithguitars.com
- Evil Eye Emporium - “Swank Protection from the Evil Eye!” Natalia designs and casts some of the coolest jewelry around. She also codes her own site, but now we host it here.
www.evil-eye-emporium.com
- Anna Ressman - Anna is a photographer and writer who has just been awarded a postgraduate internship at the John David Mooney Foundation. Some time last year she started out designing a really basic site which has exploded under my nose into a really slick set of pages with some beautiful photography.
www.annaressman.com
www.anyata.com
Other Cool People I Know:
- N9VV, a.k.a, Ken Hopper - I’m pretty sure he can actually think in Morse code (and over 65 words per minute at that). He was also my first boss at the University of Chicago and is an all around great guy.
www.n9vv.com
- CosmiCafe - Branton runs the newest of the really cool coffee houses in my area. He’s got chill music, a wi-fi hotspot, and makes a really good choclafied coffee. He also has live music some evenings (including me, once I get my ass in gear). I don’t think his site is up yet, but this is the link he gave me.
www.cosmicafechicago.com
- Back Stage Jobs - A, now international, employment clearinghouse for all theater tech. jobs. Patrick and I were living together back when we were at DePaul and he started this website. It has grown significantly since then. If you’re looking for theater tech. work, or hiring for it, this is the place to be.
www.backstagejobs.com
- Louise Cloutier - To quote her website, Louise is a “vocalist, composer, and voice healer.” She has an incredible power to her voice and a personal presence you can sense from two rooms away. Her resume always astounds me (as I revisit it for this link), and she balances her artistic and spiritual sides with a sensibility and technological savvy for which I have great respect.
www.voiceborne.com
www.burntrose.com
- Tonya Kay - Tonya is a dancer, percussionist and stunt person extraordinaire who has traveled with STOMP and created the XTREME RHYTHM THEATER. We met about five years ago in a choir and ritual performance group in Chicago.
www.tonyakay.com
- Kate Mura - Kate and I originally met briefly at DePaul and then met again in the same choir/ritual group where I met Tonya. Since then we’ve shared an apartment and a spectacular group of friends. She is an actress, dancer, and activist, now headed off for an M.F.A. program on the west coast.
www.katemura.com
Music:
Musicians and Bands:
- Sunnyside Up - Sunnyside Up bills themselves as “an eclectic blend of acoustic music and musicians.” This doesn’t really tell you much about their driving bluegrass, tear-jerking folk ballads, or brilliant instrumental work–and I’m not just saying that because they’ve let me record them a time or two. As far as I know, most of the band are instructors of multiple instruments at the Old Town School of Folk Music, so drop on by a show and let them school you a bit.
www.sunnysideupmusic.com
- Ethan Sellers/Tautologic - Ethan and the band behind his solo project (ESB) have also been kind enough to log a few hours in the studio with me at Columbia College, combining a class project with their new album. Ethan brings the soul of an artist, the hands of a musician, and the ear of an engineer to his sessions, and he also manages to attract and hold a really tallented crew of other musicians. All of which has made it a real pleasure to work with him. It doesn’t hurt that I really dig the music too. www.ethansellers.com
www.tautologic.com
- Tantalus Theatre Group - I did a recording of the musical Ragnarok in March of 2005 with Steve Clark and the folks at Tantalus. Both the music and the players were amazing and the recording session was great fun. I just wish I could have captured the visual component of the staging. I hope to be able to work with this group of magicians and mythical creatures.
www.tantalustheatre.org
- DeLonde J. Bell - DeLonde and I went to DePaul together where he was a Composition student in the music school. He was also my roommate in 94-95, along with Patrick, in a dodgy section of Rogers Park. DeLonde is an incredible musician and we briefly had a band called Tears of Isis which got started when our friend Gypsy desperately needed subjects for her recording final project. It’s a whole other story, but suffice it to say that he’s moved up in the music world since then. DeLonde is now in Portland where he acts, works on solo music material, and is the drummer for Once in the Sun.
DeLonde’s NowhereRadio page (note the stunning tat.)
www.onceinthesun.com
- Andrew Magnuson and the Heathens - An up and coming Chicago rock act. You should go see them now so you can say you knew them when . . .