Chicks With Picks
Lucy Dacus
Photo Curt Baran
After seeing female fronted bands dominate the 2018 festival season, here’s news that won't surprise
you, according to Billboard Magazine. “A new study from guitar manufacturer Fender reveals that
women make up 50 percent of new guitar players in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
The company began marketing a millennial-focused line of guitars in 2016 with female acts like
Warpaint and Bully after results from a previous survey three years ago demonstrated that Fender was
ignoring its female audience," reports Billboard. "The fact that 50 percent of new guitar buyers in the U.K.
were women was a surprise to the U.K. team, but it’s identical to what’s happening in the U.S.,” Fender
CEO Andy Mooney said. "The phenomenon seems like it’s got legs, and it’s happening worldwide.
Although guitar sales have diminished in recent years, this statistic indicates that there's still room for
the guitar amid the hip-hop and electronic dominated charts."
At Pitchfork and Riot Fest, guitar-based female-fronted acts like Lucy Dacus, Speedy Ortiz and
Chicago indie pioneer Liz Phair dominated the stage, and in some cases out drawing and performing
their male-dominated cousins in the same afternoon. Comments by followers on IE's social media also
confirm that more females are taking up the instrument which bodes well for the Continued
future of music.
on page 18
12•2018
Boombox Revival
Crosley CT200
Eddie's Last Song
Eddie C. Campbell
His distinctive West Side blues style, with glittering guitar riffs and thoughtful
lyrics, will always remain but the Chicago blues community has lost another back-
bone of the genre in Eddie C. Campbell. A fixture on the West Side scene who made
a flamboyant statement with both his image and his guitar playing, Eddie left his
mark by being true to himself and blues culture, despite music industry pressures.
Born in Duncan Mississippi, Eddie joined his mother to make the Great Migration
journey to Chicago when he was around age ten. Although he famously sat in with
Muddy Waters when he was only 12 and went on to play with legends like Jimmy
Reed, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter and Magic Sam, Eddie’s primary
influence was a little-known guitarist named Elnora Jones. He was encouraged to
pick up the guitar and learned how to play from Elnora, who was also his sister.
Eddie’s unusual playing style was copied directly from his sister, which helped set
him apart from a crowded blues field in 1950s Chicago. His innovative sound was
on full display on his 1977 classic debut King of The Jungle (Mr.Blues), which show-
cased slashing guitars, a mischievous sense of humor and a cover displaying Eddie
in a furry vest and towering Afro. Although his album attracted acclaim, Eddie was
keenly aware of the differences of how black blues artists were treated and pro-
moted, compared to white rock musicians who interpreted blues music.
Campbell was vocal about the American music double standard and refused to
accept the lesser treatment often handed to blues artists. When he experienced the
royal treatment laid out for blues artists in Europe, he decided to move there dur-
ing the '80s, staying for ten years. He returned to Chicago in the '90s with a
refreshed sound that underscored his signature bold style. Eddie produced three
well-crafted albums before he suffered a stroke and heart attack while touring in
Germany in 2013. Although the illness left him partially paralyzed, Eddie contin-
ued to make appearances, playing with his left hand and still managing his impec-
cable in-the-pocket rhythm. He always stayed true to the West Side blues founda-
tion that he helped build, mixing blues with touches of soul and rock and a whole
lot of spirit.
– Rosalind Cummings - Yeates
Alley Goes Pop
We’ve seen a huge revival in vinyl over the last decade, and now it’s time for cassettes to have
their day in the sun. According to theverge.com, "Crosley, the company best known for making those
junky $100 turntables you can find at Target or Best Buy, is expanding into a different era of musi-
cal nostalgia: cassette decks, via TechCrunch. The company is selling two tape decks. Both have the
same basic specs for cheap hardware: there’s a single mono speaker, an AM/FM radio, an integrat-
ed mic, and a single-direction deck (so you’ll have to flip the tape yourself, just like the good old
days). Odds are that you won’t get the best-sounding speaker, but that’s not really the point. The $60
CT100 model can also get shortwave radio, and it adds some rather anachronistic support for play-
ing music off SD cards and USB drives. The $70 CT200 skips those features but adds treble and bass
dials and a VU meter, which looks cooler and thus commands a higher price. Again, neither of these
players are likely going to give you an audiophile-level experience." But if you’re looking for a
device to play your sister’s old Prince Purple Rain cassette – you gotta yourself a boom box.
6 illinoisentertainer.com december 2018
The Alley 1776, the brainchild of The Alley founder Mark Thomas closed the
cafe concept on Halloween, but a new Alley pop-up store is slated to open just
before Christmas. After health issues forced him to shutter the cafe, Thomas
has some new retail plans in store for fans of the original Belmont and Clark
location that can't get enough of the store beyond the online arm at the theeal-
ley.com.
Thomas told IE, “I've got some retail concepts in the works starting with a
pop-up store that will open around Christmas. Follow us on Facebook for
details.” That means Alley fans should hold on to their holiday cash a little
longer this year in anticipation of "Alley Pop-Up.”