February 2018 • Volume 44, Number 04 • www.illinoisentertainer.com
Photo: Curt Baran
COVER STORY:
MINISTRY
He hinted at new music at Riot Fest last fall.
Chicago's legendary industrial metal machine
Ministry is back. After the sudden death of long-
time guitarist and friend Mike Scaccia in 2012,
leader/vocalist Al Jourgensen decided to put
Ministry on sabbatical. During the band’s down-
time, "Uncle Al" spawned a side project, Surgical
Meth Machine, and released a self-titled debut
record in 2015. After this brief detour, and spurred
on by the outrage he felt following the 2016 presi-
dential election, Jourgensen decided to resurrect
Ministry, returning in 2017 with a whole new line-
up, a new label, and its 14th studio album, the first
in almost five years. Kelley Simms talked to the
engaging frontman and former Wax Trax! employ-
ee.
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HELLO MY NAME IS TOMMY
Chances are, you might not have heard of AC Australian
finger-picking stylist Tommy Emmanuel. He doesn’t mind.
What’s important is that most of his high-profile peers know
his name in his adopted hometown of Nashville, to the point
where – when he recently decided to put together his first
duets album, Accomplice One – a remarkable roster of them ver-
itably jumped at the chance to work with him. Signing on:
Jason Isbell (“Deep River Blues”); Isbell’s wife, Amanda Shires
(a folksy version of Madonna’s “Borderline”); Ricky Skaggs
(“Song and Dance Man”); Rodney Crowell (“Looking Forward
to the Past”); Mark Knopfler (“You Don’t Want to Get You One
of Those”); and Suzy Bogguss (“The Duke’s Message”). And he
was surprised at how easy the project was to assemble. “I’ve
lived in Tennessee for 15 years now,” the 62-year-old explains.
“And I had some people that I really wanted to work with, and
I felt that I had some good songs to take to them, so I made a
start and began ringing them up.” No muss, no fuss. Tom
Lanham spoke to the stalwart six-stringer.
Page 22 - Ministry
Media 6
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Sweet Home 18
File
Jack White says leave your phone at home.
Cinemascopes
February Super Heroes.
Fred Winston is a legend.
Black History Month is Blues History Month Too.
Spins 24
Calendar 28
Lo Moon, plus a Rush reissue and more .
Over 1200 shows at the best shows at the best venues.
20
SOIL
Chicago rockers Soil have had a dedicated local following
for the last two decades. Formed in 1997, the band — vocalist
Ryan McCombs, bassist Tim King, guitarist Adam Zadel, ex-
guitarist Shaun Glass (ex-Broken Hope, Dirge Within) and
drummer Tom Schofield — rode a decent wave of success, gain-
ing mainstream attention with singles “Halo” and “Unreal”
from the 2001 album Scars. However, things began to unravel in
2004 when McCombs left the band to spend more quality time
with his family and joined prominent Texas alternative metal
band Drowning Pool, which he then fronted for six years. The
band reformed in 2011, and their expectations are now to enjoy
the moment, something they forgot to do the first time around.
“Just to enjoy it, whatever it is,” McCombs said. “I don't know
what life has in store for us. They're celebrating their 20th
anniversary, touring in support of their new album Scream: The
Essentials. Kelley Simms talked to McCombs.
Caught In A Mosh
Watain is back.
Classifieds
You dumped your boyfriend's guiutarist, now you're looking for another.
Studiophile
CRC and Rax Trax news.
Gear
Go home and get your Loudbox.
Publisher Advertising Sales Contributors:
John Vernon Scott Assmann
Mike Engel Andy Argyrakis, Guy Arnston,
Penelope Biver, Patrick Conlan, Deena Dasein,
Jaime de'Medici, Jeff Elbel
Terrence Flamm, Steve Forstneger
Michael Gallucci, Michael C. Harris,
Max Herman, Tom Lanham,
Carter Moss, Michael Obrecki, Greg Olma
Arsenio Orteza, Rodney Pawlak,
Bruce Pilato, Matthew Pollock, Jason Scales,
Kelley Simms, Ed Spinelli,
Tim Shockley, James Turano
Contributing Editors
Curt Baran
Mike Meyer
Tom Lanham
Lori Vernon Advertising Director
Design Team Notion Pool
Notion Pool
Dragon Design
Vision Design
Teknigram Graphics Senior Columnists
John Vernon
Website Direction
David Gedge Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
- Sweet Home
Rick Kaempfer - Media
Founder Kelley Simms - Caught In A Mosh
Kenneth L. Voss David C. Eldredge
- East Coast
Classified Advertising
Publisher Emeritis
David Roberts
4 illinoisentertainer.com february 2018
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