Illinois Entertainer May 2020 | Page 4

May 2020 • Volume 46, Number 06 • www.illinoisentertainer.com COVER STORY: LUCINDA WILLIAMS Many artists — when looking back on their cat- alogs — often wish that they could have done bet- ter, compositionally speaking. Hindsight, of course, being a perfect 20/20. But when Grammy- winning folk-rocker Lucinda Williams undertook her comprehensive tour last year celebrating the 20th anniversary of her landmark third Car Wheels on a Gravel Road effort, she never once reflected on the work with anything but fondness. Twangy anthems like “Drunken Angel,” “Right in Time,” “Concrete and Barbed Wire,” and the loping title track, she assays, “Are still really good songs. So I was probably thinking the opposite — looking back on some of ‘em and thinking, ‘Damn! I need to write something like that again!’” Mission accomplished. The Louisiana-born singer’s latest disc, Good Souls Better Angels — co-produced by Ray Kennedy and her husband/manager of eleven years, Tom Overby — is a venomous, feral-fanged scorcher, and a clear-eyed commentary on our crumbling, climate-change-denying society, which has quite possibly doomed itself to extinction. Tom Lanham found out what drove her to make Best of 2020 list album. 8 Lucinda Williams Best of Sweet Home 6 12 14 Media 16 Spins 20 File HELLO MY NAME IS CHERIE Testament and Exodus cope with COVID on their Euro tour. A full decade ago, ex-Runaways frontfox Cherie Currie began work on Blvds of Splendor with former Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver drum- mer Matt Sorum producing. But a funny thing happened on the way to the glam-rock forum. “The plan was to get it done and get it out there,” she says of the set, which features high-caliber cameos from Billy Corgan (the title track), Slash and Duff McKagan (“Mr. X”), and — on a rollick- ing rendition of her old outfit’s classic “Queens of Noise” — Juliette Lewis, Brody Dalle, and The Veronicas. “But life happened — what can I say?” Tom Lanham spoke to the legendary ex-Runaway. Cinemascopes Returns in June Remembering Otis. Whip settles in on The Mix. Local H and Cy Curnin. 20 THE OUTFIT Combining savvy songwriting rooted in power-pop and glammy metal, The Outfit is breaking the mold for local music veterans. Over two albums, they've managed to not only defy the sophomore slump, but they've also shown that educated music stalwarts can still have something to say. The band features a group of seasoned Chicago musicians, including brothers Mark (drums) and Matt Nawara (guitar), Mike Gorman (bass), and Andy Mitchell (vocals/guitar). Their second full-length album, Viking, was recently released on Pavement Entertainment, of which Mark happens to be the President/CEO. Kelley Simms spoke to Mark about the secret to strong songwriting and live shows. The Outfit Publisher Advertising Sales Contributors: John Vernon Scott Assmann Mike Engel Andy Argyrakis, Guy Arnston, Penelope Biver, Patrick Conlan, Deena Dasein, Jaime de'Medici, Andy Derer, 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, James Turano, Aubrey Vernon Contributing Editors Lori Vernon Tom Lanham Curt Baran Advertising Director Design Team Website Direction Notion Pool Dragon Design Vision Design Teknigram Graphics Notion Pool Classified Advertising Rosalind Cummings-Yeates - Sweet Home Rick Kaempfer - Media David Gedge Founder John Vernon Senior Columnists Kenneth L. Voss Kelley Simms - Caught In A Mosh Publisher Emeritis David C. Eldredge - East Coast David Roberts 4 illinoisentertainer.com may 2020 SUBSCRIPTIONS: $35 per year (first class). Material for insertion must reach our office by the First Of The Month preceding publication. We cannot assume responsibility for unsolicit- ed manuscripts or photographs. Follow us online at: facebook.com/ieentertainer instagram: illinoisentertainermagazine twitter.com/ie entertainer Address All Correspondence to: Illinois Entertainer 4223 W. Lake St., Suite 201 Chicago, IL 60624 [phone] - Chicago/North Sub [phone] - West/South Suburbs [phone] - Fax email us at: Editorial: [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] The ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER is published monthly by Roberts Publishing, Inc, All materials copyright 2020 by Roberts Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from Roberts Publishing, Inc. Current and back issues of the IE are $10.00 postpaid.