Jonathan Wilson News

LA-based singer-songwriter Leslie Stevens is debuting her new video “Teen Bride” via Ditty TV. Her new album Sinner is out now via Thirty Tigers.

Third Eye Theatre Ensemble is proud to celebrate their sixth season with the midwestern premiere of Stefan Weisman and Anna Rabinowitz's Darkling at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, October 11th - October 27th. Darkling explores the story of Annaa?"a present-day Jewish American woman piecing together her heritage as a descendant of the Holocaust. When Anna's father passes, he leaves behind a small box of mementos and photographs, and a long list of unasked and unanswered questions.

Having performed with the likes of Abigail Washburn and Noam Pikelny, Brooklyn-based fiddler Bobby Hawk (aka Robert Hecht) is no stranger to excellence. But after years of touring, and in the aftermath of a personal breakup, something singular and new began to emerge. “It sounds cliche, but it was the end of one of those relationships where you go, 'Screw it, I'm gonna go get a tattoo and buy a guitar,'” says Hawk. “These songs just started pouring out.” The result is Hawk's first solo album, Lights On Kinks Out (out November 1), a sprawling indie rock opus and revelatory songwriting debut from a roots music stalwart.

Eleven world premiere plays and musicals seen first by Chicago audiences were among those receiving nominations by the Jeff Awards, announced today. A total of 192 nominations were made in 34 categories that honor Chicago Equity theatrical productions that opened between August 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019. During the 2018-19 season, Jeff Awards judges attended opening nights of 132 Equity productions offered by 43 producing organizations and from these openings, 112 productions were a?oeJeff Recommendeda?? and eligible for award nominations.

LA-based singer-songwriter Leslie Stevens debuts new track “Depression Descent” via Los Angeles Times, who describe the song as “Filled with twang and driven by a mid-tempo, snared-snapping beat,” and go on to say “Stevens' soaring voice… hits notes with the ease of Dolly Parton,”.

Upon arrival at Windy City Playhouse's flagship venue in Irving Park, audience members are handed an acceptance letter welcoming them to Brown University's class of 2011. Thus begins an intimate journey through the world of THE RECOMMENDATION, written by Jonathan Caren and directed by Jonathan Wilson. For its Chicago premiere, Windy City Playhouse artistic director Amy Rubenstein has overseen a revised script and a new concept that stages Caren's play in the theater's signature immersive style. Audiences follow the actors from room to room and even drink alongside them, from slurping Jello shots in a college dorm to sipping sake in a Hollywood lounge.

LA-based singer-songwriter Leslie Stevens is set to release her new LP, Sinner, on August 23 viaThirty Tigers.

LA-based singer-songwriter Leslie Stevens is set to release her new LP, Sinner, on August 23 viaThirty Tigers.

Fresh off their Jeff Award nomination for Little Women the Musical and community-focused Holding On cabaret, Brown Paper Box Co. continues its Midwest premiere of the Chicago Reader recommended Grace, or the Art of Climbing by L M Feldman through July 7, 2019 at Stage 773.

Fresh off their Jeff Award nomination for Little Women the Musical and community-focused Holding On cabaret, Brown Paper Box Co. announce the cast of the Midwest premiere of Grace, or the Art of Climbing by L M Feldman running June 6-July 8, 2019 at Stage 773.

Creative Loafing's Tampa Bay Restaurant Week is back for its 12th year from Thurs., June 13th, through Sun., June 23rd, with multiple-course prix fixe menus at participating restaurants throughout Tampa Bay. To kick off the annual foodie week, Creative Loafing will host the fifth annual Meet The Chefs on Wed., June 12th, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Vault (611 N. Franklin St. in downtown Tampa). VIP tickets to Meet The Chefs have sold out.

On the heels of a two-week tour supporting Gary Clark Jr. in Australia (where he joined Gary nightly for his encore), Hamish Anderson returns to the US to celebrate the release of his sophomore album, Outof My Head, produced by Jim Scott (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Wilco). Anderson's musical chops go deep with this record. Rock and Blues Muse has also said of Anderson's new release,

Los Angeles-based musican Wyndham will release his sophomore full-length solo album A Fistful Of Stars this Friday (pre-order). In anticipation of the upcoming release the album is streaming in full at Buzzbands LA. About the album Buzzbands LA says, 'The album recalls a time when '70s AM radio often served as an emotional counterpoint to the tumult of the times. Wyndham's folk-pop finery and balmy vocals (think: Gerry Rafferty) paint a picture of an artist determined to center himself emotionally, lest the baggage of the outside world become an unbearable weight.'

Los Angeles-based musican Wyndham has revealed his new single 'Time To Kill' from his his sophomore full-length solo album A Fistful Of Stars out April 12. The track premiered at Atwood Magazine and will be on all digital streaming services this Friday. About the song Wyndham says, 'I've spent allot of my life numbing myself to shut the world out...When I got sober a few years ago, that habit became crystal clear to me. This song is about that revelation, about upending and reframing old ideas and being honest when things are out of control, even if I'd like them to appear perfect. The production style feels lighter and more freewheeling for such a loaded idea, which was intentional too: I wanted to capture that tension between how things look and how they can feel. A Fistful Of Stars is available to pre-order now at Bandcamp.  

On April 12 Los Angeles-based musican Wyndham will release his second full-length solo album A Fistful Of Stars. The album is available to pre-order now at Bandcamp. Today Wyndham shared the first single 'Spark' which features Lola Kirke with Under The Radar and the song will be available on all streaming services this Friday. About the song Under The Radar says, 'Wyndham croons over a breezy backdrop of slide guitars and plangent horns. The song is a mantra to self that serves as a reminder of inner strength and takes its sonic cues from the soft palate of 1970s folk rock.'

Transgressive Theatre-Opera, one of Chicago's premiere storefront opera companies, presents a Double Bill of Sullivan's Masque at Kenilworth and Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury, on September 21 and 22, 2018, 8:00 pm, in the auditorium space at the historic Ebenezer Lutheran Church, located at 1650 W. Foster Avenue on Chicago's northside.

Carnegie Hall's 2018-2019 season is upon us, and we are looking forward to a variety of exceptional programming and exciting new projects. Listed below are jazz, pop, and world music highlights in the coming months.

Transgressive Theatre-Opera announces its fifth season, bringing Chicago a staged version of a little-heard Sullivan cantata, an updated gender-rollercoaster of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, a Count Ory transported to a new locale and time, and a concert of arias and ensembles revolving around letters of love and legal documents, the second half of which is Le Nozze di Figaro's Act II in its entirety, in the original Italian.

Los Angeles-based Grateful Shred manage to channel that elusive Dead vibe: wide-open guitar tones, effortless three-part vocal harmonies, choogling beats, and yes, plenty of tripped out, Shredded solos. The look, the sound, the atmosphere. It's uncanny. "It's more of a 'take' on the Dead than a tribute band," says bassist Dan Horne. "We end up sounding almost more like the Dead because we approach it in this free-spirited way."

Carnegie Hall's has announced some changes to its 2018-2019 schedule. See the newly announced details below!