Rachelle Ferrell, Rickie Lee Jones and More Coming Up This August at City Winery Chicago

By: Jul. 27, 2017
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The following acts are performing at City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph Street, throughout the month of August.

Featured performances include three shows with Rachelle Ferrell on August 4-5, Roomful of Blues' on their 50th anniversary tour on August 17, Grammy award-winner Rickie Lee Jones on August 20, Welsh alt-rock group The Alarm on August 28 and more.

All shows start at 8:00 p.m. unless otherwise indicated. Scroll down for details!


Tiempo Libre - Bohemia

Wednesday, August 2

$24/$26/$28/$30

Three-time Grammy Award-nominated Afro-Cuban music group Tiempo Libre is one of the hottest Latin bands today. Equally at home in concert halls, jazz clubs, festival stages and dance venues, Tiempo Libre is celebrated for its sophisticated tropical music featuring an irresistible, exhilarating mix of jazz harmonies, contemporary sonorities and seductive Latin rhythms. With Bohemia, the band returns to their traditional Cuban roots and remains ambassadors for Cuban music around the world with appearances on shows such as the Tonight Show, Live from Lincoln Center and Dancing with the Stars.

Ann Hampton Callaway - This is Cabaret

Thursday, August 3

$25/$30/$35/$40

One of the leading champions of the Great American Songbook, Chicago native Ann Hampton Callaway has made her mark as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, educator, TV host and producer. Best known for Tony-nominated performance in the hit Broadway musical Swing! (and for writing and singing the theme song to the hit TV series The Nanny), her singing style blends jazz and traditional pop, making her a mainstay in concert halls, theaters and jazz clubs as well as in the recording studio, on television and in film. Callaway wrote songs featured on seven of Barbra Streisand's recent CDs and is the only composer to have collaborated with Cole Porter. She returns to City Winery Chicago for an evening of cabaret standards.

Rachelle Ferrell

Friday, August 4; 7:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 5; 7:00 p.m.

$50/$55/$65/$75

Rachelle Ferrell is one of the most dynamic talents in contemporary pop music. Very few vocal artists in the industry have her potent combination of range, phrasing and musicianship. Ferrell began singing at the age of six, which many speculate contributed to the development of her multi-octave range. Ferrell first emerged in the states with her R&B debut Rachelle Ferrell (1992), a collection of self-penned originals that featured a striking duet with Will Downing, "Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This." It was with the release of First Instrument in 1994, recorded prior to Rachelle Ferrell, that audiences were really introduced to her jazz sensibilities. In addition to her solo albums, she has sung backup for Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams and George Duke, and continues to tour as a soloist.

An Evening of John Lennon - featuring Phil Angotti, Tommi Zender & Casey McDonough

Sunday, August 6; 7:30 p.m.

GA seated $12 advance / $15 day of show

Longtime Chicago-based Beatles music interpreter Phil Angotti, along with Tommi Zender (guitars) Casey McDonough (bass) Joe Camarillo (drums) and Dick Schmidt (keyboards) present a two-set chronological retrospective of the music of John Lennon. The evening will include Beatles favorites as well as hits from Lennon's solo career.

Boy Named Banjo

Monday, August 7

$15/$18/$22/$25

Born and raised in Nashville, the original three members of Boy Named Banjo consist of Barton Davies, William Reames, and Willard Logan, all of whom share a love for songwriting, performing, and roots music. The three long-time friends and former high school classmates assembled in 2011 and have built a strong following in the Southeast through both their studio releases and live performances. Since the band's first full-length release in May of 2012, The Tanglewood Sessions, Boy Named Banjo has added two members: Sam McCullough (drums) and Abe Scott (bass). Though staying true to their acoustic roots, the band's sound has developed tremendously since the "Tanglewood" days, incorporating more rock and electric elements. In addition to two full-length albums, the band recently released an EP, Lost on Main, in March 2016.

Jake Clemons

Tuesday, August 8

$15/$18/$20/$22

If you take the mysterious, rugged side of Johnny Cash and mix it with the soulful down to earth love child of Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons - shaken not stirred, of course - you end up with the unique and talented Jake Clemons. He plays the guitar, sax, piano and drums. He writes music, he sings and he loves rock 'n roll. He has shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Swell Season, The Roots and Eddie Vedder, to name a few. Clemons lives on a perpetual world tour, constantly releasing new music and engaging his growing fan base.

Delbert McClinton

Wednesday, August 9

$55/$60/$65/$68

For more than five decades, Grammy Award winner Delbert McClinton has performed country, blues and honky-tonk music. The Texas blues rocker is touring with fresh material from his most recent studio CD, The Early Years, released in 2016. McClinton is a 2011 Texas Heritage Songwriters' Hall of Fame inductee known for "Giving It Up for Your Love," "Livin' It Down," "Old Weakness," "Leap of Faith," "I Wanna Love You" and The Blues Brothers' "B-Movie Box Car Blues."

The High Kings

Thursday, August 10

$28/$30/$32/$35

Ireland's Folk Band of the Year The High Kings - Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy, Martin Furey and Darren Holden - showcase their incredible versatility and skills as multi-instrumentalists, playing 13 instruments between them and bringing a rousing acoustic flavor to brand new songs as well as old favorites. Coming from accomplished musical pedigrees, The High Kings grew up in households soaked in the Irish musical tradition, and each member of the band witnessed firsthand the power of well-crafted Irish music on an audience. Their most recent release, Grace and Glory, is the band's sixth album.

Tower of Power

Friday-Saturday, August 11-13

$68/$75/$78/$82

Tower of Power was formed in 1968 in Oakland and has become one of the most recognized R&B horn bands in the U.S. Over the years, the group has recorded with hundreds of artists as diverse as Aerosmith, Elton John, Little Feat, Phish, Santana, Heart and many others, forever infusing the radio airwaves with Tower's musical DNA. Each year they tour the United States, Japan and Europe, playing to sold out crowds all over the world. This year, the band plans to release a new album to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Ana Popovic

Monday, August 14

$20/$22/$25/$28L.A. based, guitar player and singer Ana Popovic is back on the road promoting her latest album Trilogy, released May 2016. With Trilogy, Popovic released three albums in one, featuring twenty-three funk, rock/blues and jazz tunes. Popovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia and has shared headlining stages with B.B. King, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr. and many others. She's been nominated for six Blues Music Awards including 'Best New Artist Debut', 'Contemporary Blues Female Artist' and 'Contemporary Blues Album' of the year. Her albums Can You Stand the Heat (2013) and Unconditional (2011) were featured in Billboard's top five bestselling blues albums in the U.S.

Max Weinberg's Juke Box

Tuesday, Aug 15; 7pm

$45/$50/$55/$60

In the spring of 1974, Max Weinberg saw a notice in the Village Voice that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were looking for a new drummer. He blew Springsteen away at an audition and was hired just as work began on Born to Run. It's impossible to imagine how that album would have sounded without Weinberg's taut pulse. When the E Street Band split in 1989, he found work as Conan O'Brien's bandleader, though when the band reformed in 1999, he managed to fit both jobs into his busy schedule. This summer, Weinberg goes on his own tour with a four-piece rock band - Max Weinberg's Jukebox. The group will take audience requests including hits from the Beatles, Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones, and tell short stories about Weinberg's connection to the song. A limited number of Meet and Greet tickets will be available for $150 each, and include a signed 8x10 drum head.

Miki Howard

Wednesday, August 16

$42/$45/$52/$55

Born in Chicago, Alicia Michelle "Miki" Howard was the daughter of two well-known gospel singers. When Howard was in her early teens, her mother moved the family to Los Angeles. Already aiming at a career in music, the 15-year-old Howard received her first break when she participated in a teen beauty contest. Augie Johnson, leader of the group Side Effect, happened to be in the audience; impressed with Howard's singing talent, Howard also joined the lineup of Side Effect in 1978 when another singer departed. She sang with Side Effect until 1982. Howard signed a contract with Atlantic Records in the mid-1980s and recorded her first solo album, "Come Share My Love", in 1986. The title track from the album was its first single, hitting the top ten of the R&B charts and reaching number five in late 1986. Howard has 10 studio albums and many top ten hits on the R&B Charts during her 35+ year career, as well as a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album for her album, Three Wishes. Her most recent album, I Choose to be Happy, includes both new material and some of her top hits re-recorded.

Roomful of Blues - 50th Anniversary Tour

Thursday, August 17

$18/$22/$25/$28

For nearly half a century, Roomful of Blues has delivered its signature blend of swing, rock 'n' roll, jump, blues and R&B to euphoric audiences all over the world. Though the group's lineup has changed over the years, the band has remained one of the tightest, most joyful blues ensembles in the world. Their winning combination of jump, swing, blues, R&B and soul remains their calling card, as does their ability to fill the dance floor. The band has earned five Grammy Award nominations and a slew of other accolades, including seven Blues Music Awards. Twice, the prestigious DownBeat International Critics Poll has selected them as Best Blues Band. They appear at City Winery Chicago as part of their 50th anniversary tour.

Dave Barnes - The Joke Concert

Friday, August 18

$25/$28/$32/$35

Grammy- and CMA-nominaTed Nashville-based singer/songwriter Dave Barnes is in a season of both nostalgia and reality about what it means to be a traveling musician. He has released nine albums to date. His most recent, Carry On, San Vicente, was released in March 2016. The album reveals Barnes' influences from '70s California musicians including Fleetwood Mac and Jackson Browne. Country music website Sounds Like Nashville said the album "stands as a noble tribute to a sound that defined him as an artist as opposed to trying simply to cash in on the moment." An artist loved for his approachable and often hilarious nature, Barnes is actively involved in building into the Nashville community and using his experiences to help others however he can. From spearheading a monthly gathering of artists to mentoring younger musicians, he lives by the question, "What good is what you know unless you can share it with other people?" 12 years into his career which began at age 23, he's still full of limitless energy and an unrestrained expectation about the future.

Rickie Lee Jones Trio

Sunday, August 20

$55/$58/$65/$68

City Winery Chicago welcomes back Rickie Lee Jones, two-time Grammy Award-winning singer (for Best New Artist 1980 and Best Jazz Vocal Collaboration in 1989), musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a three-decade career, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards. She has made a career of experimenting fearlessly with sound and persona over 15 critically acclaimed albums. Strains of swamp-pop, honky tonk and Cajun waltzes wind through her first album of all new material in ten years, 2015's The Other Side of Desire, produced in her new home town of New Orleans. Jones lives on the opposite side of the street made famous by the Tennessee Williams play, hence the album's title.

An evening with Leo Kottke

Monday-Tuesday, August 21 & 22

$30/$35/$40/$45

Known for his finger-picking style, Minneapolis-based, two-time Grammy-nominated acoustic 6- and 12-string guitarist Leo Kottke, absorbed a variety of musical influences growing up in 12 different states. The resilient American Folk guitarist extraordinaire suffered hearing loss as a teenager and developed tendonitis in the early '80s but has released dozens of studio, compilation and collaborative albums during a career spanning more than four decades. Kottke began his career as a fixture at Minneapolis' Scholar Coffeehouse, home to Bob Dylan and John Koerner before releasing numerous albums with Capital records, including his U.S. Top 30 album "Chewing Pine" in 1975. Kottke is also known for his numerous musical collaborations including Phish bassist Mike Gordon.

Michelle Shocked Trilogy Residency

Wednesday, August 23 - Arkansas Traveler

$25/$28/$32/$35

Michelle Shocked is a traveling troubadour whose musical talent is so eclectic it is difficult to categorize. Her musical career was ignited by a bootleg recording made around a Kerrville Folk Festival campfire on a Sony Walkman. In a 26-year career that has seen critical acclaim at every juncture, she famously escaped major-label indentured servitude in 1996, subverting the artist-label relationship that helped lead to the current trend toward artistic self-containment. She appears at all four City Winery locations three times this summer, featuring selections from a different album at each performance: Short Sharped Shocked, Captain Swing and Arkansas Traveler.

Alejandro Escovedo & Joe Ely

Thursday-Friday, August 24-25

$35/$45/$50/$55

Mexican-American singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo has explored an array of musical identities throughout his career, from punk to roots rock, alt-country, hard rock, Tex-Mex, folk and string quartets. Escovedo began his trailblazing career with San Francisco's famed punk band The Nuns followed by the Austin-based alt-country rockers, Rank & File and the True Believers before countless all-star collaborations and a series of beloved solo albums beginning with 1992's acclaimed Gravity. Escovedo has earned a surplus of distinctions including the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for Performing in 2006. His most recent album, Burn Something Beautiful, released in October 2016, is a celebration of the rock and roll life, a contemplation on mortality and the healing power of love. Prolific fellow Texas rock singer-songwriter Joe Ely - one third of the grassroots band The Flatlanders, who sings with agility and swagger on his latest solo album Panhandle Rambler - joins the co-bill.

Maysa

Saturday, August 26; 7pm & 10pm

$45/$50/$55/$65

Maysa first gained fame as the featured voice on Incognito's defining `90s era hits such as "Don't You Worry About A Thing," "Still A Friend of Mine" and "Deep Waters." She then launched a concurrent solo career with the hits "Am I Wrong (For Lovin' You)," "Friendly Pressure" and "Hypnotic Love." Maysa's alluring vocals, candor, humor and purity as an artist make her a rarity in this business. She has collaborated with a variety of artists, including Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Incognito and Angela Bofill. After celebrating her 26th year as a solo artist, the Grammy-nominated singer kicks off the summer with her new album, Love is a Battlefield, released in May. This album is a hand-picked collection of Maysa's favorite songs redone with her unique soulful twist.

John Gorka

Sunday, August 27; 7:30 p.m.

$20/$22/$25/$28

From New Jersey, John Gorka is a world-renowned singer-songwriter who got his start at a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania, Godfrey Daniels, which was and is one of the oldest and most venerable music institutions and has long been a hangout for music lovers and aspiring musicians. In the late 1970's, Gorka was one of these aspiring musicians. Although his academic coursework at Moravian College lay in Philosophy and History, music began to offer paramount enticements. Soon, he found himself living in the club's basement and acting as resident MC and sound man, encountering legendary folk troubadours like Canadian singer-songwriter Stan Rogers, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton and Claudia Schmidt. Their brand of folk-inspired acoustic music inspired him and before long he was performing his own songs - mostly as an opener for visiting acts. Soon, he started traveling to New York City, where Jack Hardy's legendary Fast Folk circle (a breeding ground for many a major singer-songwriter) became a powerful source of education and encouragement. Folk meccas like Texas' Kerrville Folk Festival (where he won the New Folk Award in 1984) and Boston followed, and his stunningly soulful baritone voice and original songwriting began turning heads. Those who had at one time inspired him - Suzanne Vega, Bill Morrissey, Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, Shawn Colvin - have become his peers.

The Alarm

Monday, August 28

$25/$28/$32/$35

With more than 30 years in the rock and roll business, the story of Welsh alternative rock band The Alarm has been a continuing and ever unfolding drama since being formed in Rhyl, North Wales, still fronted by lead singer and guitarist Mike Peters. From adrenaline-filled acoustic rock played with a vengeance to deft rock n' roll played from the heart, The Alarm's songs have a lasting effect on their fans who are a fiercely loyal rabble that to this day and continue to support the band and the various solo efforts spawned by its members. The band can lay claim to a series of 15 Top 50 UK singles, including their classic hits, "68 Guns," "Spirit of 76," "Rain in the Summertime," "Strength," "45 RPM" and, of course, "The Stand." Ten successful albums and more than 5 million sales worldwide, The Alarm's pioneering use of acoustic guitars brought the band into direct contact with the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young and U2, all whom have appeared and sung on stage with The Alarm.

We Banjo 3

Tuesday, August 29

$18/$22/$25/$28

We Banjo 3, award-winning quartet from Galway, Ireland, is comprised of brothers Enda & Fergal Scahill and Martin & David Howley. They deliver a ground-breaking mixture of Irish music and old-time American and Bluegrass influences in a fusion of styles that they dub "Celtgrass." They have released four albums to date, the latest of which, String Theory, was released in July 2016. Half traditional covers, half original material, it finds the band's reverence for their roots given a contemporary twist, further solidifying the common bonds between the two styles.

Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer

Wednesday-Thursday, August 30-31

$30/$35/$40/$45

Sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer, now with 24 albums and Grammy, Oscar, and numerous other awards and nominations between them, share a transcendent musical bond. It's as deep, haunting, knowing, and beautiful as the Alabama woods they once called home. Their new duet record, Not Dark Yet, to be released August 18, offers a glimpse into their musical bond for the first time after years of trying to get it made at the right time. The album provides a potent look at their individual and collective artistry through eclectic song choices from writers ranging from the Louvin Brothers, Nick Cave, Kurt Cobain, and back to Jessie Colter. Not Dark Yet is not a creation, but rather a celebration of something that has always been, two voices becoming one and finding home within each other.


Opened in 2012, City Winery Chicago is a fully operational winery, restaurant with outdoor patio, concert hall and private event space located in the heart of the West Loop at 1200 W. Randolph, in the historic urban Fulton Market district. Once a refrigerated food distribution warehouse, the 1911 building has been transformed into a contemporary 33,000 square foot haven for those passionate about wine, music and culinary arts. The décor evokes the romance of being in wine country, from the exposed stainless steel fermenting tanks and French oak barrels, to the aroma of fermenting grapes. Chicago's only fully operation winery has produced dozens of in-house wines sourced from vineyards in California, Oregon, Washington, Argentina and Chile, including a Wine Enthusiast 92-point 2015 Verna's Vineyard Reserve Pinot Noir. With more than 400 unique producers from around the world City Winery is recognized with 2014 and 2015 Best of Awards of Excellence "for having one of the most outstanding restaurant wine lists in the world" by Wine Spectator. The globally inspired, locally sourced, wine-focused food menu is conceived for pairing and sharing. The concert hall accommodates up to 300 guests, all seated at tables with complete beverage and dining service, ensuring a comfortable "listening room" experience enhanced by a state-of-the-art Meyer Sound system. Riedel is the official and exclusive provider of glassware, showing City Winery's commitment to enjoying quality wine in a quality vessel. American Airlines is the Official Airline and Virgin Hotels Chicago is the Official Hotel of City Winery. For more information, visit www.citywinery.com.



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