Activities in Norridge

Ike Reilly returns to Chicago on St. Patrick’s Day weekend with a show at the Double Door, a new record in the works, and a bottomless pint of green beer. By the time Ike Reilly got his major-label break with 2001’s Salesmen and Racists, he’d already spent years living a journeyman’s life, both onstage and off. When he wasn’t gigging at the tumbledown watering holes in and around his hometown of Libertyville, he was earning his keep in such glamorous careers as cemetery attendant and hotel doorman. That blue-collar doggedness—and the empathy that comes with it—permeates Reilly’s music. With their fatalist barflys and ne’er-do-wells with hearts of gold, his songs have led many fans to anoint him as Chicago’s modern-day answer to Dylan and Springsteen. In-between prepping a new album and readying his liver for a St. Patrick’s Day weekend show at the Double Door, Reilly chatted with us about tunes, teenagers, and why it’s hard to love your own record. GROUPON: So, to start with, you’ve got a new record coming out. What’s the story? IKE REILLY: It's got a timeless feel to it. I know that sounds cliché, but you don't know really whether it came out in 1970 or 2040, I think. I hope. There's a few pop-culture references that might give it away, but it's a real rock-and-roll record. G: Does it have a name yet? IR: We’re kicking different names around. Right now the one in the lead is High On Paradise Lane, but it could change. G: You’ve released your last couple of records under your own name, but this one’s going to be another Ike Reilly Assassination album. Why the switch? IR: Every band member has been on all my records, but for this one, we'd played the songs out a lot, and worked them up more than I had worked up other songs before we recorded them. I got lucky. This is the most I've worked on a record with [former Secret Machines and Tripping Daisy guitarist] Phil Karnats, who I've been playing with the longest out of anyone in the band. He'd had a couple little babies, but he was more available for this recording process than the last one. He's a great producer and a great guitar player. G: I’ve read in other interviews that you’ve never made a record that you love. What about this new one? Could this be the one? IR: [Laughing] No. G: Why is that? What's keeping you from feeling those feelings? IR: I love people, not records. There's always some f*cking goofball thing you did on a record for some reason, and you listen to it and go, "Ugh, what an idiot." It's home movies, or looking at photo albums, or listening to your own voice. Remember the first time you ever heard your own voice on a recording machine? G: It was horrible. IR: Same thing. There are things I'm proud of on all the records, where I'll think, "Oh, that's really cool." Sometimes I'll listen back to old records and think, “Oh, that's when we were ambitious." This record's ambitious, too. There's always some flaw somewhere. I remember one of my friends—I won't tell you who he is—saying, "God, I love the sound of my own voice!" and I thought, "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard." G: He's definitely in the minority. I saw that you made your debut at Town Hall in New York back in the fall with TJ & Dave. How did it feel to take the stage at such a legendary venue? IR: Fortunately, I didn’t know how legendary it was before. It felt great. It sounded great, it looked great, and I was in New York City with two of my best friends. It felt gratifying, to know I’ve been doing this long enough to where it doesn’t matter where I do it, I do the same thing and it translates well. One minute you’re in a shithole bar, the next minute you’re in Town Hall. You’ve still got to communicate with what you’re trying to do, and get people invested in your songs and stories. G: How did you get hooked up with TJ & Dave? IR: I’ve known Dave for years and years and years. I met him in Italy. We were both in school there, years ago. I also went to school with Chris Farley. Later, I was in Chicago, and Chris came to visit me and said he was going to be at Second City, and so I went over there to watch him, and on stage were Dave Pasquesi and Joel Murray, who I’d also met in Italy. I [saw] Joel and Chris and Dave all in the same troupe, and I thought, “F*ck, anybody can get this gig!” Dave’s a big supporter of my music, and I’m a big fan of his acting ability and him as a person. G: So, you're playing the Double Door on St. Patrick's Day weekend. Do you have any Irish tunes cooked up? IR: I don't want to give anything away, but we'll rip a few Pogues songs and I'll probably pull out my songs that have that Irish flair. We play that song "When Irish Eyes Are Burning," and maybe a few more older drinking songs. Well, hell, all the songs are drinking songs. It's not going to be a brief show. G: Speaking of drinking songs, do you have any notable Chicago St. Patrick's Day memories floating around out there? Anything from your misspent youth? IR: Well, you know, most of my memories of St. Patrick's Day involve my ability not to remember any of them [laughing]. My dad used to have a party at this bar called Binyon’s downtown, and we'd watch the parade and drink and hang out. My dad was all Irish, and my mom's half-Irish, half-Italian. I remember, as a little boy, my dad would be putting some green scarf around my neck or something. And I'd say, "Aren't I Italian, too, Dad?" And he'd say, "Yeah, but you don't have to tell anybody that." G: The Italians can have their day later. IR: Chicago on St. Patrick's Day has got to be one of the best places in the world. It’s silly, and certainly gives everybody a license to be a jackass, which I think everybody needs every once in a while. Once a week. We should talk about the opening band. G: What can you tell us about them? IR: They’re called The Tribe and I’m producing their record. They’re teenage boys from Libertyville. They’re also the main protagonists in the song “Paradise Lane.” I wrote a song about a little car accident that they got into in our hometown. They sing on it, my kids sing on it, Tom Morello plays guitar on it, so everybody that’s in the song is on the song. It’ll be the last track on the record. They’re kind of a cool, rock-and-roll band, and their record is going to be very good. G: So you’re helping to raise the next generation of troublemakers in Libertyville. IR: I am not going to take credit or blame for anything they do in their personal lives [laughs]. Same goes for my kids, too. I am the patriarch of nothing. G: That’s a very diplomatic answer. IR: I do like the fact that music breaks down generations. Music breaks down everything, you know? I just look at musicians like nothing other than musicians. Sing along with Ike Reilly when he comes to the Double Door on Saturday, March 15. Buy tickets here. Photo provided by Ike Reilly

It’s hard to describe the sound that Keith Grimwood is yowling into my ear over the phone. Warbling and raspy, it sounds like a brontosaurus trying to yodel. He’d probably take that as the highest compliment, because it’s the same guttural noise he belted out on Trout Fishing in America’s 1991 hit song, “When I Was a Dinosaur.” Grimwood and bandmate Ezra Idlet have been blessed with an almost unfair talent for music, but they would have given up years ago if they didn’t simply love to play—specifically, to play folk rock and children’s music. “We have a good time,” Grimwood says. “People comment on that a lot…‘You cannot possibly be having as much fun as it looks like you are.’ Well, I'm sorry, but we are. Many artists suffer for their art, but we’re not suffering.” That might be why they have such an easy time switching off between songs for grownups and songs for kids. As it turns out, the two types of songwriting aren’t so different. Here, Grimwood shares five secrets for writing songs that appeal to different age groups: To Write a Good Children’s Song, You Have to Write a Good Song. KEITH GRIMWOOD: If you can answer, “What makes a good song?” then that's what makes a good kids’ song. When we write for kids, we try to bring the same sensibilities we bring to writing for adults…we just change the subject matter a little bit. To Write a Good Song, You Have to Make Something Familiar Seem New. KG: Our approach to songwriting is to observe. We look at things that everyone has in common, but we take a different angle. For example, you always hear in the country songs, “No matter what terrible things happen, I'll still be loving you.” So we have a song called ‘“No Matter What Goes Right.” You can apply that to kids’ songs, too: “my hair is all messed up” becomes “My Hair Had a Party Last Night.” Sometimes, You Don’t Know Who You’re Writing For. KG: Sometimes we're writing a kids’ song and it turns out to be an adult song, and vice versa. You never can tell…There’s this song we wrote called "Don't Touch My Stuff." Our van was stolen a couple of years ago, with all the musical equipment and everything. It's a rocking song, and it's basically a reaction to being ripped off. I thought it was strictly an adult song, but kids love it. Believe me, the idea of “don’t touch my stuff” is huge with kids. The Best Songs Are the Ones Everyone Can Relate To. KG: My favorite comment is when families come up after the show and they say, “We took a long trip with the family, and your music was the only one we could all agree on.” …Usually, you play for a certain group of people, or a certain demographic. But early on we just kind of decided to play for everybody. The Two Keys to Playing for Kids? Avoid Solos and Love Songs. KG: With kids’ music, there's not a lot of love songs. Kids don't like kissing. And [they] don't really care if you can play your instrument…If you take off on a five-minute solo, they become disinterested. I say that kids don't like the kissy stuff, but we've got a song called "My Sister Kissed Her Boyfriend" on our brand-new CD, Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers. It's a great gross-out song. It's about the grossest thing a kid can imagine. You know, the first time we played it, this little 10-year-old kid was sitting there, and when we got to that chorus part, he dove under the table, yelling “No! That’s awful! Stop it!” About 10 minutes later, he came up and asked us to play it again. Trout Fishing in America is playing two shows at Reggies on Thursday, May 22: a kid-friendly set at 7 p.m., and a 21+ set at 9 p.m. Tickets start at $15 (kids are free with an adult) and can be purchased here. Photo credit: Guy Zahller

Few athletes spend as much time in the presence of electric-yellow nacho cheese as bowlers. But Diandra Asbaty prefers what she calls "clean foods.” Fruits and veggies, for example, although the night before a tournament she'll indulge in a hearty pasta. These carb fests sustain her for eight straight hours as she launches a 15-pound ball down a 60-foot lane. As a Bowling World Cup Champion, 15-year Team USA member, and inductee into the World Bowling Hall of Fame, Diandra has nutritional needs like any other athlete, though the bowling centers in which she spends her days aren't usually known as health-food meccas—nor as paradigms of haute cuisine. Here are three Chicagoland alleys that let you roll while avoiding dull bowling-alley food and drinks as effectively as Diandra does. Diversey River Bowl: Bucktown Luckily for her, Diandra has set up shop at Diversey River Bowl, where I met her just as she was polishing off lunch. For the past decade, the 36-lane Bucktown bowling center has been Diandra's workplace. Recently, the center added her portrait to its mural of bowling legends Earl Anthony and Mark Roth, making Diversey feel that much more like home. After long days of practice and coaching sessions, she doesn't hesitate to grab some grub from the onsite restaurant. "I don't feel guilty eating lunch or dinner here," she said. "It's not snack-bar food." And though snack-bar staples such as mozzarella sticks and tater tots do grace the menu, they are dwarfed by more unconventional plates such as fresh ceviche and hummus and pita, Diandra's favorite. Her 2-year-old son is a big fan of the steak teriyaki ginger rice—"not your normal bowling-center food," she said, laughing. Her husband, a professional chef, prefers the grass-fed bison burger. "They have taken a lot of care in their food," Diandra said. That care extends beyond the cuisine to the very wood tables it's served on, each one handcrafted by the owners. "[They] constructed this entire restaurant," she said, "and it feels like you're not in a bowling center." Enclosed in brick walls that exude the feel of a neighborhood pub, the delicately lit space often swells with the sounds of karaoke, live comedians, or sporting events broadcast on a giant drop-down screen. Pinstripes: Northbrook, Oakbrook, and South Barrington Though Diandra has never taken a sip of liquor in a bowling center, which she admitted is "very unusual for a bowler," an increasing number of alleys have a bar selection that extends beyond Old Style. At Pinstripes, bartenders pour craft beers from taps and shake up cocktails ranging from old fashioneds to tart limoncello martinis. But the wine list truly pulls out all the stops—bowlers can sip more than 50 Italian and West Coast wines as they lounge on plush, imported leather couches to wait between frames or taunt their opponents in Latin. For those who want to maintain a sober, competitive edge, the kitchen churns out healthy bites such as an ahi-tuna salad and a veggie burger topped with avocado and goat cheese. Lucky Strike: Streeterville and Lombard Lucky Strike’s shareable dishes, such as the grilled apple-and-brie quesadilla, seem made for bowlers like Diandra who dread the sight of reheated pizza and congealing nacho cheese. Bowling pros, whom Diandra confided eat light on tournament days, would do well to dig into the crunchy asian salad, which mixes napa and red cabbage with romaine, crispy wontons, and diced chicken. Gluten-free fish tacos with fresh guacamole and salsa make for a similarly light dish, though truffle-oil and goat-cheese mini burgers are always on hand for those who want to indulge.