Illinois news

• Michael Zerang, percussionist and accompanist

  13-01-2026 20:54 via chicagoreader.com
  Born in Chicago in 1958, Michael Zerang began his career as a percussionist in the late 1970s. He estimates he’s given five thousand performances since then, touring at least 40 countries. As part of what he calls his “art activism,” Zerang produced hundreds of concerts at Links Hall and Club Lower Links (1985–’89), Urbus Orbis […]
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• Local shoegazers Griefeater celebrate one of the great unsung albums of 2025

  13-01-2026 16:55 via chicagoreader.com
  Over the past few years, a young generation of indie rockers has brought shoegaze back into pop culture’s consciousness, and as much as Gossip Wolf loves it, it’s also a little exhausting. For every great new band, you’ll hear a dozen that use a junk drawer of effects pedals in a failed attempt to mask […]
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• From Jail to Judge, From Screen to Stage: Judge Greg Mathis Brings His Life Story Home to Detroit 

  13-01-2026 15:27 via chicagodefender.com
  When famed and critically acclaimed judge Greg Mathis steps onto the stage at Detroit’s historic Music Hall on January 16 and 17, it will represent the culmination of a life journey that many once believed would end behind prison walls. For more than 26 years, Mathis has been a familiar face to millions through his groundbreaking television courtroom show, becoming the longest-running African American host in television history. Yet the man Detroit knows as &ldquo
  
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• A taste of the forthcoming book Elvis is Dead, I’m Still Alive

  13-01-2026 15:00 via chicagoreader.com
  Excerpt from Elvis is Dead, I’m Still Alive: The Story of Asian Man Records, chapter 6, “A Guided Tour of Chicago” At possibly the most pivotal moment of his life, Brendan Kelly was standing outside of a hotdog shop in Wrigleyville.  Hours earlier, he and his band Slapstick had played the 1,100-capacity Metro on North […]
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• J. Pharoah Doss: Candace Owens reveals the “secret relationship” between Blacks & Jews

  13-01-2026 14:00 via chicagodefender.com
  Candace Owens is a political commentator who has built a considerable following through her work with prominent conservative groups such as PragerU, Turning Point USA, and The Daily Wire.Owens is also a creature of right-wing hypocrisy.The right is opposed to race-based hiring, but Owens’ quick rise in the “conservative movement” was due to her color. Because she is a Black woman, Owens was able to criticize Black politicians, Black culture, and Black social justice movements
  
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