Music With Benefits
Musicians for a National Health Program
California Clipper
1002 North California Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622-3408
$5 suggested donation
californiaclipper.com
chispan.org
CBS Event
Facebook Event
There are those who have beliefs and like to take action, and then there are those like me: lazy and complacent; people whose definition of "social injustice" are jerk-hole dragons trying to kill you in a video game.
I'm very good at killing jerk-hole dragons.
Edward Crouse, on the other hand, is very good at taking action.
To each their own, I guess.
On November 20th, thanks to Edward Crouse and the grassroots activist organization ChiSPAN, the California Clipper will be filled with bands and an audience in support of healthcare reform. What better way to support a good cause than to see a sweet live show at a rad bar?
(People still say 'rad,' right?)
So what kind of adjective-synonymous-with-rad music should you expect to hear on Sunday? According to Crouse, who's actually in a few of the bands playing, the night will include a wide range of music from folk to soul. Thomas Comerford and the Reels, for example, will employ a "brand of folk that can be pitch-black," with instruments oddly emboldened by Thomas Comerford's singing, described by Crouse as "an arresting, ebbing bellow."
The Sometimes Family, on the other hand, takes their music in a more emotionally rhythmic direction. This is thanks to songwriting by their frontwoman, Rebecca Sometimes Gurga, who Crouse claims, "writes some of the best understated soul music: an alluring blend of Smokey Robinson, Carole King, Laura Nyro or Curtis Mayfield."
Music isn't the only point of the night though. The event, in support of Chicago Single-Payer Action Network, takes on the controversial subject of healthcare. (Yeah, you know, the ol' healthcare debate everyone's been tearing each other apart over for--well--ever.) In short, ChiSPAN campaigns for a universal healthcare system for everyone; something transparent to the public, with good budgeting and great benefits for individuals.
Crouse, who's also the emcee for the night (quite the renaissance man!), isn't looking to force-feed the audience strict rhetoric whether they believe in it or not. Rather, it seems he just wants everyone to have a good time: "I think this event will be a smash because we have streamlined our message and will do it not as some kind of soapbox street harangue, but as a somewhat whimsical musical revue with jokes, tunes and a flip auction."
The California Clipper is an apt space for an event like this. It's roomy and has a great list of cocktails without seeming the least bit pretentious. The Clipper definitely has the cool and hip factor too, but is also pretty damn comfortable: the kind of place your dad and a couple of his buddies might throw back a few beers at as they sit on stools at the bar. It also sounds great, especially when compared to a lot of other cramped venues/bars in the city.
Bringing a personal note to the event is Joshua Dumas, a bandmate of Edward Crouse's. While recovering from knee surgery, Joshua, instead of wallowing in misery from the debt that was piling up, decided to do something productive. He made an album. A good album. Grabbing whatever instruments were within arms-reach, Josh was able to record "The Broken Leg Duets." The album is this spacey, dreamy, perversion of what sound like golden oldie hits, and it's great. Listen to it for free here. Yes, free.
Joshua's situation, an artistic endeavor that brings attention to a cause like healthcare reform, brings to mind one of the more interesting aspects of the event: the link between art and activism – something Edward Crouse wants to tighten.
"Normally, artists I know maintain a firewall between their activist thoughts and creative lives. With any luck, the groups and musicians participating will take a cue or clue from the Occupy movement and start to see how freelance creativity is adversely impacted by things like a lack of access to quality, affordable healthcare."
Whether you're into the music, or you're into the politics, there are plenty of reasons to stop by the California Clipper on Sunday. Personally, taking a break from dragon slaying to hear some good tunes doesn't sound like the worst idea in the world to me.
See ya there!
Mason Johnson, CBS Chicago
