Holiday Shows I'm Playing, plus a free MP3 to celebrate Chicago being 1 degree today

I have two holiday-themed gigs coming up that may be of interest to you if, like me, have an aversion to saccharine, candy-cane Christmas carols and prefer campy, serious, hipstery, or obliquely-related seasonal tunes.

Under the campy and also serious columns, I'm playing with the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus once again. In addition to the tongue-in-cheek antics you know and love from CGMC, the chorus is also doing some musically more sophisticated pieces (a rendition of Deck the Halls in a 7/8 time signature, for instance). Shows are Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 3pm and 8pm at the Athenaeum (on Southport). The link above will get you tickets.

Under the hipstery and obliquely-related category, I'm doing a little holiday shindig at Wild Pug on Tuesday, December 15th with a few other Unpugged alumni: Stephen Leonard, Manny Capozzi, and Rachel Katzman. I'll be doing a bunch of covers and collaborations that aren't your typical set of songs about Christmas but do in some way relate to December or Christmas or seasonal affective disorder. (Yay!) Plus, it's free, and I've come to love the Pug like my own home, if they didn't kick me out at 2. (Dammit!) Music starts at 9pm.

Bonus: I may even pull together a Christmas song that I wrote a couple years ago for a contest that Sufjan Stevens held. I've never actually played it live because I'm not sure how to stack the loops on this one, but you can download it here if you need a new song about how discordant it is to hear cheery goofy Christmas songs while the world gets dark and cold and wet and miserable, which is appropos of today's weather.

Brace Yourselves for Pride Weekend

Sidetrack has ordered nightly air-drop shipments of Booze Slushie mix directly to their roofdeck should supplies start running low. A reverse curfew will be in effect starting on Friday night mandating that anyone living in Boystown remain outside of their homes after 10pm. Charlie's and Hydrate have ordered sleeping cots for stranded, horny suburbanites who were not able to land a trick by closing time.

If, at some point this weekend, you are not already engulfed in flames (of gay), might I suggest:

• Bombs Away! at Mary's Attic, presented by the Bailiwick. I'm accompanying them on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights this week and again next week on July 2nd. The show's at 7pm and is done by 8:30.
  
• Chicago Gay Men's Chorus has their Pride show running Friday and Saturday this week and next Thursday in the 'burbs.



• This isn't Pride-related at all, it's just really awesome. Canasta is opening for White Rabbits next week not once but twice. We're at High Noon Saloon in Madison on Tues. the 30th and back home at the Empty Bottle on Wed. the 1st. Both shows have a chance of selling out so if you want advance tix, we've got yer links right here. Get a sneak preview by watching the White Rabbits' latest performance on Letterman.
  

MKE Pride Announced, Bad Habits Behind the Scenes

Since I'm swamped with shows this weekend, I'm going to keep this week's update brief and then get back to the pit of the Athenaeum, where the Gays have me tied up for the rest of the weekend. (Entendres intended.)

• It's official: I'm performing at Milwaukee PrideFest on Sunday, June 14th. Details on my calendar, which will also link you to the full schedule of events. There has been some talk among Team Chicago about having a Milwaukee field trip for their Pride since it's on a different weekend from ours. Pros: you probably haven't dated anyone in Milwaukee yet. Cons: none.
• The chorus show's a doozy this time around. We have a blackout scene. There's kissing. Several monks have very little on underneath their habits...
• ...and when that's all over Canasta is at Simon's, near Clark and Foster, on Sunday at 9pm, for two hours of binging on orch-pop and, more importantly, taking some of these new songs for the album on a test run. (We begin recording a week from tomorrow. Aieee.)
  

You'll Laugh, You'll Cry, You'll Hear Jokes About Balls

Some of you know I've been started doing some accompanying for the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus. Well, this weekend you can see the fruit of their labor...especially on the guys with more revealing costumes. (And cue snare hit. "Thanks, everyone, I'll be here all week.") Seriously, though, when you get 125 gay guys into a room together, almost everything can be turned into a dirty joke, so it makes rehearsals a lot more entertaining.

I'll be in the pit for the show with my synthesizer, playing the roles of the string, woodwind, and brass sections. If you want to do something holiday-ish that doesn't involve (a) slow-walking Michigan Ave. shoppers, (b) anything remotely Dickensian, or (c) cookies, come see the show at the Athenaeum on Southport. Performances are tonight at 8 and tomorrow at 3pm and 8pm. More details and videos of our cute little elves are here.