, Chicago has long been home to one of Steve Earle's strongest fan bases. He's such a gifted songwriter that fans often overlook the fact that he's essentially made the same record since 1996, right down to the obligatory duet with a female singer, "state of my life" liner notes and beautiful artwork by his good friend, the local artist and noted unemployed film-goer Tony Fitzpatrick. more ›

In the heat of grilling season, Chicagoist gets his ribs from Moo & Oink. (Everybody, now: "Moo and oink. Moo, moo, mooo and oink"). And if you spend any amount of time watching television, the commercials are fairly ubiquitous. So we were floored when a fellow member of the Chicagoist staff told us about this jingle contest that Moo & Oink is promoting, but didn't know about Moo & Oink. Once we caught the staffer up to speed, we started to think, "Why tamper with perfection?" more ›

We were reading this article in the Tribune today and decided that this glimpse of how easy it is to become a star is quite a farce. Unless, of course, the star in the making just happens to already be rich and has the right contacts. See: Paris Hilton. At the very least here are some costs to what is supposedly so easy to do: create, hype and distribute music from home. more ›