Pravda Records celebrates 40th anniversary (Episode 982)

Pravda Records celebrates 40 years of independent music with PRAVDAFEST at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn (6615 Roosevelt) on August 31.

The all-day event spans three stages and includes performances from:
Nathan Graham, Steve Dawson, Diplomats of Solid Sound, The Handcuffs, Ivan Julian with Nick Tremulis, Chris Greene Quartet, Sunshine Boys, The Service, the Slugs, Chamber Strings, Cheer-Accident, Allen Hill, Susan Voelz, Brian Krumm & His Barfly Friends, Rex Daisy, Thrift Store Halo, the Swampland Jewels

To preview the event, I’m joined by Susan Voelz, Thymme Jones of Cheer-Accident and Scott Schaefer of Pravda.

We talk about Pravda’s history and impact while eating fantastic food from the always-enjoyable Honey Butter Fried Chicken (3361 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60618). Special thanks to the team there for the spectacular entrees and desserts; I have loved everything I’ve ever ordered from their menu.

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TRANSCRIPT

This is Car Con Carne, a Q101 podcast.

I’m James VanOsdol, and as I’m recording this, it is August 6th, 2024, and I’m estimating that I’ll hit episode 1000 sometime in about five to seven weeks.

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We don’t tape anymore, we just record the live recordings of Car Con Carne, episode 1000.

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Take three.

That’s also the beauty of podcasting.

Fix it in the mix.

Well, fix it in post.

This is Car Con Carne.

Pravda Fest is happening at Fitzgerald’s on the 31st of August, celebrating 40 years of Pravda Records.

And to commemorate that event, and to talk about the event, I have Pravda artists from its rich tapestry, its rich roster, and a Pravda, a duly appointed Pravda representative, Scott Schaeffer, who’s in the back seat to my right.

The artist in question, the artist I mentioned to my right, if you’re watching this, even if you’re listening, she’s still on my right.

That is Susan Voelz

We know her from Poi Dog Pondering.

She’s also an award-winning violinist, composer, solo artist, president of the Recording Academy, Chicago Midwest Chapter.

And a Pravda artist.

That debut album in the early 90s and of course most recently, you returned to the label.

Now in the back seat, just a stalwart musician, a major presence on the scene.

He is Thymme Jones from Cheer-Accident.

Hey.

I can’t believe we’ve never met.

It is weird.

How has that not happened?

Well, now it has happened, so.

What a great way to meet, though, over fried chicken from Honey Butter Fried Chicken.

We’re at Honey Butter Fried Chicken in Avondale, 3361 North Elston.

I’m dying to eat.

So maybe we’ll talk about Pravda Fest happening at Fitzgerald’s at the end of the month, after we dig in a little bit to the Honey Butter Fried Chicken.

Does that seem fair?

Sounds delicious.

Okay.

Do we actually drive?

Oh, no.

It’s a little thing called the law.

So people are going to listen to us eat now for the next half hour?

Susan, this is where I point out that I have a microphone attached to the steering wheel.

How good is he?

But the night’s young.

We’ll see where this goes.

Do you dare me?

Does it dare?

Come on.

It’d be a good episode, the drive-through.

Yeah, that’s right.

Doug Julin would do it.

Come on.

Little he wouldn’t.

All right.

So what did everybody order?

Susan, you got mashed potatoes.

I got sweet potatoes and I’m hoping to get a taste of the biscuits back there.

Oh, you send the biscuits up to Susan.

You don’t have to say that more than once.

Tim was looking to share some biscuits.

Yeah, the best in the business.

I ordered the Honey Buffalo chicken strips.

Okay, here.

I’m going to use this Car Con Carne camera to show off.

Look at that.

It smells even better.

I got it, of course, with blue cheese dipping sauce.

Susan’s got the, oh, look at those.

Look at the underside has…

Perfection.

Can you see the little honeycomb?

Hexagonal.

Oh, honeycomb.

It all clicks.

There we go.

Tim, do you have something to show off?

Yeah, I got thighs.

We had the conversation before we got in the car.

Dark meat for the win, always.

Yeah, yeah, they’re the best at it.

And honey butter fried chicken, I’ve done an episode with them.

It’s been long overdue to return here.

The food here is great.

There’s a reason why, in a world where restaurants come and go, honey butter fried chicken only grows and grows.

Like, this is such a wonderful place and a cool place to hang out.

Like, we’re here on a cool August night, great patio to eat and drink at.

Plenty of parking.

I’m parking in front of the place.

Free parking.

But I will say, since the last time I was here, Avondale has exploded.

This area of the city is just…

This is where it’s at.

Yeah.

Food, entertainment.

Yep.

Cool record store.

Lots of stuff going on here.

All right.

Who’s eating?

What’s the verdict?

All right.

Go ahead.

Oh my god.

It’s amazing.

Are you kidding?

I’m going to try some of this blueberry infused lemonade.

It’s almost healthy for me.

How is it?

I’m curious.

It’s nearly healthy.

Delicious chuck full of antioxidants.

This tender, this honey buffalo tender is delicious.

It’s also so spicy, I will start to tear up.

I can already feel my forehead sweat.

This is great.

This biscuit is delicious.

There was a fried chicken renaissance in Chicago years ago, and honey butter fried chicken was at the front of it.

They’re still standing.

This really is the best of the bunch.

again, honey butter fried chicken, 3361 North Elston, just north of Belmont.

I love this place.

And with a new location in Glencoe.

So for suburban listeners and North Shore followers, head that way.

I forgot about that.

Yeah, I need to go.

We need to go.

Episode number two, or an episode number 987, whatever it might be.

Let’s go chicken hopping.

We’ll go from location to location.

So let’s start.

We’re here to talk about Pravda Fest.

This is essentially my version of a roundtable, as best as I can do it in a car.

Let’s start with you, Scott.

Since you are publicist, marketing for Pravda?

Well, just getting started with the label and so kind of jack of all trades so far, but happy to do whatever needs to be done and grateful for the opportunity.

It’s a wonderful crew to work with and of course, so yeah, stellar, stunning roster of artists and happy to be pulled in to be a helping hand with Pravda Fest out of Fitzgerald.

Let’s start with stellar, stunning roster of artists.

What is Pravda Records?

Like we all know, but explain the value and the longevity and history of the label.

Kind of an interesting question.

Thanks for asking.

You know, one of the things I admire about Pravda, because being a Chicagoan in the music scene for now 40 years, as long as the label has been around, you know, Chicago’s longest running independently owned record label, and here in a city with, you know, a rich history of wonderful record labels, they stand out and always have.

One of the things I admire about it is how eclectic and diverse the label is.

Case in point, Susan Voelz … Cheer-Accident.

Yeah.

I mean, right here in the front seat and back passenger seat, you know, it’s a very diverse label artistically.

You know, the vision behind it has always been very, very inclusive, wanting to work with artists from myriad genres and it kind of fits if Ken says it fits.

And he’s done an incredible job of-

Ken Goodman.

Exactly.

Owner, founder, you know, current chief cook and bottle washer.

Man of many hats.

Yeah.

Man of many hats, quite literally.

He’s got awesome hats.

But, you know, that’s one of the things I admire about it.

And having a 40-year run, they’ve done well with the artists.

And one thing that I’ve picked up on, even just in my short tenure, is what a family feel it actually has to it.

You know, and some of the ways I’ve seen Ken interact with artists, how he operates with them, with merchandise, and that sort of thing, and how the artists feel playing together, and, you know, hanging out with fans, and kind of a couple of different settings that I’ve been able to be a part of so far.

And I don’t throw that word around loosely.

I do think it applies.

And I think, stylish hats off to Ken for making it happen and bringing the right people together who all kind of want the same sort of good things.

So, Cheer-Accident on Pravda, Not a Food, During the American Dream, Susan Voelz, 13 Ribs, and the most recent Trust the Waves Will Hold You.

What is it about Pravda for both of you?

What attracts you to the label?

Susan.

Well, I was thinking about this because like young musicians, you like, how do I get from here to there?

Like I’ve got a record or I’ve got an idea, I have a song.

And Ken heard my first record and like acknowledged it and wanted to put it out.

So it’s like what I appreciate is like that acknowledgement.

Like you’re not even sure if you’re an artist, you didn’t call yourself that.

And when someone sees you and says, yes, I’ll put out your record.

And then he got a review in Rolling Stone for me.

And I was just like, wow, this is, I see myself in a different way when someone sees you.

Before you can see it yourself.

And that vision, thinking about Thirteen Ribs, 1994.

Consider what was going on from a pop culture perspective.

Soundgarden put out Super Unknown.

Nirvana had just kind of come and gone.

Like it’s a different era in music.

Ken heard your music.

He heard Red River Waltz Overture.

I thought, that’s something I want to get behind.

As the world is doing one thing, he’s like, no, I hear this.

This is the kind of music I want to champion.

Yeah.

Isn’t that crazy?

That’s awesome.

Yeah.

I mean, it was absolutely.

I mean, you always hope people are like a record labels hearing what you do.

Not like sounding like Nirvana or sounding like somebody else.

But that’s the purest of music.

Writing it and putting it out in the world, because it’s honest to you.

It’s authentically how you feel and what.

It’s not for another reason, but to satisfy your need to express.

This is what life sounds like inside of here, inside of me.

And to have someone else hear that then.

And Red River Walls is a perfect example, because it sounds like chamber music from the 1700s.

It’s gorgeous.

Thank you.

Cheer-Accident.

Talk about a band that has a very clear artistic vision, which is to say, you’ve always followed your own muse, artistically.

What does Pravda mean?

You’ve recorded on other labels as well.

But what does Pravda mean to Cheer-Accident?

Well, I loved what you said about Kenny and the whole family vibe.

Our deceased ex-guitarist, Phil Bonnet, RIP, he got us involved in this whole world.

And yeah, I mean, Kenny still drops by CDs for me to sell on tour.

And I love that the owner of the label just like pops on by and you know, so yeah, we’ve always felt included even though we try our best to be, you know, the wrong part of the picture and whatever we do.

But Kenny’s not having it.

He’s, he’s always accepted us like, and those two albums you named, those are just a couple out of, we’ve actually done like six or seven, six or seven or eight things.

My ride’s here, yeah, on the label.

So we haven’t done any in a few years, so it was particularly kind of him to include us in this festival, you know?

Yeah.

I remember doing the local show at Q101, which at that time wasn’t quite called Local 101 yet.

But I remember hearing Not a Food, and just big like 10 or 11 minute prog jams.

I’m like, this is, going in directions I wasn’t expecting the songs to go in, like, that was cool stuff, and I thought it was really groundbreaking.

It still is, like it still sounds groundbreaking to listen to in 2024.

Thanks.

Definitely that artistic vision, which again, Ken found music that he could champion, not necessarily fitting a certain script for what a label should put out.

And I think that’s, if I’m looking at it from afar, that’s allowed Pravda to still exist in the present day.

Yeah.

And I think something I learned, something interesting I learned recently was that, I think he may have lifted it from a Kurt Vonnegut novel if I heard correctly, but Pravda means truth.

And I think that-

In Russian.

Yeah.

And so in, you know, in this world, in this music business, to actually set out and abide by that and accomplish it, and accomplish it is no small feat.

And I think, you know, what Susan and Tim both spoke toward was the truth of the music itself.

And so it applies.

It works.

And, you know, it’s a wonderful thing to be a part of in a business that is that not often the case.

I also, Tim, sorry, I have Buffalo chicken tender.

I’ve got pepper.

It’s a good thing.

The base of my throat.

No, it’s a delicious kind of problem to have.

The song failure, I always loved.

That song, it sounds like a cliche, but that song is a journey.

And then the horns come in.

But that’s just, that’s one of my favorite songs that you’ve done.

I appreciate that.

That’s a cool one.

So it’s interesting, Susan, given your role with the Recording Academy, I mean, you work with artists of all levels, Stripe category, genre.

What is the role?

This is a bigger question, not necessarily about Pravda.

What is the role of an independent label in the present day?

Do people still need independent labels in a world where you can record music in your home, in your basement, in your car?

What makes an independent label matter?

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So if anyone’s put out their own record, you know how much work it is to put out a record.

And there’s so many things that a musician doesn’t know.

And it will take up so much of your time.

I put out a record on my own and created a record label, and I’m never going to do it again.

It is so much work.

And musicians are really good at being musicians and being creative.

We also can have a business sense, but I would rather leave that to a label who knows that, who loves that, who has relationships that can probably further what I can just do on my own.

I mean, Poydog has its own label, but after a while it becomes an organized system.

But it’s been that first time to set it up, and you have to have the joy of wanting to do that as well, because it’s a lot.

So I buried the lead.

Pravda Fest, three stages at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn.

Nathan Graham, who I just saw, he was playing in like downtown Evanston last week.

He’s delightful.

Steve Dawson, Diplomats of Solid Sound, The Handcuffs, Ivan Julian with Nick Tremulis.

Everyone pauses at Nick Tremulis, I mean, come on.

Chris Greene Quartet, Sunshine Boys.

Yeah.

Ground Zero for Pravda, which is to say The Service.

Yep.

That was Ken’s band.

He started in a dorm room in the 80s.

Basically built a label to support his band.

It’s my man.

The fact that we’re seeing them in 2024 is amazing.

The Slugs, Chamber Strings.

So much history.

Scott, do you want to talk about Chamber Strings?

Well, this will be an interesting reunion, celebrating the music of Kevin Junior and will be putting out a month of Sundays, reissuing that in the fourth quarter.

So this will kind of be a little ramp up to that important piece of work.

But we’re excited about it, you know.

It just it does demonstrate the diversity of the label and the importance of the music and the persistence of the art itself.

So that’s going to be a great, great part of it.

For sure.

Cheer Accidents are on the bill.

Oh yeah.

Allen Hill, Susan Veltz, Brian Krumm and his Barfly Friends, Rex daisy, Thrift Store Halo, The Swampland Jewels.

All those bands scattered across three stages in one day.

Seventeen bands.

Yep.

Doors at noon and going on through till probably midnight.

So a full day.

A full day.

Yeah.

And I love Fitzgerald’s show.

I love the way it’s laid out.

It is really the perfect venue.

And I was told this is where it was happening.

It just made perfect sense.

Yeah.

And I think it speaks to kind of, you know, one of the one of the pillars of Pravda itself.

You know, it’s an anchor in the community, has been.

And, you know, it’s a great, great space to kind of bring everyone together in.

Did Pravda begin up on Southport or was it, well, it started in a dorm room.

It started in a dorm room.

I believe their first official offices were on Southport.

Yeah.

Kind of on the northern side toward, you know, Grace Street.

Yeah.

Yeah, they were there.

And then I think they raised the rent because they had the opportunity to sell the building or they sold the building and raised the rent and had to shovel off to another location.

So, but…

And a lot of people became familiar with Pravda because of the record store.

Absolutely.

At Cabaret Metro.

Yeah.

Yep.

At Cabaret Metro at the time, for sure.

And that was a musical clubhouse.

You know, you’d hang out before the shows.

You’d certainly go in and buy records after the shows.

And it was a magical place, for sure.

A lot of history.

Thinking of records, Tim talked about CDs, physical media.

again, steering a little bit away from Pravda specifically, but how important is physical media to your strategy as a business-minded musician?

It’s definitely important on tour.

We reached a point about a decade ago where I wasn’t sure we were ever going to release a physical album ever again, because we started this subscription page.

And after a few years of people coming up to us and like, hey, are you going to release this stuff physically ever?

We’re like, oh, okay.

You know, and like, when you play a show, like shows aren’t going to go out of style, like live music is not going to go out of style ever.

So people are excited to see what you’ve just done, and they’re eager to like, get something physical in their hands, you know.

But to your point, the pendulum has swung back around.

I mean, there probably was a time when you first decided not to do it, where the demand wasn’t as obvious.

It seemed like it was going to be that way, but tours have always been a different animal, you know.

Yeah, our mail orders, because we release, we self-release things as well.

And our mail order business has definitely gone down significantly, but live shows, people still want the physical representation.

I think people love a show.

They love, they have this experience at the show.

I mean, everyone says this, and they want to take something home with them.

Exactly.

Because they want to take that feel home with them.

And kind of a saying, a bloodshot back in the day was like, you can’t put your arm around an MP3, you know, kind of a riff on the song, but it’s true.

Yeah, I used to think that putting a record on is like, like in a way satisfying something biological, like sitting here on a campfire.

Yeah.

There’s a center to what you’re doing, and usually you’re listening with more than one, well, not always with yourself, but usually more than one person.

But it’s a center, it’s a centering, it’s an experience, not just something in the background when you put a record on, I think.

All right.

So Pravda Fest, happening at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn August 31st, all day, all night.

I will be there, special guests will be there.

So it’s a truth fest.

So when you come, you can only tell the truth.

You need to confess your sins at the door.

Actually, Scott will be at the door.

I’ll be there, ready for you, for sure.

Susan and Tim, who are you excited to see at Pravda Fest?

Me.

I’m excited to see Tim.

I’m excited to see Susan.

Come on now.

I mean, that’s a given.

I want to see Ivan, Julian, and Nick.

Well, I also want to see the Sunshine Boys.

Yeah.

That’ll be special.

I’ve never seen Sunshine Boys and I’m eager.

I want to see what Dog’s up to.

Oh, they’re delightful.

What’s that guy doing these days?

That Dog guy.

Tall guy stuff.

That’s all he does.

It’s going to be a great show.

I saw Ivan and Nick, they did that in-store at Rattleback two years ago.

Awesome stuff.

Those guys are great players.

They just live.

That’s just musicians.

Being a musician is powerful.

Nick’s a force of nature for sure.

Yeah.

This is happening again at Fitzgerald’s at the end of August.

Do we get a Dream Police cover at Pravda Fest?

Oh gosh.

Let’s see if we can whip it up in the next two weeks.

Which by the way, that’s a surprisingly faithful cover.

No, I didn’t mention it.

Well, we finished the middle section for them.

Those slackers.

Yeah, yeah.

What, 12 seconds on their version.

Rick, you missed a spot.

You’re welcome.

All right.

Tim, cheer accident.

Susan, Scott, thank you for doing this.

And thank you Honey Butter Fried Chicken for Delicious Food, which to be clear, we’re not done eating.

And we’re not driving.

Yeah.

That’s one of my favorite parts of tonight will be when I turn off the camera and mics so we can finish all this delicious food.

And get into that chicken.

Yes, thanks Josh, Christine, Danielle, everyone at Honey Butter Fried Chicken for inviting us over.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you all.

We’ll see you in Berwyn August 31st.

Thanks everyone.

Thank you.

Author: carconcarne