If you like music, Chicago culture and kickass tavern food, this is your episode. Photographer Gene Ambo joins me to talk about his massive new coffee table book, “HEAVY METRO: ACCESS ALL ERAS.” The book covers 40 years of live…

Presenting… the 3rd Annual IL Hot Sauce Expo. This is going to be a seriously fun event… I mean, “bobbing for reaper peppers,” craft beer, lucha wrestling and free hot sauce tastings? Count me in. The IL Hot Sauce Expo…

“Some people haven’t read a poem since high school,” says poet C. Russell Price in this episode. They’re probably right, but the new book “Oh, You Thought This Was a Date? Apocalypse Poems” should bring people back for all the…

Midge Ure’s career is a life of music that’s played out in front of us: Live Aid. Band Aid. Ultravox. Visage. Rich Kids. Solo. Before he took the stage of the Des Plaines Theater, the songwriting legend joined me for…

This episode is fantastic, featuring two guests that span music, technology and food. Mark Rose made a name for himself in Spitalfield, before launching a successful solo career. We talk about his music, but focus on his Downwrite platform, which…

It was a pleasure to have Kyle Janis, founder of Soothsayer Hot Sauce, back on Car Con Carne. We met at Village Tap in Roscoe Village (2055 W. Roscoe) to eat cheese curds and mini corn dogs slathered in Soothsayer….

Take the Reins returns to Car Con Carne the day of their new release, “I’m At Your Door!” The band talks about how they ended up on a new label (it involved a late night and YouTube), their hands-on experience…

Chicago songwriting treasure Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden, Funeral Bonsai Wedding) is performing highlights from his superior “At the Bottom of a Canyon in the Branches of a Tree” at Pravda Fest this weekend. He joined me at Sketchbook in Skokie…

As we head toward PravdaFest weekend, Josh Caterer (Josh Caterer Trio) and John San Juan (Hushdrops, Josh Caterer Trio) join me at Sketchbook in Skokie after hours to talk about music, beer and pop culture. And what’s this they’re saying…

Chicago punk favorites Apocalypse Hoboken return to the stage for two shows at Chop Shop this weekend (details below). Before those shows, ⅗ of the band (Tod, Andy and Scott) joined me at mutual favorite restaurant Epic Deli to talk…