Happy Monday hungover Super Bowl (beer/whiskey/tequila) fans. If you're feeling like you've been tackled by a linebacker today
Mark Trecka('s Eventual Peace)
has the cure tonight at 8 pm in the CSF SUB.
A few months ago I got to sit down with
and his band
after they played the
. Trecka is not only a great musician but a really smart and articulate guy who made my music crush on him grow even more. Pillars and Tongues is a pretty experimental and somewhat difficult band but one that, if you let yourself get into it, can bring a wonderful catharsis. At least it did me the first time I saw them. Trecka and crew brought me to tears, the kind of tears that I had to hold back from sobbing so as not to interrupt the music. I still drive around with the CDs I bought from them that night in my car and will only listen to those CDs when I'm alone and need to have a moment. By the way, as depressing as that might sound it wasn't. Yes, I was almost sobbing but it was one of those happy breakdowns where I simply let go of all of my joy and pain in the same moment and felt lighter than air afterward.
The next two times Pillars and Tongues played I missed it. First due to a migraine and then a family emergency that took me out of town.
So unless my leg is severed sometime in the next 5 hours I will be there front and center, no matter what.
Trecka's solo work is a lot more accessible than Pillars' too, though no less emotional. In fact, on his myspace page he even describes it as sounding like "you've really lost it." Bring a friend people, we're all going to need hugs after this.
Trecka and his folky, bluesy acoustic guitar are joined by another Chicagoan,
, the perfect adjective for Mandy Ellis' gentle folk.
For real people,
! I don't care how much booze you imbibed last night, you owe it to yourselves to see and support these amazing musicians. It'll make you a better person.