As live events continue to return following a forced layoff amidst pandemic, the Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concert series is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary Friday night in Chicago.
Following recent online engagements, Friday’s slate at intimate Chicago club Metro marks the first in person installment since 2019, a diverse bill featuring a special performance by legendary R&B/Gospel singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples as well as performances by 90s alt rock singer songwriter Juliana Hatfield, indie rocker Ted Leo, Scott Lucas of Chicago alternative duo Local H, alt stalwart Kay Hanley of Letters To Cleo, New York Yankee outfielder turned guitarist Bernie Williams and many more, with VIP packages available.
What began in Boston in 2000 expanded to Chicago 12 years later following the hire of Theo Epstein by the Chicago Cubs as president of baseball operations. While Epstein has moved on to a position as an executive with Major League Baseball, the concert lives on as a Chicago summer fixture, bringing together the worlds of baseball and music.
“Well, as somebody who participates in a variety of charity events and organizations, this one is really just pure fun. Because it’s really all about live music,” said Hot Stove Chicago co-emcee Lin Brehmer, an on-air host of nearly 40 years at Chicago adult alternative station WXRT. “The thing that sticks with me over the years, is that rather than center it around one large charity that they raise money for, it’s always centered around smaller community charities – a lot of them for underserved neighborhoods – and also for pretty cool music not-for-profits like the Chicago Children’s Choir. To support that group [through Hot Stove] and then see them become the background singers for Pete Townshend’s ‘Quadrophenia’ performance [in 2017] at the Rosemont Theater was pretty cool. And they’ll be there [Friday night] and they’ll play,” he said.
The benefits of music at a young age are well-documented, enhancing cognitive skills while exposing kids to ideas like collaboration.
While it’s frequently a quick cut from the American curriculum today, for Boston musician Juliana Hatfield, who had music in the classroom at an early age, attended the Berklee College of Music and studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2012, the early gains thanks to music, art and sports were massive.
“Art, music and sports are all really important to children and adolescents. They were all really crucial and interconnected for me. I had access to all of these things while I was in school and I made use of all of them. And I really feel like without them, I would’ve been completely lost,” she said. “I was a very shy adolescent. I didn’t really know how to communicate. But I was able to be with my peers while playing music or sports or in art classes. And I think it’s a tragedy when those things are taken away from kids. Because there are kids who have no place to go or their home environment is bad. So having a place to go to play music or draw or kick a soccer ball around, that’s crucial. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I think it’s tragic,” said Hatfield.
“Music literally saved my life I think. I always had that in school. I was in choirs and I learned how to play violin in elementary school. And recorder. Everyone had to try. But it’s not just about the recorder or the violin,…
Read More: Hot Stove Cool Music Benefit Concert Celebrates 10 Years In Chicago With Mavis