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Franz Nicolay will discuss Band People. He will be joined in conversation by Kelly Hogan. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion.At the Co-op
About the book: Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists—these and other “band people” are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, Band People gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry.
About the author: Franz Nicolay is a writer, musician, and faculty member in music and written arts at Bard College. In addition to records under his own name, he has been a member of World/Inferno Friendship Society and the Hold Steady. He is the author of The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar and the novel Someone Should Pay for Your Pain.
About the interlocutor: Equally comfortable with indie rock, traditional country, jazz, and pop - singer Kelly Hogan has explored all those directions and more in her four-decade career as a solo artist and backing vocalist for acts such as Neko Case, The Decemberists, Jakob Dylan, Andrew Bird, and Alejandro Escovedo. She’s also an in-demand session musician, adding vocals to recordings for Drive-By Truckers, The New Pornographers, The Mekons, Amy Ray, Tortoise, Silkworm, The Minus 5 and many more. Hogan first made a name for herself in her hometown of Atlanta in the early 1990s with her critic’s darling indie band The Jody Grind (and as a guitarist/back-up screamer with bummer-punks, The Rock*A*Teens) before relocating to Chicago in 1997. She has released four critically-acclaimed solo albums, including 2012’s I Like to Keep Myself in Pain - featuring songs written specifically for Hogan by a star-studded roster of friends including Robyn Hitchcock, The Handsome Family, and Vic Chesnutt - and recorded with a backing band of legendary musicians including Booker T. Jones and hall-of-fame funky drummer James Gadson. These days you can find Hogan (rarely at home in her beloved rural Wisconsin) living out of a well-worn suitcase as a grateful member of gospel soul icon Mavis Staples’ band.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
5751 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, Illinois 60637
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