Entrance to the annual lakefront festival remains free, but for the first time in the festival’s history, the City of Chicago will charge a $25 per-seat fee for those who prefer a pavilion seat.

But we need your help!

As fans of this blog, we’re asking you to think differently in 2012.  You see, we want to crowd fund this year’s guide vs. going out and trying to sell ads.  Keep in mind, we don’t charge our readers a subscription, we don’t have an annual fundraising benefit (Although we should) and we are a publication bringing you the hottest in Chicago’s country music scene since 2008.

How to Get involved:

We’ve launch a special crowd funding campaign on IndieGoGo.com to help sponsor this blog project. You can read up about this project on our special page and… this is where you come in… you can contribute directly to this project.  We’re offering 4 levels of sponsorship, several where you can receive an awesome CMC perk!

So this one time, we’re asking for your help in supporting Chicago’s country music scene.  Please join us in helping publish the 2012 summer concert guide and support some jobs, right here in the Windy City.

—– Contribute Right Now —–

Thank you very much,

Scott Winterroth
Editor & Publisher
Country Music Chicago

This in-theater concert and all-access event will feature new music from their upcoming album entitled Changed as well as exclusive concert performance footage of the group’s biggest hits. Additionally, fans will get a peek backstage for rare interviews with band members Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus.

Watch the Trailer:

Rascal Flatts’ new album, Changed, is due in stores April 3.  The upcoming release follows, Nothing Like This, which debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Country albums sales chart.

Chicagoland Showings:

Taking the stage before Edens Edge is Big Machine artist, Thomas Rhett. Thomas is the son of country singer Rhett Atkins and was introduced to music at a young age, but didn’t start playing country music until his senior year of high school. In 2010, he signed a publishing deal and soon after landed his first cut on Jason Aldean’s platinum album, My Kinda Party, with his song “I Ain’t Ready To Quit.” A year later he signed a record deal and has recently spent time opening for artists such as Blake Shelton and Pat Green while working on his debut album.

The music starts when Thomas Rhett takes the stage at 9:00PM, followed by Edens Edge at 10:15PM.

Tickets are available on ticketweb.com or at Joe’s box office.

Edens Edge with Thomas Rhett 

Joe’s Bar:  940 W. Weed Street, Chicago, IL  (21+)

9PM – $8 on ticketweb.com

Edens Edge on YouTube:

Google Street View 435 N. Clark St, Chicago

Chicago restaurant power brokers RJ and Jerrod Melman have partnered up with Joe’s Bar founders, Ed Warm and Tom DiSanto, to form a new country and western bar in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. The new venue, planned to open this summer, will occupy the former Frankie Z’s location at 435 N. Clark Street. A concept that could be considered a rather stark contradiction to the existing Hubbard St. entertainment district, which is located just north of the Chicago River and behind the Merchandise Mart.

“We’ve enjoyed getting to know RJ and Jerrod over the past several years and really look forward to this new venture together,” said Warm. “They are definitely making their mark on Chicago’s dining scene and we’re all pretty excited to bring a totally new country western experience to River North.”

According to the restaurant corporation’s website, it’s yet unclear whether or not country acts will perform live at the new yet-unnamed bar but, according to the news release, there will be “southern-inspired dishes and authentic barbeque.”

The unnamed bar is set to open within three blocks from Live Nation’s House of Blues, a downtown concert venue located within the Marina City towers at State and Kinzie.

We’ll be keeping an eye on this, be sure to check back.

NBC 5: Melman Brothers Go a Little Bit Country

After dodging a bunch scrutiny by the surrounding neighborhood and special approval from Chicago’s City Hall, country music power trio Rascal Flatts made history as the first country artists to play Chicago’s very own Wrigley Field. A concert that went on to sell-out with a mere 37,000 fans that cool July evening in 2009.

Three years later, it looks like country music is being called back to the ballpark as the CMA Entertainer of the Year, Brad Paisley, is headed to the north side confines on Saturday, June 9, 2012, with a home-run of a lineup.

Miranda Lambert, Chris Young, The Band Perry and Jerrod Nieman will joining Mr. Paisley on the Chicago-stop of his 2012 Virtual Reality World Tour.

Tickets go on sale to the general public starting tomorrow (Jan. 27) at 10 a.m. through Live Nation and Tickets.com.

Brad Paisley’s  ”American Saturday Night”:

Little Big Town

Little Big Town is one of those distinctive country bands that have the unique ability of being able to rile up the crowd with hand clapping hits such as Little White Church and Boondocks just as easily as they can tear their heart out in ballads like Kiss Goodbye and Shut Up Train. It just might be this God-given talent that makes them the ultimate band to play the rowdy, yet intimate Joe’s Bar in Chicago.

“Playing a smaller venue gives us the chance to play a full set of songs and go deeper into the albums, showcasing what Little Big Town is all about,” explains Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet in an exclusive interview with CountryMusicChicago.com. “While we love to play the arenas, the fans can seem so far away. I love how the smaller venues allow the fans to really get close to the music and musicians. It just feels good.”

Armed with miraculous four part harmonies and a unified love for music in general, Little Big Town says they are ready to take Joe’s Bar by storm. Sweet says Friday night’s set will include all of the favorites, including a selection of covers from the band’s wildly popular Scattered, Smothered and Covered web series of videos.

“(Scattered, Smothered and Covered) has really become a great avenue to be creative and go a little crazy,” says Sweet of the online series of videos that have featured the band performing everything from Lady Gaga’s Born this Way to Adele’s Rolling in the Deep. “The songs feel really fresh and chances are some people might have never heard a certain song that way.”

Still riding high on the success of their 2010 chart topping album The Reason Why and last year’s popular arena tour with Sugarland, Sweet says 2012 will feature new music and a brand new summer tour for Little Big Town.

“We are doing the bulk of the recording for the new album in February,” explains Sweet. “We are super excited about the new music and being able to work with producer Jay Joyce. Who knows…we may break out some new music Friday night.”

Tickets for Saturday night’s show are currently sold out.  

Little Big Town’s “Shut Up Train” music video:

Well, as part of what looks like a studio move, the new US99.5 studios has a new caller contest line.  So here it is, write it down, take a little note.. Program it into your phone.

(312) 946-4995

…And good luck trying to win those concert tickets.

Brett Eldredge

Our hometown boy is coming home…just in time for the holidays.

One of country music’s fastest rising stars Brett Eldredge will appear at Joe’s Bar this Friday, and in an exclusive interview with Country Music Chicago, Eldredge says an appearance at the venue was high on his list of Christmas must-haves.

“Believe it or not, this is my first time playing Joe’s Bar,” says Eldredge, who last came through the Chicago area while on tour with country legend Willie Nelson. “I’ve been bugging my manager and agent that out of all of the bars I’ve been playing, I definitely didn’t want to miss the chance to play at Joe’s. It’s my city and it’s my home, and I am ready to get up on that stage and get a little crazy.”

In fact, Eldredge says he spent many a Sunday afternoon watching football and basketball games at Joe’s before he started to make a name for himself in Nashville. A native of Paris, Illinois, (Map Below) Eldredge attended Elmhurst College just before the country music industry began calling his name.

“I used to love going downtown around the holidays and seeing all the lights,” recalls Eldredge, who plans to release a record of new material sometime in early 2012. “My friends and I always said we wanted to go ice skating too…but as of yet, we haven’t. Maybe this time we will end up giving it a try.”

While Eldredge is scheduled to play a number of bar dates through mid December, he is looking forward to heading back home to Paris, IL to spend time with family and friends.

“On Christmas Eve night, you will find me standing up in the same choir loft I have sung from since I was just a 12 year old boy,” he says. “My family fills off nearly half of the church. Afterwards, we head home to eat, drink and be merry. I also like to carve out some time to go ice fishing while I’m there. I know it doesn’t sound too exciting…a bunch of guys standing around looking into a hole in the ice, but for me, it’s a good time.”

Tickets are still available for the show, and Eldredge promises a song list that goes far beyond the song “Raymond”, a tearjerker of a song but one of his biggest hits to date.

“I can have a serious side, and I love my family…but there is another side of me that likes to have a whole lot of fun,” he laughs. “Every day, I get to wake up and play music, and I can’t wait to share that with the fans that come out to Joe’s. Especially during the holidays, people want to forget everything else that’s going on, and partake in a little holiday cheer.”

BRETT ELDREDGE with Drake White

WHEN: Friday, December 9, 2011 – 8PM

WHERE: Joe’s Bar, 940 W. Weed St., Chicago (21+)

TICKETS: $8 – joesbar.com // ticketweb.com

Map of Paris, IL:

Brett Eldredge: “Raymond”

Jamey Johnson at the 2009 Chicago Country Music Festival.

The Chicago Tribune reports that city officials are considering reducing the amount of days for the annual Taste of Chicago festival.  The future of music acts the annual summer food festival is already on the chopping block and with the potential of less days, the opportunity for country music to keep its one-day showcase during the festival continues to be unclear.

In the early part of 2011, then Mayor Richard M. Daley announced the consolidation of many niche music festivals and departments to help streamline the City’s budget.  The former two-day Chicago Country Music Festival joined a handful of other festivals as they were repurposed into one-day components of the annual Taste fest.

Karen Vaughan, spokeswoman for the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, said the focus will stay on the food in 2012, according to the Tribune story.