Have you ever discovered a band from a bygone era and had its music change your life?

That’s what happened when music fan Eric Clements discovered a handful of cassettes at a thrift store from an 80s Chicago band called the Veil.

The discovery led him down a rabbit hole to learn more. And that led him to start a record label to release a Lorna Donley & the Veil anthology, “Time Stands Still.”

Clements is on the show today, along with David Thomas from the Veil, to talk about the thrill of music discovery, and the passion it inspires.

As they get ready to share a bill with Moritat at the Hideout tomorrow night, the men of Miirrors join me for a chat about music curation, live music, video creation and more!

After a false start this summer, Car Con Carne is back in the car! This episode finds the car parked outside Village Inn (8050 Lincoln Avenue in Skokie) for a conversation with John San Juan of the long-running Chicago band Hushdrops. Hushdrops release what very may well be their finest recorded output to date, “The Static,” on Pravda Records this Friday (11/12).

Also joining in on the conversation is Village Inn co-owner Desi Mulingbayan, who kindly provided delicious thin crust pizza (½ sausage, ½ pepperoni) to move the conversation along. Go visit Village Inn. Like Desi says, it’s the “Cheers of Skokie.”

The first Paranormal Activity made $193.4 million dollars on a $15,000 budget. The franchise is covered in deep, satisfying detail in the new documentary, "Paranormal Activity: Unknown Dimension," directed by Joe Bandelli. Joe joined me tonight to talk about his new doc (available on Paramount+), as well as the found footage franchise he produced: "Hell House LLC."

Dan Vapid and the Cheats return with a new album, “Escape Velocity,” on Friday. Considering Vapid’s career has included runs in the Methadones, Screeching Weasel and Riverdales, it may seem audacious to say that he’s delivered one of his best works yet. That said… I think he has.

Dan Vapid and the Cheats return to Car Con Carne for a chat about the past, present and future.+

Now that Bhoomi is up and running in the Urbanspace Food Hall (15 W. Washington), I’m catching up with Co-Founders Sukhu and Ajit Kalra to talk about their approach to Indian cuisine.

Artist George Zak is back with new paintings to show off. See them in person at the Liar's Club Spooky Day Kickoff on Thursday 10/28!

The AAW is back with a massive weekend of live action starting Friday in Berwyn. Providing a preview of what you can expect are AAW play-by-play announcer Tyler Volz and Chicago’s patron saint of pro wrestling fandom, Kevin Kellam.

Don’t sleep on these tickets. See you for the Jim Lynam Memorial Tournament!

500 Miles to Memphis just released their career best album, “Hard to Love,” and Ryan Malott joins me to talk about it.

We cover a lot of topics: The new album, politics, the music business, the scourge of social media, alcohol use and abuse, watching horror movies while parenting, the appeal of cassettes and records, and the general awfulness of the “cowpunk” label.

Is Wolfden Brewing haunted? There's an awful lot of lore around the 170 year-old house to support that belief. Wolfden GM Kyle Brauch joined me to talk about the unexplained phenomena at Wolfden, as well as the brewery's "Murder Den" pop-up. We also talked about the beer. Can't forget the beer. Visit Wolfden at 112 W. Lake Street in Bloomingdale.