Dave Hoekstra visits with country legends Mickey Gilley and Johnny Lee at Gilley’s Branson, MO theatre. The two have reunited to celebrate “Urban Cowboy”, for which they provided the iconic soundtrack.

Author and wedding videographer Jason A. Drake joins Dave Hoekstra on the Nocturnal Journal to discuss is new memoir “You Stay Classy, Wedding People: A Memoir of a Professional Videographer”. He talks about the ups and downs of the wedding videographer biz and why it inspired him to write the book.  

Dave Hoekstra welcomes back the members of the Bach + Beethoven Experience, violinist Brandi Berry Benson, vocalists Felicia Patton and Thomas Alaan, composer Regina Baiocchi, and musicians Bill Baxstresser and Paul Van Hoff.  The members discuss the group’s upcoming fall music series ‘Chicago Stories’, which consists of original compositions inspired by the people, places and events that helped shape the city.  We get a few musical samplings, including a Baiocchi-penned piece on the Great Migration and the Bronzeville neighborhood; we […]

Dave Hoekstra talks with David Goodman, brother of legendary Chicago folk singer Steve Goodman about the infamous Lincoln Towing losing it’s state license.  Steve Goodman’s song ‘Lincoln Park Pirates’ detailed the sometimes-sketchy towing company that had been a thorn in the side of many Chicagoans for years.

Dave Hoekstra talks with Richard Knight, feature programmer of the Reeling Festival, the long-running LGBTQ+ film festival that’s been a Chicago cultural fixture since 1981.  Knight gives a preview of some of the festival highlights and discusses what it means for these communities to be represented in media; Writer, producer, and actress Lisa Cordileone talks about her film Freelancers Anonymous, how the process of independent film making has changed, exploring issues on multiple platforms, and more. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3546565/3546565_2018-09-14-185105.64kmono.mp3

Dave Hoekstra talks with teacher and artist Sheri Smith about her collection of drawings of prolific jazz singers and musicians on stage at various venues in Chicago.  Over 100 pieces of Smith’s work are featured at an upcoming exhibit at the Ken Hirte Gallery (760 N. Milwaukee) starting on 10/7.   Smith talks about drawing the likes of Frank D’Rone, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Chamberlain and Patricia Barber, her creative process and what she wants to capture out of the different artists and instruments […]

Dave Hoekstra talks with Timothy Pappin, co-founder of Arty’s Legendary Cocktails, a line of bottled versions of your favorite mixed cocktails like the classic Wisconsin-style Old Fashioned, Bloody Mary, and the Moscow Mule.  Pappin breaks down the production process and getting the flavors right for an authentic, handcrafted cocktail, finding a niche in at ballparks and football tailgate parties, and more. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3540347/3540347_2018-08-27-194347.64kmono.mp3

Dave Hoekstra visits with The Imperial Sound, a locally-based pop and soul band with roots in the golden tones of 70’s AM radio.  ImpSo plays a few tunes, founders Kenn Goodman and Rick Mosher talk about the band’s growth out of other well-known music projects in the New Duncan Imperials and Expo ’76, starting the Pravda Records label and developing the band’s signature sound which hearkens back to the ‘Chicago sound’; the positive key of much of the band’s music […]

Dave Hoekstra visits with The Imperial Sound, a locally-based pop and soul band with roots in the golden tones of 70’s AM radio.  ImpSo plays a few tunes, founders Kenn Goodman and Rick Mosher talk about the band’s growth out of other well-known music projects in the New Duncan Imperials and Expo ’76, starting the Pravda Records label and developing the band’s signature sound which hearkens back to the ‘Chicago sound’; the positive key of much of the band’s music […]

Dave Hoekstra visits with blues vocalist Lori Lewis and the members of Lowreen’s Live Blues, who have a residency at Chicago’s historic Maxwell Street Market.  They discuss the history of the market as a cultural experience for new immigrants to the city and Maxwell Street as a hotbed for the blues, and we hear a couple of live tunes. Also joining the conversation is author and dealer Duane Scott Cerny, whose book, Selling Dead People’s Things: Inexplicably True Tales, Vintage […]