The Family Gold transform the Allstate Skyline Studio into a bonafide honky tonk on the Nocturnal Journal with Dave Hoekstra. They play a series of brand new songs and talk about Chicago’s burgeoning honky tonk scene, as well as how each member began playing this traditional style of music.

Dave Hoekstra is joined by musician Dale Watson by phone to talk about his honky-tonk friendly new record, “Call Me Lucky”. They discuss Watson’s love for Memphis, the open road and why truck driving is a big inspiration in his persona and music.

Extracto will be at Simon’s Sunday night. They join the Nocturnal Journal with live music right here!

Voice artist Ken Nordine, the creator of “Word Jazz,” died Saturday at the age of 98. Over the years, he visited with a number of WGN Radio shows to discuss his career. May 2015, with Dave Hoekstra January 2014, with Bob Sirott and Marianne Murciano April 2010, with Steve King and Johnnie Putman

Dave Hoekstra welcomes Jeff Skrentny and Molly McGown to talk about “beer drinkers with a birding problem” and the upcoming Birds and Beers event at Metropolitan Brewing.   http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3596811/hoekstra-birds-and-beers_2019-02-16-180111.64kmono.mp3

Dave Hoekstra welcomes the Young Stracke All-Stars from the Old Town School of Folk Music into the Allstate Skyline Studio to show their stuff. The band will be calling it quits after 11 years with a final show at Chicago’s legendary Hideout on February 16th. The performance also features Corky Siegel and Hippocampus Longsword. Tickets are available now.   http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3595741/3595741_2019-02-13-150841.64kmono.mp3

After receiving a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis, Lilly Smartelli decided to tie the knot with her one true love: her faithful dog Bernie. She joins Dave Hoekstra by phone to talk about her new book,“The $5 Dog Wedding”, and why she chose to wed her beloved pooch. A portion of the proceeds from the book will go to Donate Life America, an organization seeking to increase the number of donated organs for those that need them. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3595736/hoesktra-woman-marries-dog_2019-02-13-145736.64kmono.mp3

Dave Hoekstra welcomes The Chicago Soul Jazz Collective featuring John Fournier, on tenor sax, Macon Fahmy on piano, Brian Courage on acoustic bass and Keith Brooks on drums. Together they  play classics from the 1960s soul jazz era like Chicago’s own Ramsey Lewis and Eddie Harris. Stop by the record release party for their debut album on Feb. 13 at Wire in Berwyn. http://serve.castfire.com/audio/3594900/hoekstra-chicago-soul-jazz-collective_2019-02-11-121800.64kmono.mp3

Dave Hoekstra dives into the world of Alpine and Eastern European music with a some live tunes and a discussion on the Zither with master zitherist Kurt Von Eckroth, his wife and vocalist Meagan Von Eckroth and DePaul music professor/conductor Jeff Kowalkowski. They talk about the instrument’s history and applications in classical and folk music, how the portability made it possible to bring music into the mountains, the zither’s crossover into the restaurant scene in mid-century America and how Orson Welles brought […]

Dave Hoekstra talks with writer Laura O. Foster, who creates travel guidebooks for the Portland, Oregon area, about her book Walking with Ramona: Exploring Beverly Cleary’s Portland, which covers the very real places that inspired the world built by Cleary in her Ramona Quimby series of children’s books.  They talk about how the sense of location ties into Cleary’s writing, and how her ability to capture life through a kid’s eyes has helped her work endure over the years; Walking with Ramona’s […]