Billy Branch has spent five decades shaping the sound of modern Chicago blues — now he’s finally telling the story in his own voice. With The Blues Is My Biography, the highly anticipated new album dropping November 7th via Rosa’s Lounge Records, the legendary harmonica master delivers a raw, urgent, soul-deep testament to the life he’s lived and the genre he’s helped sustain.

The title isn’t metaphor. It’s mission.

Produced by the esteemed Larry Batiste, the album is stacked with heavyweight collaborations. Bobby Rush brings thunder on “Hole In Your Soul,” trading vocals and harmonica with Branch in a way only two blues titans can. Shemekia Copeland’s powerhouse vocals transform “Begging For Change” into a spiritual reckoning. And anchoring it all is Branch’s longtime band, The Sons of Blues — a group whose chemistry hits like a heartbeat, steady and unmistakably Chicago.

But before the Hall of Fame inductions, Emmy wins, Grammy nominations, and Blues Music Awards, Branch was just a kid with a harmonica and a city that refused to let him go. His journey started at 10 years old, thrown headfirst into the electric tapestry of Chicago’s blues clubs. Mentored by giants like James Cotton and Willie Dixon, he learned early that blues wasn’t just music — it was inheritance.

His breakout came in 1975, when he joined the Willie Dixon Chicago Blues All-Stars. Seven relentless years on the road, shoulder-to-shoulder with legends, forged him into a force. And he’s been expanding the boundaries of the genre ever since — not only as a performer but as a devoted educator and advocate, ensuring the blues is taught, preserved, and lived by future generations.

In our conversation, Branch reflects on the evolution of the music industry, the rebirth of blues among young listeners, and the community that keeps the genre alive. His passion is as undeniable as his tone: gritty, warm, and unmistakably Chicago. The Blues Is My Biography is more than an album — it’s a cultural document, a love letter, and a roadmap for where the blues goes next.

Check out the upcoming show at Rosa’s Lounge.

In the shadow of Chicago, tucked inside an unassuming building on Ogden Avenue, beats the neon heart of the world’s largest arcade. With over 900 restored cabinets, a flat $25 entry fee, and a no-token, no-BS approach to classic gaming, Galloping Ghost Arcade is nothing short of a digital cathedral — a living, beeping, button-mashing monument to video game history.

And at the center of it all?

Doc Mack — the high priest of pixels, part historian, part mad scientist, and 100% devoted to the resurrection of the arcade era.

Galloping Ghost didn’t just open on Friday the 13th in August 2010 — it kicked the doors open with 130 forgotten games that Doc and his team literally salvaged from destruction. By 2014, the place had already claimed the title of largest arcade in the world, drawing in machines — and pilgrims — from around the globe.

But Galloping Ghost isn’t some nostalgia tourist trap. This is a functioning museum of rare and legendary machines. You’ll find the usual suspects — Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Street Fighter II — but what sets this place apart are the white whales: Primal Rage II, Hammer Away, and Godzilla, to name a few. Games you’ve only heard whispers of in obscure gaming forums? They’re here. Working. Playable. Loved.

And that’s the secret sauce: preservation meets passion.

Doc Mack’s vision was always bigger than joysticks and high scores. He saw a vacuum in the Chicago gaming scene — a city that still had arcades, sure, but where most machines were broken, unloved, or forgotten. He built Galloping Ghost not just to restore games, but to restore the culture around them.

“I didn’t just want people to play,” Mack says. “I wanted them to remember why these games mattered.”

And people did.

From families on weekend nostalgia trips to hardcore competitors chasing high scores, the arcade has become a magnet for community. There’s no ego, no gatekeeping. Just gamers of all skill levels learning from each other, pushing themselves, and — most importantly — respecting the craft. It’s competitive, sure, but never cold. It’s sweaty, but never toxic. Think Fight Club with more pixels and less punching.

The all-day entry model — just $25, no coins needed — creates the kind of free-roaming gaming experience that kids in the ‘80s could only dream of. It breaks down the barrier between you and that cabinet you always wanted to try. You’re not budgeting quarters — you’re diving deep.

And don’t get it twisted: this isn’t just a place to play — it’s a place to witness. Galloping Ghost hosts professional tournaments, record attempts, and deep-dive sessions with Doc himself. Behind the scenes, there’s a meticulous restoration lab, where machines get new life under the careful eyes of techs who treat 1983 circuit boards like holy relics.

So what’s next?

Doc Mack isn’t stopping. New games arrive regularly. Expansion plans are always on the horizon. And with a global resurgence in retro gaming culture, Galloping Ghost isn’t just keeping the arcade scene alive — it’s leading the charge.

Because this isn’t just about games.

This is about preserving a legacy, one pixel at a time.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.

Whether you’re a joystick junkie, a pinball wizard, or a curious wanderer who grew up feeding quarters into cabinets at your local pizza joint, Galloping Ghost Arcade isn’t a place you visit once — it’s a place you come back to again and again.

Cynthia Pelayo doesn’t just write horror — she lives it. From the flicker of streetlights on a foggy Chicago night to the ghosts that whisper through the city’s alleys, Pelayo turns the soul of her hometown into stories that linger long after you’ve turned the last page.

Before the awards, before the literary acclaim, and before Stephen King himself took notice, Pelayo was climbing the corporate ladder — trapped in a world that felt more frightening than any fiction. But Chicago, with its grit, its ghosts, and its pulse, refused to let her go. So, she walked away from the boardroom and into the shadows, emerging as one of the most powerful new voices in modern horror.

Pelayo’s journey is a testament to resilience and reinvention. As the first Latina in history to win a Bram Stoker Award, her name has become synonymous with boundary-breaking storytelling. Her books — from Children of Chicago to The Shoemaker’s Magician — blend fairy-tale structure with real-world grief, violence, and the haunting beauty of urban life. “I write about the things we don’t want to see,” she’s said. “But they’re there — in every story, every neighborhood, every legend.”

Her early work, Lotería — written as her MFA thesis at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago — reemerged in 2023 to critical acclaim, with Esquire naming it one of the Best Horror Books of the Year. Each title since has solidified her place as a voice that refuses to be ignored: Santa Muerte, The Missing, and the award-winning poetry collection Crime Scene, which earned her a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry.

But Pelayo’s stories are more than monsters and murder. They’re Chicago’s reflection — a city that survives, rebuilds, and believes in the strange and the sacred. Through her novels and poems, she captures the resilience of communities that find hope in the dark. “Chicagoans are built different,” she says. “We’ve all seen ghosts. Some are real. Some just live inside us.”

Her newest novel, Vanishing Daughters (Thomas & Mercer), draws inspiration from Charles Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, twisting the familiar fairy tale into something raw and chilling — a modern gothic echoing the anxieties of our time.

With degrees in journalism, writing, and literature — and now working toward a PhD — Pelayo isn’t just creating horror; she’s defining it for a new generation. Her works have been featured in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The LA Review of Books, while her teaching roles at StoryStudio Chicago and residencies like Ragdale keep her connected to the next wave of storytellers ready to haunt the page.

For Cynthia Pelayo, the real horror isn’t what’s hiding under the bed — it’s what we bury inside ourselves. And in a city built on stories, she’s making sure none of them stay buried for long.

When you think “rock star,” your mind probably doesn’t go straight to a turkey farmer — but Paul Kelly isn’t your average bird man. The founder of KellyBronze, the UK’s most celebrated heritage turkey brand, has taken his slow-grown, free-range, hand-plucked birds across the Atlantic, setting up shop in Virginia and taking Thanksgiving by storm.

Paul holds not one, but two Guinness World Records — for the fastest turkey plucker and the fastest turkey carver on the planet. It’s part showmanship, part craftsmanship, and all heart — the kind of passion that turns a simple holiday meal into a culinary event.

Unlike the mass-produced birds lining supermarket shelves, a KellyBronze turkey is a work of art — slow-grown to full maturity, hand-finished without water, and dry-aged in temperature-controlled rooms to lock in flavor and texture. The result? A rich, juicy bird with unparalleled depth — crispy skin, tender meat, and a gravy that could make a grown man weep.

In a candid conversation with Tom Barnas, Paul opens up about bridging the Thanksgiving traditions of the UK and the US, his family’s multi-generational approach to farming, and how attention to every tiny detail — from plucking to carving — defines the KellyBronze experience. He even teases the idea of a turkey cook-off, because when you’re the fastest carver in the world, competition is just another way to celebrate the craft.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, KellyBronze isn’t just selling turkeys — they’re redefining the ritual. It’s not about mass production or speed; it’s about care, character, and the kind of flavor that only comes from doing things the hard way.

So this year, as kitchens fill with laughter and the scent of roasting birds, remember: there’s turkey… and then there’s KellyBronze.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.

Dwight H. Little isn’t just a name buried in the credits of your favorite cult classics—he’s the guy who resurrected Michael Myers and helped redefine late-’80s horror. With Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, he took one of cinema’s most terrifying icons and brought him roaring back to life. But that was only the beginning.

Over the next few decades, Little built a career that crossed genres and studios—directing everything from Marked for Death with Steven Seagal and Rapid Fire with Brandon Lee to hit TV series like 24, Bones, Arrow, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. His fingerprints are all over the DNA of action, horror, and network TV.

Now, in his explosive memoir Still Rolling: Inside the Hollywood Dream Factory, Little lifts the curtain on the unpredictable world of filmmaking. The book is a wild, unfiltered ride through the highs, lows, and straight-up insanity of Hollywood—where one wrong move can end a career and one bold decision can save it.

He shares stories that sound like they were written for the screen: talking Wesley Snipes out of his trailer to save the first day of shooting Murder at 1600, getting arrested by the FBI while filming Russian spies in San Francisco, outsmarting powerhouse agent Michael Ovitz to land Marked for Death, and traveling deep into Thailand’s River Kwai to film with Brandon Lee. And of course, the story that started it all—bringing Michael Myers back from the dead.

In conversation, Little reflects on his Cleveland roots, his passion for storytelling over spectacle, and what it really takes to survive in Hollywood. “The guts it takes to make horror,” he says, “aren’t about blood or screams—they’re about believing in the story when no one else does.”

For young filmmakers, his advice is pure gold: stay driven, find your voice, and learn the business before it learns you. As studios merge with tech giants and AI creeps into production, Little’s brutally honest perspective feels more vital than ever. Still Rolling isn’t just a memoir—it’s a survival guide for anyone crazy enough to chase the Hollywood dream.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.

Have I got a story for you. This weekend, Chicago’s skyline won’t be the only thing drawing crowds — the city’s hidden heart is cracking open for Open House Chicago 2025, and tucked among its 200+ architectural gems lies a true musical pilgrimage site: Electrical Audio.

For the first time ever, Steve Albini’s world-famous recording studio will open its doors to the public this Sunday, and we got a rare sneak peek inside.

Hosted by the Chicago Architecture Center, Open House Chicago (OHC) is the city’s annual love letter to its architectural soul — a free, two-day deep dive into more than 200 sites across 25 neighborhoods. This year’s lineup is stacked with new entries: from the reborn Ramova Theater in Bridgeport to Hawksmoor Chicago, a steakhouse inside the old LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse. But for music lovers, there’s no contest. Electrical Audio is the holy grail.

Once a gritty manufacturing building in Avondale, Electrical Audio was reimagined in the ’90s by the late Steve Albini — the legendary musician, engineer, and producer who helped define the sound of indie rock and beyond. His fingerprints are on records by Nirvana, the Pixies, PJ Harvey, Shellac, and countless others. What Albini built wasn’t just a studio; it was a statement. Analog over digital. Honesty over perfection. Music over money.

When Albini passed away suddenly in 2024, tributes poured in from around the globe — but in Chicago, his legacy hums loudest between the walls of this building. It’s a space that once served as a dairy barn, a screen-printing shop, and possibly a pinball parts factory for Bally, before Albini turned it into one of the most respected recording sanctuaries on the planet.

Now, as part of Open House Chicago, fans and architecture buffs alike can walk the same halls where thousands of sessions were tracked live to tape — a living museum of sound, sweat, and soul.

Beyond Electrical Audio, the festival offers an all-access pass to the city’s creative transformation: a former 7-Eleven turned chamber music venue (The Checkout, Uptown), an elementary school reborn as a community hub (Aspire Center, Austin), and even a mushroom farm cultivating gourmet fungi in a Near West Side warehouse.

More than 35,000 people are expected to take part this weekend, making OHC one of the largest events of its kind in the world.

And for those seeking a spot to chill and recharge, this year’s festival introduces three new neighborhood headquarters — Koval Distillery on the North Side, Starling by Duo/. in North Lawndale, and the restored Ramova Theater in Bridgeport — in addition to the main hub downtown at the Chicago Architecture Center.

Whether you’re a lifelong Chicagoan or a wide-eyed newcomer, this weekend is your chance to see — and hear — the city like never before.

For more info, hit openhousechicago.org.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.

Bill Hillmann doesn’t just tell stories—he lives them like a man sprinting down a narrow street in Pamplona with a half-ton of fury on his heels. The acclaimed Chicago author, journalist, professor, speaker, and former Golden Gloves boxer has spent his life chasing meaning in the chaos—whether in the ring, the classroom, or the dusty roads of Spain.

Born and raised in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, Hillmann’s journey has been anything but ordinary. His newest book, White Flight (Tortoise Books, September 2, 2025), digs deep into the wounds and reckonings of a mixed-race family moving from the city to the suburbs—a shift that opened new doors but came with its own ghosts. It’s an unflinching exploration of race, identity, and survival told through the lens of brutal honesty and heartbreaking tenderness.

“The story is personal,” Hillmann says. “It’s my family. It’s Chicago. It’s about what happens when you leave one world behind and realize it never really leaves you.”

The novel blurs the line between fiction and memoir, rooted in Hillmann’s own teenage years—a time marked by tragedy and transformation. Among the darkness came light: acceptance into the legendary St. Joseph’s High School, where a Christian Brother would introduce him to boxing, and an opportunity to study physics at FermiLab in Batavia, Illinois, where he first learned how to channel chaos into purpose.

Before long, Hillmann’s fists and his words became twin weapons. He punched his way to a Chicago Golden Gloves title, ran with bulls in Spain, and wrote books that landed him in the pages of VICE, NPR, CNN, and The Chicago Tribune. But through it all, it’s his hometown that remains his grounding force—a city that raised him, broke him, and inspired him to create.

Today, as a professor of English and Communications at East-West University in Chicago, Hillmann has traded the boxing ring for the classroom, helping a new generation find their voices through storytelling. He even founded the National College Story Slam, a nationwide competition where students share five-minute personal stories—a nod to his belief that everyone has a story worth telling.

White Flight isn’t just Hillmann’s most personal work yet—it’s his most necessary. A bruising, poetic reminder that where you come from never leaves your bloodstream, no matter how far you run.

For more Stories From The 78, follow ⁠@tombarnas78⁠ on Instagram and ⁠@storiesfromthe78⁠ on TikTok.

There’s something wicked flickering in the dark again on Southport Avenue. Last year, Music Box of Horrors: The Dream Child haunted Chicago’s horror faithful with a fever dream of terror and nostalgia. This October, the nightmare grows up—twisted, restless, and, as the Music Box promises, Dead and Loving It.

For thirty-one blood-soaked nights, the city’s most iconic indie cinema transforms into a temple of terror. From October 1 to 31, the Music Box Theatre will unleash a lineup that’s as deliriously unholy as it is essential: world premieres, cult revivals, live scores, and post-film Q&As with the legends who keep midnight cinema pulsing through the veins of the underground.

Among this year’s feverish highlights: the world premiere 4K restoration of 39: A Film by Carroll McKane, presented by Severin Films, with director Gary Sherman and producer Carrie Holt de Lama on hand for a post-screening reckoning. A rare 1988 gem, Twisted Issues, returns to the big screen with Charles Pinion in attendance. The haunting new Tinsman Road from director Robbie Banfitch. Crispin Glover—Hollywood’s original surrealist—appears for a Q&A following Mr. K.

If that’s not enough to keep your pulse racing, the centennial screening of Phantom of the Opera will feature a live score by Invincible Czars, and the cult classic Frogs will crawl back to life with live amphibians from The Reptile Den.

Proudly presented by Shudder, Music Box of Horrors: Dead and Loving It is more than a film festival—it’s a month-long séance for the horror-obsessed. Since 1929, the Music Box Theatre has been Chicago’s cathedral of cinema, hosting everyone from cinephiles to freaks of the fringe. With its sister company, Music Box Films, the venue continues to champion the kind of stories Hollywood’s afraid to tell.

So grab your tickets, your courage, and maybe a crucifix—because this October, the Music Box isn’t just showing movies. It’s resurrecting nightmares.

Tickets are on sale now.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.

Chicago has no shortage of food pilgrimages, but walk into Jake and Ariel’s spot and you’ll feel something heavier than nostalgia—it’s a love letter to the Jewish deli, equal parts family scrapbook and kitchen revolution. Their menu reads like a mixtape of greatest hits: bagels and lox that drip with Sunday-morning tradition, matzah ball soup so light it feels like a benediction, Grandma Eunice’s latkes fried with history, and hand-sliced sandwiches stacked like skyscrapers.

For Jake, cooking isn’t just craft—it’s inheritance. He grew up orbiting his grandmothers, Eunice and Goldalee, women whose kitchens doubled as cultural landmarks. Their recipes weren’t recipes so much as rituals, connecting generations across a table. When Jake started cooking, it wasn’t just to feed—it was to carry those voices forward.

Every pot of matzah ball soup is a hymn to Eunice, every fluffy dumpling a secret whispered through steam. The latkes crunch with decades of tradition. Yet this isn’t a museum of Jewish cuisine—it’s a remix. Jake threads his own rhythm into those heirloom dishes, keeping the soul but letting the beat shift.

What emerges is more than food—it’s a bridge. A bridge back to Bubbes long gone, and a bridge forward to new Chicago diners hungry for something real. Because at Jake and Ariel’s, the deli isn’t just a place to eat—it’s a place to remember, reinvent, and reconnect.

Stop by Schneider Deli for a slice of tradition.

Riot Fest has never been subtle—and thank god for that. The festival that turned Chicago’s Douglass Park into the ultimate playground for punks, misfits, and rock lifers is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025, and the lineup reads like a rock ’n’ roll fever dream.

Kicking off on Friday, September 19, pop-punk gods Blink-182 headline a night that throws “Weird Al” Yankovic, Alkaline Trio, Rilo Kiley, The Pogues, and The Hold Steady into the pit alongside heavy hitters like Knocked Loose and cult heroes Sparks.

Saturday, September 20, pulls no punches—Weezer, Jack White, and The Beach Boys lead a bill that swings from the anthemic (Dropkick Murphys, All Time Low, The Front Bottoms) to the beautifully unhinged (GWAR, Marky Ramone Plays the Ramones, Helmet, Buzzcocks).

And then comes the Sunday blowout: Green Day takes the crown with IDLES, Jawbreaker, Bad Religion, The Academy Is…, and a resurrected slice of Myspace-era chaos with Cobra Starship and Gym Class Heroes. Throw in Hanson (yes, that Hanson), The Linda Lindas, Smoking Popes, and The Ataris, and you’ve got a finale that’s as gloriously weird as it is legendary.

From punk lifers to emo revivalists, from ska icons to alt-pop disrupters, Riot Fest 2025 isn’t just a lineup—it’s a history lesson, a party, and a love letter to 20 years of chaos in Douglass Park. Chicago, brace yourself.