a night on the town with kids (Windy City Ribfest)

I went to the Windy City Ribfest where my two nephews Zach & Chris  were playing in their band, Catchpenny (see http://www.catchpennyband.com/ ). They sounded great, they seem to have a harder edge to their rock which I loved to see. For instance, they played Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" rather than "Ramble On" complete with expert feedback. Clearly, the heart of their set is their own music that is on their debut CD and also their second CD From Where You Are. Catchpenny has been touring in Iraq repeatedly, and is always and consistently well received there.

Also, in attendance was Maribeth's co-worker, Annie, who is shown in the first picture. She was able to see Catchpenny for the first time. She was kind enough to take a picture of Chris, Zach, my kids and me, but unfortunately, I didn't press SAVE, & the picture she took became lost to oblivion. However, Chris took a picture too, thank God, so, our hope is that Chris will send his picture to me which I will add.

Then we saw a band greatly admired by Catchpenny which is from New Orleans called Cowboy Mouth. They put on a very energetic and engaging show. They're a very talented band, and one of the view bands where the drummer/lead singer is right at the front of the stage.

After hearing Cowboy Mouth, the trip home on the interstate was speedy, fast and short. We took an admiring look at the lit up skyscrapers and loved hearing Santana on the classic rock radio station, The Drive, 97.1. I wholeheartedly agreed with Ted that Chicago is a great city to live in. This month marks 20 years that I have lived in the Chicago area. It was 20 years ago that I moved from LaCrosse, Wisconsin to take a job teaching for the Archdiocese of Chicago at one of the parochial schools in the neighborhood of Pilsen in Chicago.