Caropop

Brendan Hunt, a.k.a. Coach Beard on Ted Lasso, is back in his hometown of Chicago to open a one-man show at Steppenwolf Theatre: The Movement You Need. The title comes from “Hey Jude,” and Hunt’s subject is how his mother and he bonded over the Beatles amid more troublesome aspects of their relationship. Here we bat around the Beatles and their appeal to parents and kids, all while so little current music sounds like them. Hunt also discusses the motivation and process of creating a one-man show, with Broadway in his sights. This emotionally loaded gig, with its eight performances a week, certainly requires much more talking than the laconic Coach Beard. Hunt reflects on his longtime collaboration with friend Jason Sudeikis; they’re Ted Lasso co-creators/co-writers who previously worked together in the Amsterdam-based improv troupe Boom Chicago. Given that Sudeikis and Hunt initially characterized Ted Lasso as a three-part journey, how did they recalibrate to create the upcoming Season 4? (Photo by Robyn Von Swank)

It's time to get the record store perspective on Record Store Day (April 18) from Tim Peterson, owner of Squeezebox Books & Music in Evanston, Ill. That’s where I line up each RSD morning, so I visited Peterson to hear him explain how it all works. How does he determine which and how many records to order? Does he usually get what he wants? Is it worse to over- or under-order? Do the first-in-line customers tend to be flippers or just big fans? When Taylor Swift has an RSD offering, does that boost other sales? Which of this year’s releases will be most in demand? What are the sleepers? What percentage of the store’s annual sales come from Record Store Day? We also dissect the types of RSD offerings, such as live albums (and the inevitable Grateful Dead box); picture discs and zoetropes; collections of demos, alternative versions and rarities; deluxe album editions; represses of albums you’ve never heard of; and various-artists compilations.

Chef Rick Bayless worked in his parents’ Oklahoma City BBQ restaurant before he found his passion exploring Mexico’s regional foods. When he and his wife Deann opened Chicago’s game-changing Frontera Grill in March 1987, he wowed the ever-packed dining rooms with complexly flavored Mexican dishes featuring hard-to-source ingredients. The chef pushed the boundaries of fine dining two years later by opening Topolobampo, which, like Frontera Grill, would win the James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurant award, with Bayless previously named Outstanding Chef. Topolobampo became a favorite date spot for Barack and Michelle Obama, who invited Bayless to prepare a White House state dinner. Speaking in a conference room above Frontera Grill, Bayless reflects upon all that plus his experience winning Top Chef Masters; his other restaurants that include Xoco, Bar Sótano and the Tortas Fronteras outlets that serve O’Hare International Airport’s best food; the Frontera retail ventures and what happened to my favorite granola; his efforts to combine cooking and acting on stage; and the post-pandemic state of business, with Frontera’s 40th anniversary approaching.

More than a half century after co-founding the classic power-pop band Shoes, guitarist-singer-songwriter Gary Klebe is releasing his first solo album, Out Loud, though he was reluctant to do so. He explains why here and digs into Shoes’ unlikely, inspiring career—how he and brothers Jeff and John Murphy (a previous Caropop guest) formed the band in Zion, Ill., before any of them could play instruments. Little did they know that all three would become masters of crafting and singing perfect guitar-pop songs—and would release their first acclaimed album before they’d played a live gig. What went right and wrong in the band’s career, particularly its three albums on Elektra? Did Klebe start writing the Out Loud songs for a potential Shoes album? Will he and the Murphy brothers ever reboot the band? The self-effacing Klebe also tells whether the band’s name was inspired by the Beatles, and he recalls the one time he played on stage with anyone other than Shoes.

Ronnie Barnett was a rock journalist in Houston when he met Kim Shattuck, then bassist for the Los Angeles band the Pandoras, and their fates intertwined. Soon Barnett was living in L.A. and playing bass in the Muffs, Shattuck’s new pop-punk band in which she played guitar and applied her impassioned vocals to her tight, tuneful songs. The band had a strong three-album run with Warner Bros., though its most famous song became its punked-up cover of Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America” that played over the opening credits of 1995’s Clueless yet never was released as a single. Amid more acclaimed albums, Shattuck took a brief detour as the Pixies’ bassist. Sixteen days before the October 2019 release of the Muffs’ final studio album, No Holiday, Shattuck died at age 56 from complications of ALS, news that shocked and devastated the many who loved her and her music. Barnett takes us through the thrills and heartbreak of his life with Shattuck and the Muffs—and offers some record-collecting notes because he’s that kind of guy. (Photo by Tommi Cahill)