CHICAGO – BEAR ALL: Four Sensuous Men Singing Steamy Sweaty Songs! Featuring JC Brooks, Mike Grimes, Anthony Whitaker, and Scott Free with host Bryan Dowling at Touché, 6412 N Clark St., Chicago, Ill., on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 10pm.
Four singer/songwriters from the Bear community join forces for a fascinating evening of acoustic entertainment. From JC Brook’s retro soul-pop, to the acoustic roots and ska of Mike Grimes to Anthony Whitaker’s southern storytelling folk to Scott Free’s in-your-face queer rock, there will be a wealth of musical talents on stage at Touché September 22nd.
Come here four of our best queer musicians Bear All!
JC Brooks
J C Brooks is the son of a Jersey funk diva set adrift by the disco era. He’s renowned for his take-no-prisoners stage style, giving you no other option than to get up and move! Brooks has received accolades as an actor for his performances in “Ragtime,” and most recently, the Chicago production of the Tony-award winning musical, “Passing Strange” (where his band The Uptown Sound also served as the on-stage house band). Brooks erupts with heart and raw emotion, harnessing the Uptown Sound’s post-punk reimagining of JB’s moves and MG’s grooves to unleash pure and uncompromising soul music ranging from sweaty on-the-one workouts, dance-punk booty shakers, garage rock thump humps, and aching R&B ballads without a missed step in between.
http://jcbrooksandtheuptownsound.com/
Mike Grimes
The former bass player for Scott Free and His Closest Friends, Mike Grime’s solo work is a blend of American roots and acoustic ska music. His songs deal with lost love, yearning, and sometimes revenge. This is his premier solo performance, and he’ll be accompanied by Scott Free and Jenny Urban, so this will be a reunion concert for them.
Anthony Whitaker
Anthony Whitaker is the co-founder of the New American Folk Theater. He appeared in ‘Whoop Dee Doo!’ at the Royal George theatre, ‘Animal Farm’ at the Bailiwick Theatre, and ‘Crimes of the Heart’ and ‘Fifth of July’ as an artist in residence at Northeastern University. He co-wrote and starred in a one-man musical, ‘I Was a Teenage Judy Garland Fan’ at the Around the Coyote Festival and the Heartland Studio Theatre and several stage interpretations of Frank Baum’s Oz books for the Wizard of Oz Festival in Chesterton, Indiana. He has recorded an EP, entitled ‘All In Good Time’. His newest musical, ‘Two from the Trailer Court’ opens on October 5 at the Den Theatre.
http://www.reverbnation.com/anthonywhitaker
Scott Free
Scott Free, the queer-rock singer/songwriter extraordinaire, is one of America’s leading openly-gay male artists. His sometimes humorous, sometimes angry, always touching songs of queer life have gained him acclaim in both gay and straight media across the globe. In 2010, he was inducted into the City of Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame. He has twice been named Outmusician of the Year by the OUTMusic Awards – in 2005 and 2009. He also won Out Song of The Year in 2005 at the OMAs for his song ‘Another Day of The Cruelty’. His music video ‘Happy Again’ was in the Top10 Videos of 2009 on LOGOs ‘The Click List’. He has appeared on Black Entertainment Television, NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’, and Canada’s MuchMusic station. His CDs have received glowing reviews in The Advocate, OUT magazine, and numerous gay publications around the country. He was a featured artist in Unzipped magazine in 2005, and Bear Magazine in 2010. He received two Stonewall Society Pride in the Arts Awards in 2005 – Song of the Year and Producer of the Year – and was inducted into the Stonewall Society’s GLBT Hall Of Fame in 2005. He won Outmusicin of the Year at the OMAs in 2009, and his latest album ‘Pink Album (A Pop Opera)’ was the #1 CD of 2009 at Outvoice.net. He started this ALT Q festival eleven years ago, and is the host and curator of the bimonthly ‘Homolatte’ , the longest running queer performance series in the country
http://www.scottfree.net
