British group Graffiti6 are showing their true “Colours” with a tour coming to Chicago, not once but twice. The six are really two with songwriters Jamie Scott and TommyD teaming up to make beautiful music together. Their songs have been featured on Grey’s Anatomy, Covert Affairs, and CSI: NY. Jamie has performed with such artists as Alicia Keys, and Kelly Clarkson.
We found him on the road ready to launch a new tour with a stop in the Windy Wity.
Jerry Nunn: Hey. Jamie. Where are you calling from?
Jamie Scott: I’m calling from the tour bus heading from Alabama to Charlotte.
JN: How’s the south?
JS: It’s cool, man, an interesting place!
JN: You are originally from London and the United States is still new for you, correct?
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Born and raised in Tennessee, Kimberley Locke came to fame after appearing on the American Idol television series in 2003. She finished third behind Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken. She later appeared on season three and seven. She continued her television trend appearing on Celebrity Fit Club for VH1.
She brought her latest EP Four For The Floor to Roscoe’s Tavern and we chatted backstage after the show going back to our roots for the holidays!
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Kimberley. I am so excited about our mutual Tennessee connection. Where were you born?
Kimberley Locke: I was born in Portland, Tennessee. It is just north of Gallatin.
JN: My parents live in Gallatin. That is very country.
KL: I grew up on a farm. I’m a country girl who was feeding chickens and ducks.
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The Girls are back in town! The Indigo Girls, made up of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers bring their folk rock music back to Chicago for two shows at The Vic. They started performing with the name “Indigo Girls” when they were students at Emory University.
After kicking it old school, the lesbian duo made a self-produced full-length record in 1987, they then moved into a major record company. After releasing nine albums, they have now self-produce albums with their own IG Recordings. Their latest project is called Beauty Queen Sister and fans now have the opportunity to hear it live. Nunn on the Run talked to Ray before their big day.
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Amy. You are coming back to Chicago.
Amy Ray: Yes, we always love playing there.
JN: With two shows is it all the same set list or do you play different songs?
AR: We will do different stuff. There are some things that will be the same, maybe what we will open with and close with because it gets us in the right frame of mind. We switch it up in the middle. We won’t play all new songs but we will play old songs as well but a different group of old songs between the two shows.
JN: So real fans have to go to both.
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Musician Chris Isaak hit the music scene after being featured in David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet. He hit it big with single “Wicked Game” that landed him on the Top 10 and made an unforgettable video with Herb Ritts.
Isaak followed this by creating another song with a video by Ritts “Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing” also linked to a movie with Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.
He then starred in his own Showtime television show The Chris Isaak Show for three seasons.
His newest album Beyond the Sun pays tribute to classic artists with covers of their legendary songs and was recorded in Memphis, Tennessee at Sun Records Studios.
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Chris. What went into the decision making for your choices of covers on Beyond the Sun?
Chris Isaak: I confess, I didn’t have any big plan. I just picked songs that I loved to sing. I have been singing some of these songs since I was a kid. My dad used to play a lot of this music around our house and when I finished the album I brought my folks the first copy. My dad doesn’t ever say a lot but I saw him whisper something to my mom and later I asked my mom what he said. He told her “that’s the way I would have sung it.”
JN: I grew up in Tennessee. How was recording in Memphis?
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Singer/songwriter Tori Amos gained fame from the piano and such songs as “Crucify” and “A Sorta Fairytale.” She has been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards and continues to develop groundbreaking music. Performing in bars since she was 13, her live shows over the years have been something not to miss and luckily she hits the road again this fall.
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Tori. I just listened to your new album Night of Hunters. What inspired this project?
Tori Amos: Deutsche Grammophon approached me. They are the classical side of Universal Music. Their doctor of musicology, Doctor Alexander Berg, found me out in the world about a year ago. He said, “I think you should write a 21st Century song cycle based on classical themes.” I said, “I think I need a drink!”
(laughs) Of course, that is a big undertaking.
TA: Come on, Jerry, that is a tall order.
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The Mexican singer Ximena Sariñana has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards along with being a VH1 You Oughta Know artist for a month. Her first album was anything but Mediocre with Rolling Stone giving it four stars. Now with her latest album almost completely in English, she is ready to break into America with a catchy self-titled sunny offering.
Jerry Nunn: Hola, Ximena. We talked last when your flight was delayed the day you opened for Sia at the Metro.
Ximena Sarinana: That was intense! It was a long day and chaotic. I’m glad we could reschedule.
JN: How do you feel the show went at the Metro?
XS: Amazing, it was fun. It was the first show on the tour so we were literally getting used to the stage. I loved getting to know Oh Land and Sia.
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The Belle Brigade are making beautiful music together as a brother and sister duo. Barbara and Ethan Gruska’s sound could be described as a mix of pop, country, and rock.They return to Chicago after a successful tour this past summer with k.d. Lang. Out on the road the duo called in for a Nunn on Two interview. Check out their video by clicking here.
Jerry Nunn: Hello, Barbara and Ethan. Where in the world are you right now?
Barbara Gruska: We are in Austin, Texas currently.
JN: So you are a brother and sister act. How did that happen?
BG: We are. We always grew up playing music but separately. I’m six years older than Ethan so we never collaborated when we kids or even when I was young adult. Literally, he graduated high school and we started the band.
JN: Where did you grow up?
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