Who's Bigger? Update from The Shams Band

Who's bigger, Mr. Biggins or Mr. Biggins baby?   Congrats to Donnie--frontman for Chi-Town's own Shams Band and his wife, Anna, on the birth of their daughter.   The Shams Band have been folk favs of ours for years.    

I still remember when our first kid was born and my husband and I looked at each other one of those early days and said, "Woa, we're somebody's PARENTS."   


Once you guys get over the sleep deprivation.....you can check out ChiIL Mama for all our happenin' family friendly entertainment, events, original interviews, show shots, live footage, reviews and loads of great give aways.   We know parents and kids rock and just 'cause you create a life, that doesn't mean you can't still have a life.   

So, all of you with rock tots, punk kin, little folk, and banger babies.....check in with ChiIL Mama like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   You'll be glad you did.

Best news about the new birth...The Shams Band will be playing a bunch more Chicago gigs in the near future.


Here's the latest right from the band:

Good afternoon Friends & Family, 

With the recent arrival of Donnie's daughter (Maeve LeGault Biggins was born 8/24/2012. Anna & Baby are healthy and doing great!), we don't have the luxury of touring. So instead, we're touring Chicago and playing at some of the city's best venues. We'd love to see you at a show, a few shows, or all of them!

Upcoming Shows:

Friday, October 19th at Hard Rock Cafe

63 West Ontario, Chicago, Illinois 60610

All Ages | $10 | 11PM

Saturday, October 20th at Fitzgerald's 

6615 W. Roosevelt Rd, Berwyn, Illinois

21+ | $10 | 9pm w/ RICO 

Tickets: http://www.fitzgeraldsnightclub.com/

Sunday, October 21st at The Empty Bottle

1035 N. Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60622

Music, Friendly, Food Trucks! - Block Party 

$5 Donation | 2PM | All Ages
Tickets: http://www.emptybottle.com/show/3141544/

Friday, November 2nd at Beat Kitchen

2100 W. Belmont, Chicago, IL 

17+ | $7 | 9PM | w/ The Ben Miller Band

Tickets: Here

Vinyl Update:

We have heard the final vinyl and the order has been placed. We have 100 screen printed vinyl jackets that are made special for all of you. If you haven't reserved your copy yet, we recommend doing so. These are already selling fast from the preorder. Thank you to everyone so far for ordering them and being patient.

T-Shirts:

Our first run of shirts are almost sold out, and we will have these at the shows. We will be putting in another order next week. They are extra comfy and made of the softest cotton. If you've bought one, take a picture and post it to our Facebook page. You'll win a free ticket to an upcoming show! Buy A Shirt:  Here

That's it for now. We hope to see you over the weekend. More exciting things are coming our way this winter and 2013!

Thank you for always supporting our dream. 

Love, 

Donnie, Paul, Brian, Doug & Ben

Buy "COLD CITY" Here

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Tweet At Us - @theshamsband

Shows On Our Radar-Empty Bottle Monday & Tuesday

Shows On Our Radar-Empty Bottle Monday & Tuesday

Hit The Empty Bottle this Monday &/or Tuesday.

Monday
Free Show
We haven't seen The Mutt's live but we've been loving their tunes on line!   Check out their main site here and give them a listen.   Some of the best things in life are free........and you can use all that cash you saved for beer and generous tips.   

MON. 1/23/12 (9:00pm, Free)
Wally Dogger
Pinto & The Bean
Mutts
Otter Petter

Here's our prior coverage of Wally Dogger's CD release party last year at Beat Kitchen.   In that signature synchronicity way things have of cropping up, they played out with The Noses, renowned LA play write, Brett Neveu's band.  That week we had just reviewed opening night of Bretts amazing show, Odradeck, at The House Theatre.   And we were just about to check out another of Brett's works, The Earl, at A Red Orchid Theatre.   A year has past and guess what we just saw at A Red Orchid Theatre Friday?!   You guessed it, another Brett Neveu play, Megacosm. 

Pinto & The Bean were part of our Ginormous Holiday Gift Guide & Give Aways.   One of our lucky readers won their CD along with 5 more.   We still have a couple more to give away so check back in like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.


6 CDs:    Soul-R&B-Blues-Rock including,  Fitz and The Tantrums,  How Far To Austin,  The Shams Band, Zach Heckendorf, Pinto & The Bean & The Future Laureates (over $70)

*We have loads of live videos, pit photos, band video interviews and CD reviews.   Check out the archives at the bottom of the page or use the search bar to the right.   We post upcoming shows, introduce new music, and give you breaking music news for alt-rock-metal-punk-funk-blues/bluegrass-and more, including bands for adults & kids.   All are posted at ChiIL Mama.com and archived at our sister site, ChiIL Live Shows.com.

• Fitz and The Tantrums--2 video interviews/live footage)
• How Far to Austin-video interview & live show stills from HOB & Mayne Stage
• The Shams Band-live show stills from Lincoln Hall, The Whistler & Do Division Fest.

In fact, you can check out two more of these bands at weekend 2 of The Chicago Blue Grass & Blues Festival this Saturday at The Congress Theater.    In fact, we just saw Donnie Biggins of The Shams Band back stage at CBB Fest at The Auditorium Theatre last night!   We'll have some sweet photos up very soon.    


Tuesday
This one'll cost ya, but only $15, and they're world renowned musicians and well worth it.  We're hoping to set up a video interview soon with Jeff Parker and his partner who have a baby boy.   She's a filmmaker and college professor out in California.   Jeff also has an older, elementary age daughter we've known since Sagezilla was in a playgroup with her at age 2!   

The son of the drummer for Tortoise was also in playgroup with our girls, along with a virtual whose who of chicago theatre and music peeps progeny.   We'd love to interview Jeff and Johnny Herndon and their partners, for our ongoing series on how creatives parent and how parents create.   Check out our Pinterest Board of that name, How Do Creatives Parent and How Do Parents Create, to find most of the interviews together.   We have the rest of the interviews in our Vimeo links in the sidebar at ChiIL Mama.   Pinterest doesn't see Vimeo for some odd reason.   The interviews include Brett Neveu and various Noses, mentioned above, as well as touring musicians from metal band Red Fang, Fitz & The Tantrums, Keller Williams, Danbert Nobacon (Chumbawamba), various CEOs, and a number of theatre personalities.

TUE. 1/24/12 (9:30pm, $15 buy)
Tortoise
Dent-de-Lion
DJ Ryan Weinstein

For loads of music news, free downloads, upcoming Chi-town shows, and original stills, videos, reviews, and video interviews, check out our brand new Facebook Page for ChiIL Live Shows.  You can "like" us and/or follow the feed.