INCOMING: LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS TO PERFORM IN CHICAGO!

"Full of fire, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials hit the floor running and accelerate from there.

High-octane, expressive, fiercely articulated, harrowing intensity, raucous slide." --Living Blues

Alligator recording artists Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, touring in support of their latest Alligator CD, JUMP START, will perform in Chicago on November 8, November 9, November 29 and November 30, 2013. Mixing smoking slide guitar boogies and raw-boned Chicago shuffles with the deepest slow-burners, Lil' Ed Williams and his rip-roaring Blues Imperials -- bassist James "Pookie" Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton -- deliver gloriously riotous, rollicking and intensely emotional blues. Currently celebrating 25 history-making years together, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials ply their musical talents with skills that have been honed to a razor's edge. Recently, they were awarded the 2013 Living Blues Critics' and Readers' Awards for Best Live Performer. The band won that same distinction in the 2012 and 2011 Living Blues Critics' Poll. The group won the coveted 2009

Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year, the same honor they received in 2007. Concert information is as follows:

Date: Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 2013

Venue: B.L.U.E.S.

Address: 2519 North Halsted Street

City: Chicago, IL

Phone: 773-528-1012

Showtime: 9:30pm

Ticket price: TBA

Website: www.chicagobluesbar.com

Date: Friday, November 29 and Saturday, November 30, 2013

Venue: Rosa's Lounge

Address: 3420 West Armitage Avenue

City: Chicago, IL

Phone: 773-342-0452

Showtimes: 9:30pm (Friday, November 29) / 10:00pm (Saturday, November 30)

Ticket price: $12 advance / $15 day of show

Website: www.rosaslounge.com

The band's wildly energetic and seriously soulful new CD JUMP START is jam-packed with Lil' Ed's incendiary slide playing and rough, passionate singing, as the ragged-but-right Blues Imperials cook like mad alongside him. Produced by Williams and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, it is a tour-de-force of untamed slide guitar, rock solid rhythms, heartrending ballads and authentic deep blues vocals. Williams wrote or co-wrote 13 of the album's 14 songs, which all overflow with the band's full throttle drive and serious sense of fun. JUMP START reveals a band firing on all cylinders and ready to spread the genuine houserockin' fever to their biggest audience yet. "It's all blues, really," says Lil' Ed. "Some of it will make you dance, some will ease your soul."

Lil' Ed boasts a direct bloodline to blues history -- his uncle and musical mentor was the great Chicago slide guitarist, songwriter and recording artist J.B. Hutto. Live, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials simply can't be beat as Ed breaks out the deepest back-bends, the highest toe-walks, and the most authentic electric slide-guitar blues being played today. Garrett's risk-taking rhythm guitar work and Littleton's conversational, old school drumming perfectly complement Lil' Ed's and Pookie's rambunctious playing.

Adding to the legend is Ed's storybook rise, taking him from working in a car wash to entertaining thousands of fans all over the world. He's made multiple appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and has brought his music to fans from Japan to Poland. According to The Chicago Tribune, "Williams represents one of the few remaining authentic links to pure Chicago blues."

Now, with JUMP START, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials will continue bringing their seriously inspired and wildly fun Chicago blues to "Ed Heads" new and old, wherever they may be. After almost a quarter century together, Lil' Ed, Pookie, Mike and Kelly have played thousands of gigs, logged tens of thousands of miles and have no plans to slow down anytime soon. According to Littleton, "The journey has been amazing. We melded right away and have kept growing." Garrett agrees, saying, "It's a perfect fit. And we keep getting better." Young adds, "We are way stronger now, and we're still having fun. My dreams have all come true."

"Long ago," recalls Lil' Ed, "Uncle J.B. told me, 'When you get the right guys in your band, you'll know.' When Mike and then Kelly joined up with me and Pookie, we just clicked. I knew. We are a family," says Lil' Ed, summing it all up. "And families stay together."

AUDITION: Casting call for "The Oregon Tail Burlesque: You Have Died of Sexy"

Gorilla Tango Burlesque is auditioning female performers for the January 2014 premiere of "The Oregon Tail Burlesque: You Have Died of Sexy" directed by Sabrina Harper and choreographed by Zatanna Zor-Elle at Gorilla Tango's Bucktown Theatre (1919 N. Milwaukee Ave.)  We are seeking comic actresses of all different shapes and sizes with strong movement backgrounds. No prior burlesque experience is required; but performers must be comfortable and confident with their bodies, as revealing to pasties and panties is required in performance. Must be 21 or over. We are will also be casting understudies for our open run productions of "Boobs of the Dead: A Walking Dead Burlesque," “A Nude Hope: A Star Wars Burlesque,” and “The Empire Brings Sexy Back: A Star Wars Burlesque Sequel” Send headshot and resume to Juicy Lucy at juicylucy@gorillatango.com for more information or to schedule an audition or any or all of these productions.

Audition Date: Sunday, October 13th, 2013

Audition Time: Auditions will be held in one hour blocks from 7:00pm-10:00pm

Callbacks: Monday, October 14th, 2013 from 7:00pm-9:00pm

Location: Gorilla Tango's Bucktown Theatre (1919 N. Milwaukee Ave.)

Pay: $25 per performance + tips 

Time commitment: Oregon Tail opens Friday, January 10th at 9:00pm and will run for 12 weeks performing every Friday at 9:00pm. Understudy performances begin on Fridays or Saturdays in November or December depending on casting. Rehearsals for all shows are scheduled based on actor availability and will work around holiday breaks. Full performance schedule at www.gorillatango.com.

Material to Prepare: Come dressed and prepared to learn a short dance that involves a strip portion down to bra and panties. Cold readings will also be done. Sides will be sent to actors prior to audition date.

HELP LOCALLY: 2nd Annual Circus Soirée to Benefit CircEsteem Chicago's Youth Circus

Join us for the 2nd Annual Circus Soirée, where guests will be treated to a special circus performance by CircEsteem youth and staff, a live and silent auction, and an opportunity to learn how to walk on a tightrope, juggle or roll around in a gym wheel. Circus Soirée proceeds benefit CircEsteem's HomeWork & CircusWork program, an after school program that provides tutoring, circus arts training, and healthy snacks to more than 30 youth three times a week throughout the school year. Since 2001, CircEsteem's mission has been to unite youth from diverse racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds by helping them build self-esteem and mutual respect through the practice of circus arts. Our curriculum includes clowning, juggling, stilt-walking, unicycling, and acrobatics all of which is taught by professional circus staff and is designed to allow students to progress at their own pace. By overcoming obstacles and achieving goals, our students demonstrate increased self-esteem, higher grade point averages, and new found circus skills. My favorite Circus Soirée shots were the cool juxtaposition of the kids doing circus arts and the rockin' antiques in the Architectural Artifacts space. Check out ChiIL Mama's Full Circus Soiree Photo Recap Below: Last year my husband & I video taped the whole show & shot close to 500 stills, and our son & daughter both performed.   This year our kids are taking a fall hiatus after 3 solid years of circus arts with CircEsteem.     Du-Jay just started the selective enrollment, gifted program at Lane Tech and needs to settle in to the rigorous academic demands and workload.   Sagezilla is again doing competitive gymnastics with the Chicago Comets team and has practice 4 days a week, so we needed to ease up on circus, just for the moment.   But we'll be back! The kids adore circus arts and we have seen first hand what a wonderful program CircEsteem runs and highly recommend it.   Help out if you can! We need your help to reach our goal of raising $60,000 to support our free circus programs.  There are many ways you can get involved. Buy a ticket to the event, donate an item to the silent auction, make a donation or volunteer!  It's going to be a night you won't want to miss!

Check out more of our "best of" below:

There was excellent array of food choices from jambalaya to gourmet tacos & crepes.

The "boozie snocones" and non boozie snocones for the under agers were a huge hit!

And there was a plethora of cool silent auction items to choose from.   
We were so stoked to win the collapsible hula hoop, private lessons with Dizzy Lizzy and an outdoor trapeze session on the lakefront!

Don't miss Circus Soirée 2 on October 17th!!   Book your tickets by the 4th.   Time's ticking....

Sagezilla's first pro-stage makeup session!

These kids & instructors have some serious talents!

At CircEsteem the older kids are paid to mentor and teach the younger ones and sliding scale classes and free tutoring make circus arts accessible to all.   HELP OUT if you can.