H.O.G. POD: Chicagoland Hyper Local Music Scene

Welcome to HOG POD: Chicago's Music Scene Unplugged! Hosted by Mike Orfanos, Mike Dermont, and Pete Jansons, we dive into Chicago’s vibrant music scene. From classic rock to indie vibes, we bring you exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes stories, and live performances. Discover local legends and emerging artists while exploring the city’s diverse music culture. Tune in for special episodes featuring tribute bands and live events!

H.O.G. POD: Chicagoland Hyper Local Music Scene is a music podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 114 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts H.O.G. POD: Chicagoland Hyper Local Music Scene, a music show with 114 episodes published.

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  H.O.G. POD: Chicagoland Hyper Local Music Scene

  Personal Trainer by Day, Nancy Wilson by Night — Lisa LaManna | Hogpod Chicago Music Podcast

  Aug 18, 202653 min

  A guitar player walked into her Lake Zurich fitness studio, said "I have a proposition for you" — and that's how a personal trainer became the Nancy Wilson in one of Chicago's premier Heart tribute acts. Lisa LaManna sings and plays the Nancy Wilson role in Heart 2 Heartbreaker — the Chicagoland Heart & Pat Benatar tribute alongside Jerry (Benatar) and opera-trained Diva. This week she gets into getting recruited right before COVID, the terror of nailing the "Crazy On You" intro solo in heels ("you're on an island"), her years with the '80s All-Stars and the "I Love the '80s" all-star nights, first concert Billy Squier at the Providence Civic Center (and the video that "ruined him"), why Prince is her "music Jesus," front row at the Purple Rain tour, why Tinley Park's skyboxes wreck the sound, and a completely unhinged Pop-Tart debate involving Crisco, butter, microwaves and "extra gluten." KEY MOMENTS 00:00 "I have a proposition for you" — a guitarist walks into her gym 01:01 Welcome, Lisa 01:05 Broken Oar storm show & the summer-festival weather gamble 02:56 The Skokie Backlot Bash umbrella storm 04:05 Chicago's premier Heart & Pat Benatar tribute — the Vixen / Heart of Glass connection 05:29 Adam, Diva & the band — joining right before COVID 05:45 The recruitment story, full version 07:37 MaxFitness — her Lake Zurich training studio 09:14 Festival showcases & meeting Aussie Reborn 10:58 The washboard wedding & the "I Love the '80s" all-star nights 13:10 Piano to guitar — "once you plug that thing in, there's no going back" 14:58 The "Crazy On You" intro & playing in heels 15:49 Solo nerves — "you're on an island" 17:19 "How can you say no?" — the honor of playing Nancy 18:05 Jerry & Diva — Evanescence, Joan Jett & Scandal 19:38 The Warrior, FM/Easy FM & juggling bands 21:32 Festival season & getting lost on the way to gigs 24:30 Parking-lot war stories & the captain's suit 26:57 Deep-cut Heart & the Bad Animals tour 29:36 Why Tinley Park's sound gets screwed up (skyboxes) 30:51 Ann & Nancy Wilson — key changes & aging rock voices 33:28 Heart's "Stairway" at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 34:34 Rapid fire begins 35:04 First concert — Billy Squier at the Providence Civic Center 37:45 "That one video ruined him" — the Billy Squier debate 39:44 Favorite artist: Prince — front row at Purple Rain, "music Jesus" 41:31 The Gap Band, Earth, Wind & Fire & Paisley Park 44:07 Favorite movie: Titanic 45:14 The Pop-Tart question — Crisco, butter & "extra gluten" 47:36 Where to train & catch the band — MaxFitness, Alpine Fest, Jack Tripper 49:44 Gun to your head: Pop-Tart or hot dog? 51:09 The wig that won't quit — "funny for everyone but me" 52:18 Let's get all three back on Heart 2 Heartbreaker - Lisa LaManna - Nancy Wilson - Heart tribute - Pat Benatar - Chicago cover bands - Crazy On You - Billy Squier - Prince - Purple Rain - MaxFitness - Lake Zurich - 80s rock - women in rock - Chicago music scene GUEST LINKSMaxFitness: https://www.maxfitnesslisa.com/ Heart 2 Heartbreaker: https://heart-to-heartbreaker.com/ Heart 2 Heartbreaker on Facebook: / heart2heartbreaker Lisa on Facebook: / lisa.lamanna ❤️ Support Hogpod on Patreon: / hogpod Hosted by Pete Jansons and Mike "Bongo" Orfanos (Bongo Mike). Booking — booking@hogpod.org #Hogpod #ChicagoPodcast #MusicPodcast #Heart2Heartbreaker #HeartTribute #NancyWilson #PatBenatar #ChicagoMusicScene #TributeBand #80sRock #WomenInRock

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  H.O.G. POD: Chicagoland Hyper Local Music Scene

  John Gabrysiak: 40 Years Booking Chicago — Johnny Winter, Duffel Bags of Cash & $175 to See a Laptop

  Aug 11, 20261h 2m

  John Gabrysiak — "John G" — has spent 40+ years in the music business, from booking agent for John Mayall, Johnny Winter and Levon Helm to Music Director & Talent Buyer at Special Events Management (chicagoevents.com), where he now books the bands for Chicago's biggest summer street festivals.Pete and Bongo Mike sit down with John for a full-circle conversation: Pete booked the Cubby Bear in the early '90s; John was on the agency side that fed it. What follows is duffel bags of cash, sold-out shows in 20 minutes, the smoke weekend that cancelled BurgerFest, and an honest look at why a concert ticket went from $11.50 to $341.This episode opens with a tribute to Peter Katsis (1957–2026), the legendary Chicago-born music manager (Ministry, Bush, Smashing Pumpkins, Backstreet Boys), whose name comes up during John's Morrissey story.CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open — in memory of Peter Katsis 0:40 Welcome — meet John G 1:15 Billboard at the library - Elton John at 12 3:49 NIU concert committee: Cheap Trick, Zappa, Sammy Hagar 5:02 American Famous Talent: Lonnie Brooks to John Mayall 6:40 ZZ Top's Antenna Tour & Levon Helm with Ringo's All-Starrs 8:05 Fred Bohlander and the birth of Monterey International 9:43 Cubby Bear days, Q Productions & Coran Capshaw's $150 11:44 Johnny Winter sells out the Cubby Bear in 20 minutes 14:29 Duffel bags of cash - wire transfers & ACH 18:11 The smoke weekend: BurgerFest Friday cancelled 20:47 Weather, lightning & a festival monsoon save 22:44 Freddie Jones' "In a Daydream" on the Artemis mission 23:34 Festival economics: the $10 donation nobody pays 26:01 Booking the season — it starts in October 27:46 Fewer national acts / "drink and sing 'Jessie's Girl'" 31:34 The opening-act shakedown: how agents bundle 33:21 Why people stay home now 35:04 DJs, laptops & "$175 to see a laptop" 37:46 AI ads and unlicensed band photos 40:05 Ticket prices: Rush at $11.50 vs $341 45:53 VIP packages with "no artist participation" 46:33 What Special Events Management actually does 48:22 The Lincolnwood Fest turnaround 51:04 Polestar & the idea of a local booking database 53:07 How many fests? ~15 a season 54:09 Rapid fire: the worst concert ever (Morrissey / Riviera) 57:23 Molly Hatchet & the cowboy-hat standoff 58:47 Pop-Tarts closer + come back soonGUESTJohn Gabrysiak — Music Director & Talent Buyer, Special Events Managementchicagoevents.com | LinkedIn: /in/johngabrysiak | X: @JGTRICK | IG: @johngchicago #Hogpod #ChicagoMusic #LiveMusic #ConcertBooking #MusicBusiness #ChicagoFestivals #JohnnyWinter #JohnMayall

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  H.O.G. POD: Chicagoland Hyper Local Music Scene

  Rachel Locker: Blind Melon, Devon Allman & the Story Behind "Wagon Wheel" | Chicago Music Podcast

  Aug 4, 202633 min

  How does a suburban music teacher end up interviewing Blind Melon, an Allman, and the guy who wrote "Wagon Wheel"? She just slides into their DMs. Rachel Locker — host of the Rachel Locker Music podcast and a teacher at Our Music Institute in Northfield, IL — joins Hogpod to explain how she lands big-name guests the low-tech way: a direct message on Instagram. Along the way she walks us through the interviews that stuck with her — Blind Melon guitarist Christopher Thorn opening up about the loss of Shannon Hoon and how differently mental health was treated in the '90s, Devon Allman on growing up without knowing Gregg Allman was his father, and Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor on how "Wagon Wheel" grew out of an unfinished Bob Dylan demo. We also get into teaching five- and six-year-olds, why she ditched guitar for bass, meeting her husband (Pino Farina guitarist Mike Popko) on Facebook, and a live drive-by tour of the OMI studio to close it out. Rachel Locker Music — on Spotify and Instagram (@rachellockermusic) Our Music Institute — lessons, teen bands & a recording studio in Northfield, IL — https://loveourmusic.com Pino Farina — the band featuring Rachel's husband, guitarist Mike Popko KEY MOMENTS 00:00 Cold open — the music teacher who DMs rock stars 01:15 Welcome — and Rachel's on the clock (she's got a class to teach) 01:58 How Pete met Rachel — the Mosquitoes opening for Pino Farina at Sundance 02:35 "Big time married" — her husband, Pino Farina guitarist Mike Popko 03:43 Two and a half years of the Rachel Locker Music podcast 05:03 A Blind Melon in the guest list — Christopher Thorn 06:03 "I just DM them on Instagram" — how she books the big names 07:49 Her favorite guest ever — Christopher Thorn 07:56 Thorn on losing Shannon Hoon — the guilt, and mental health in the '90s 08:18 The eerie Blind Melon documentary — the last footage 09:35 How many albums did Blind Melon really make? 11:14 Devon Allman & the "Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul" documentary 12:05 He didn't know Gregg Allman was his dad until his teens 12:37 Spotting Devon Allman in the crowd at Summerfest 14:37 "Two wrongs don't make a right" — Gregg's on-stage lesson during "Midnight Rider" 15:17 Warts and all — why live is nothing like the studio 16:16 Pete's disco-ball disaster with Heart of Glass 16:51 Bass over guitar — learning, and chasing the calluses 18:11 Inside Our Music Institute (OMI) in Northfield 19:02 Recitals at Mad Catz & the Black Diamond sessions 21:36 Facebook dating & the newlywed story 22:44 The OMI teacher roster — Amanda Rebecca from Hairbanger's Ball 23:23 The co-host invite — "you get the guests, put 'em on here" 24:04 "Wagon Wheel's" secret — Ketch Secor, a Dylan demo & a shared songwriting credit 24:46 Boone, NC & the tobacco-spitting meeting that actually happened 26:18 Ketch playing with Ringo Starr 27:44 Dylan going electric & the Timothée Chalamet movie 28:35 Rapid fire — first concert, favorite movie & the Pop-Tart rule 30:58 Where to find Rachel Locker Music + loveourmusic.com 31:52 Bonus: a live drive-by tour of the OMI studio Rachel Locker Music - Blind Melon - Christopher Thorn - Shannon Hoon - Devon Allman - Gregg Allman - Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel - Ketch Secor - Our Music Institute - Northfield - Pino Farina - Chicago music scene - music teacher - podcasting ❤️ Support Hogpod on Patreon / hogpod ️ Hosted by Pete Jansons and Mike "Bongo" Orfanos (Bongo Mike) Booking — booking@hogpod.org #Hogpod #ChicagoPodcast #MusicPodcast #RachelLockerMusic #BlindMelon #ChristopherThorn #DevonAllman #OldCrowMedicineShow #WagonWheel #ChicagoMusicScene #Podcast

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  H.O.G. POD: Chicagoland Hyper Local Music Scene

  Dan Volpe: 40 Years & 1,000 Guitars With My Metal Heart | Hogpod Chicagoland Music Scene Podcast

  Jul 28, 20261h 4m

  Dan Volpe has kept the same band alive for forty years, figures he's owned something like a thousand guitars, and still flat-out refuses to carry a setlist. He's the mastermind behind My Metal Heart and the guy who's run Exide since 1984 — and he just became the third member of My Metal Heart to land in the Hog Pod chairs, after Elise and Mark Molloy. He gets into the Thirsty Whale nights when the smoke machine hid the whole band for five songs, naming a group after WVVX 103.1 blasting metal till 1 a.m., the day the guy who wrote "Switchin' to Glide" tracked him down over a cover — and whether a cover-band lifer is ready to let AI write his next song. If you came up in the Chicagoland bar scene, this one's for you. Grab a cold one. KEY MOMENTS 0:00 Cold open 2:00 Back from vacation — straight into two band practices 2:43 The 3rd My Metal Heart member to hit the Hog Pod (after Elise & Mark Molloy) 4:45 Exide since 1984 & the birth of My Metal Heart 5:24 Why he built VVX to play Van Halen to Metallica 6:18 The band named after a dead radio station: WVVX 103.1 7:02 Suits on, "Cuddly Metal" — the My Metal Heart rebrand 9:18 No rehearsal since 1991 — and it still works 10:01 Walking in and playing last night's leftover setlist front to back 11:31 "Switchin' to Glide" — the guy from The Kings tracked him down 13:32 Thirsty Whale tales: smoke machines & an amp on fire 17:16 Northwest suburb haunts — Chances Are & Dirty Nellies 23:44 Are kids still getting into hard rock? 25:25 Running a music store through the grunge takeover 29:22 Does anybody still support live music? 35:05 How DUI patrols quietly emptied the bars 36:29 Why he brings earplugs to every show now 40:18 Older brother, Van Halen '78 & the spark 44:07 The best guitar players going right now 45:19 The power-chord "aha" that unlocked everything 46:03 The AI snobbery segment: can a machine write your next song? 50:35 How many guitars? Try 1,000 53:16 Les Paul vs. Strat — the real difference 55:05 His one-of-a-kind Hamer out of Arlington Heights 56:49 First concert: Doobie Brothers, front row, age seven 1:00:03 The vacation where he set up a friend's entire guitar collection 1:01:38 Pop Tarts: the final verdict Chicago cover bands - Exide - My Metal Heart - VVX - WVVX 103.1 - The Kings - Thirsty Whale - Hamer Guitars - Rick Nielsen - Van Halen - guitar collecting - Chicago live music scene - AI music Guest links My Metal Heart — MyMetalHeart.com (Facebook / YouTube) Exide — on Facebook Book Dan — dan@vvxlive.com, or Joey DeMarco at United Talent ❤️ Support the Hog Pod: patreon.com/hogpod Hosted by Pete Jansons & Mike "Bongo" Orfanos Want on the show? Booker / club owner / shredder → booking@hogpod.org #Hogpod #ChicagoMusic #DanVolpe #MyMetalHeart #Exide #ChicagolandMusicScene #ChicagoCoverBands #TributeBand #HairMetal #GuitarCollector #ChicagoLiveMusic #PeteJansons #BongoMike

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  H.O.G. POD: Chicagoland Hyper Local Music Scene

  Bob Newhart Told Her "Good Job, Kid" — Heather Moran of Bluewater Creek | Hogpod

  Jul 21, 20261h 18m

  What do you do when Jam Productions calls with five days' notice and asks if you want to open for Bob Newhart at a sold-out Chicago Theatre? Heather Moran said yes — and walked offstage to a wink and three words she never forgot. This week the Bluewater Creek singer (with husband Mike Moran riding shotgun on the couch) covers a career that runs from opera training and Second City to Chicago jazz rooms, storefront theater in Andersonville, and the Lake County scene she now calls "a little Austin." Along the way: the Heatherita, the night the orchestra hated her charts, playing Janis Joplin for Soundtracks of a Generation, the deep-cuts lesson every bar band learns the hard way, why somebody told her she sings "too pretty for rock and roll," singing the national anthem from the top of a firetruck, Mike's DJ etiquette rules, booking bands through Moran Event Group — and the first-ever puppy on Hogpod. His name is Alan. He slept through it. Catch Bluewater Creek live: Jul 23 Long Grove Music in the Park · Jul 31 McHenry Riverwalk · Aug 7 Libertyville in the Park · Aug 8 Sunset Pavilion, Lake Zurich (free) — billed as Bluewater Creek Lite KEY MOMENTS 00:00 Bluewater Creek live — cold open medley 4:47 Heather arrives + the Heatherita recipe 6:23 Puppy news & the midnight-to-two shift 8:00 Three years of Hogpod, zero monetized episodes 13:03 Bongo's intro — the washboard & djembe at Toadstool Pub 14:22 How they met: Mosquitoes + Bluewater Creek at Sundance 16:02 Sal & Soundtracks of a Generation — 18 shows 18:34 "I've got a band in me" — the Bluewater Creek origin story 21:48 Deep cuts vs. hits — the 80/20 flip 23:50 2013: five days' notice to open for Bob Newhart 25:48 "Good job, kid" — the Johnny Carson wink 27:08 Signing the Chicago Theatre green room wall 30:10 Mom of three, gigging till 2am — the career takeaway 31:20 Opera → theater school → Second City → Factory Theater 33:04 Moran Event Group — working both sides of the stage 40:01 "DJs aren't musicians?" + the wrong-coast DJ disaster 42:06 DJ trends — TikTok kids going back to the 70s 43:33 Alan the puppy makes his public debut 44:49 Let's talk Janis Joplin 49:19 Why the Janis songs come last in the show 50:31 Classical training & 30 voice lessons a week 52:38 "You got to smile and sing" 54:39 "Too pretty for rock and roll" 56:59 The rooftop stage going up at Doc's 57:59 The national anthem from the top of a firetruck 59:20 What's new on Main Street Wauconda 1:00:22 Pitching 30 bands to book one gig 1:02:39 How to book Heather & Mike 1:07:04 Bongo's rapid fire begins 1:07:42 First concert: Shaun Cassidy, third grade 1:10:38 Boulder days — opening for Big Head Todd & the samples 1:12:46 The Pop-Tarts question 1:13:38 Cheese fries: Portillo's vs. everybody 1:14:21 Berwyn, Fitzgerald's & the Fire Alarm 1:15:27 The right way to request a song from a DJ 1:17:02 Hams from the Land of Clear Blue Waters — sign-off FEATURED LINKS Bluewater Creek https://www.bluewatercreekband.com/ Heather Moran https://www.heathermoran.com/ Book bands & DJ — Moran Event Group moraneventgroup@gmail.com ❤️ Support Hogpod on Patreon / hogpod ️ Hosted by Pete Jansons, Mike "Bongo" Orfanos (Bongo Mike) & Chris "Rhodesy" Rhodes Booking booking@hogpod.org #Hogpod #ChicagoPodcast #MusicPodcast #HeatherMoran #BluewaterCreek #BobNewhart #ChicagoTheatre #ChicagoMusicScene #LakeCountyMusic #Wauconda #Americana #LiveMusic

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