Ravinia 2022, Issue 6

ASHLEIGH DYE (TOBACCO) PAVILION 8:00 PM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 YACHT ROCK REVUE YACHT ROCK REVUE With an extensive wardrobe of white belts and polyester shirts, Yacht Rock Revue ful- ly embodies the sound and style of the ’70s and ’80s, even though the group began some 2,000 miles from open ocean. Friends since the fourth grade in suburban Indiana and later Indiana University classmates, Nick Niespodziani and Pete Olson formed the band Y-O-U in the late ’90s and escaped to Atlanta. For a club gig one night, they de- cided on a setlist of so-called yacht rock—a term they’ve since made their trademark metaphorically and literally. Playing some 120 shows a year across the country for now more than a decade, headlining venues from Webster Hall in New York to the Wiltern in Los Angeles, Yacht Rock Revue’s seven members are all dads in their 40s now, so last year they fulfilled a sort-of “midlife crisis,” reached be- yond the tribute-band zeitgeist, and released their first album—a set of 10 original songs. The band brought the collection, Hot Dads In Tight Jeans , to producer Ben Allen—who’s worked with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Neon Indian—to add polish fitting their modern spirit in the vein of Phoenix and Air. “Step,” the record’s first single, recalls combinations of falsettos and grooving bass ala the Bee Gees and Steely Dan’s “Peg,” and Niespodziani and Olson even co- wrote a song, “Big Bang,” with yacht rock master Matthew Wilder, who scored a massive hit in 1983 with “Break My Stride.”There’s humor across tracks like “Bad Tequila,” “Another Song About California,” and “The Doobie Bounce” as well, and the group continues to add new songs to their live setlist beyond the Tight Jeans tracks. Yacht Rock Revue made its Ravinia debut last summer. PAVILION 7:00 PM FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022 MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER –Intermission– EMMYLOU HARRIS 5:30 PM, CAROUSEL STAGE TOBACCO CITY † † Ravinia debut TOBACCO CITY Perpetually in humble beginnings, Chicago’s Tobacco City serves up urban country sway for good times and bad. Starting as diner co-workers, Lexi Goddard and Chris Cole- slaw began performing Neil Young cover sets and writing their first EP, and in 2021 released their debut full length album Tobacco City, USA on Scissortail Records. The duo’s har- monies provide a bed for their nostalgic, mel- ancholy, and often silly lyricism. Their first single, “Blue Raspberry,” recalled the duets of Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, while “Never On My Mind” added a slow sashay of the prosaic. With rhythm section grooves by Josh Condon and Eliza Weber, and tasty ped- al steel additions by Colin Croom, Tobacco City promises sounds that induce pining for another drag. Tobacco City is making its Ravinia debut. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 27