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SATURDAY OCTOBER 7 | SUNDAY OCTOBER 8 2017
Glenview | Northbrook
SUNDAY BREAKFAST
Wagner Farm director reaps the rewards of a job well done. P14
SPORTS
Glenbrook North’s Landon Abboud soars on the football field. P12
SOCIAL SCENE
Award-winning violinist Rachel Hsu performed during the North Shore Art League’s Art Show and Art-in-Bloom event. P8 FOLLOW US:
NO. 105 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
NEWS
Tried & true mixes with fresh & new at OLPH Holly Fair BY LIBBY ELLIOTT DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
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new generation of Women’s Club members at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Glenview is breathing fresh life into a decades-old fundraising event. The OPLH Holly Fair will take place October 19 & 20 in the church’s “Playdium”gym space.The 2-day shopping event draws a crowd of nearly 2,000 and raises an estimated $65,000 to support the OLPH parish. Although the Holly Fair was founded 36 years ago as a small,preChristmas shopping event,the fair’s offerings have expanded and diversified since then. This year, setting a new fair record,a total of 50 vendors will be selling everything from trendy women’s accessories to luxury children’s clothing and artisanal products for the home. Over time, organizers have steadily decreased the number of vendors who exclusively sell Christmas items. Continued on PG 6
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Introducing William Patrick Corgan Former Smashing Pumpkins lead singer launches new album BY GREG SHAPIRO DAILYNORTHSHORE.COM
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or many of us, he will always be Billy. But as William Corgan, front man of The Smashing Pumpkins, began to edge closer to age 50, he was having second thoughts about that. As he puts it, “I prefer to be called William. Billy is more of a stage name in my head at this point.” Highland Park resident, business owner and Grammy Awardwinning musician Corgan’s name isn’t the only thing that’s different about his new solo album Ogilala (Martha’s Music/ BMG). Produced by Rick Rubin, the 11 songs take Corgan in a dazzling new direction via stripped down arrangements that focus on his distinctive voice accompanied by piano and acoustic guitar. The results are breathtaking. Corgan will perform in Chicago at the Athenaeum Theatre October 24 & 25. I spoke with Corgan, who describes himself as “HP all the time,” about Ogilala and life in Highland Park shortly before the October 2017 release of the album. Gregg Shapiro: “Zowie” is the perfect name for the first song on Ogilala because that’s probably the reaction listeners will have when they hear the gorgeous piano and vocal tune. William Patrick Corgan: It’s funny because Rick (Rubin, pro-
William Patrick Corgan, aka Billy, will perform in Chicago’s Athenaeum Theatre October 24 & 25. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALPHA PAN
ducer) questioned the title when we were recording the record. It’s my little nod to David Bowie’s passing. It doesn’t sound like David Bowie, but there are certain chords that remind me of what David would do. I was thinking of him a lot when I wrote the song. I think it was around the time of his passing. It was my way of tipping my hat to David in a way that you would only recognize if you were a David fan. GS: Wasn’t Zowie the name of his (eldest) son? WPC: Yes. Although I think eventually his son changed his name (to Duncan Jones), because that’s obviously a weird name to
have [laughs]. I even got to meet his son a few times along the way. When we’re in dream language, as we are when we’re writing songs, things kind of pop up. I don’t really question them much, as any of my dubious song titles indicate [laughs]. I go with whatever I feel at the time. Like I said, Rick raised an eyebrow to the title, but it just stuck. GS: The songs on Ogilala have these lovely piano, vocal and acoustic guitar arrangements. Were you listening to something before or while making the album that inspired this direction? WPC: That’s a really good question. For years I’ve listened to
people who were prominent in the English folk movement in the `60s who were very influential, but many people don’t know their names, (such as) Anne Briggs, Bert Jansch and Davey Graham, as well as Pentangle and Sandy Denny, who sang on the (Led) Zeppelin album. I found myself as a listener to be really attracted to that type of music. Sometimes music can be an antidote to what we’re going through not only in life, but also in the culture. I think there is a certain synchronistic quality to how folk music was very important during the turbulent times of the 1960s. There’s something about folk music or those
types of tones or chords and melodies that remind us that there’s a longer history here. Although this time seems very difficult, we’ve gotten through these times before. I found myself listening and I don’t know if it permeated my interest in what I wanted to do musically. GS: Do you feel like these kinds of arrangements, on “The Spaniards”, “Processional”, “Aeronaut” and “Half-Life of an Autodidact”, for instance, gave you the chance to exercise different vocal muscles? WPC: I’ve played music like this privately for 20 years. Friends would always say, “Why don’t you Continued on PG 6
10/3/17 7:08 PM