Maybe Hip – Blogs Internet Television

Chicago Music: Chris Merritt

Chicago, Virginia, Brooklyn, Oh My!

Chicago in the summer.  It seems a distant memory now:  getting off an airplane (from Virginia, to Chicago) and into a full car with people I’d never met in a town I’d never played.  But alas, these situations seem more and more common in this strange life as an independent, self-proclaimed rock star.

The Chicago Rocks interview went swimmingly, besides the fact that I was fighting some kind of Death Flu From Outer Space.  The best part of the experience was getting to know three of the coolest people in Chicago.  Patrick, Lexi, and some tall kid that was hanging around the whole time named Andrew (that is, when he wasn’t busy auditioning for American Idol or running off with girls).  Later, I played a show with a band called I Fight Dragons, who are a resourceful and friendly people with a rich culture and heritage.

Since then, I’ve done a few things, one being an absurd and crazy thing.  First I made a new record called Virginia Is For Hoverers (Part One), which I recorded in (gasp) Virginia.  Then I played a few shows and mowed some lawns and stuff.  My faithful trio and I played notably at Richmond’s The National, and drew a surprisingly dense crowd (not like, a stupid crowd, I mean, a numbered crowd).  I went to Utah and played a show.  I went to Norfolk and Maryland and played some shows.  Meanwhile I wrote fifty new songs and taught my cats to sit and roll over (really).