6

Rich Krueger at Armando’s Gallery House

Rich Krueger will perform December 20 at Armando’s Gallery House. Physician, sing thyself.

 

Rich Krueger, a performing songwriter, has a pretty good following in the Chicago area. He’s not a household name, but a fair number of folks around the country have been exposed to his art. He was recently a finalist in the “New Folk” category at the Kerrville Folk Festival, and has been written up in European publications focusing on American acoustic music. He was also a member of The Dysfunctionells, who described themselves as “THE butt-ugliest band in Chicago.”

I host open mics, and Rich came by one night at The Grape Escape. He shook my hand, we chatted a bit, and I got him on the list. He got up to perform, and halfway through his first song, some of the regulars and I looked at each other and mouthed the same word: “damn.”

The guy got chops.

Afterward, Rich mentioned that his job would be bringing him to Redding for a week out of each month, and he would see us again. Oh yeah, his job: I talked to Rich three times at three open mics before he bothered to mention that he was a doctor. A neonatologist, to be specific. While it was obvious from the git-go that Rich is a bright guy, I was a little surprised, because Rich’s demeanor stuck me more as from a person who might be a world-weary downtown Chicago bartender–with a large streak of kindness–than a by-gawd doctor of medicine. I think Rich would be pleased with that characterization.

Rich will be performing at Armando’s Gallery House this Wednesday, December 20. Things kick off at 6 p.m. Some guy named Hal Johnson will open for him (ulterior motive alert). C’mon out. In the meantime, check out his EP “Overpass,” which is a sampling of his two full-length albums coming out next year.

Hal Johnson

Born and raised in Ventura County, Hal Johnson moved to Shasta County in 1994. After a 38 year career flying helicopters, he can now sometimes be spotted around the North State singing and wrestling his guitar into submission. He always feels funny writing about himself in the third person. Contact him at shastalivemusic@gmail.com.

6 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments