In this episode of I Wish More People Were Here we get to know one of Chicago's most appetizingly named performers.
"Janet Beveridge Bean" should be a household name.
With Catherine Irwin, Janet founded alt-country's famously defiant duo, Freakwater. They toured the world with Townes Van Zandt and had the audacity to turn down a recording deal from Steve Earle. If two dudes from the mid-west had a rootsy string band with punk rock angst in the '90s, they probably would've gotten super famous, I tell ya what.
She plays drums in 11th Dream Day , the band she put together with Rick Rizzo in Chicago. Over the last 30 odd years the band has put out 16 albums and found themselves on Aylantic Records for a few years. They're stalwart darlings of the celebrated Chicago indie scene.
Then there's The Freakons, sort of mash-up of The Mekons and Freakwater. I initially thought this going to be a Missy Elliott tribute group. It's actually inspired in part by Jon Langford, who’s from Wales, and Catherine Irwin, who’s from Louisville. "Death, Earth’s destruction, and lost love either are at the forefront or lurking just under the surface of these songs like the coal that links them all." - Glide
Janet Bean has toured or played with Neko Case, Nick Cave, P.J. Harvey, Murder By Death, Warren Ellis, Tortoise and Wilco. And that's just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
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