On Thursday and Friday, New York-based bassist Karina Rykman headlined Chicago’s Garcia’s in support of her sophomore LP, Late Checkout. Both gigs, which took place shortly after Rykman jumped to San Francisco in the middle of her current run to sit in with My Morning Jacket at The Fillmore on some Grateful Dead and Radiohead covers, contained prominent nods to the Windy City.
On night one, Rykman busted out her take on area hero Wilco’s Krautrock classic from A Ghost is Born, “ Spiders (Kidsmoke),” a tune that has been in her repertoire since her earliet days as a solo artist in 2019. (As luck would have it, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy was performing elsewhere in town that night at the Chicago Theatre, at the 80 Years of John Prince celebration, where he performed the noted musician’s “Summer’s End.”) Then, the next evening, she invited out Chicago keyboardist/singer Neal Francis to join her combo on both her own “Spacecase” and The Velvet Underground’s “Cool It Down.” Adding to the excitement, before the second show, Rykman posted a video playing Jerry Garcia’s famed Tiger guitar in the city.
The city-specific nods continued on Sunday as well when Rykman took the stage at Minneapolis’ 7th St Entry. During her own “Easy, Rider,” Rykman moved into Prince’s 1984 funk B-side “Erotic City,” before returning to her original.
Rykman will appear at Nasvhille’s Row One Stage this evening.
