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Beard Of The Day – May 7th – Jon Wurster

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Few drummers in rock and roll stay as busy as Jon Wurster. The mop-topped and bearded percussionist has not only been a member of indie rock standard bearers Superchunk since 1994, but also has also been a permanent member of The Mountain Goats since 2007, and has played drums on both of the legendary Bob Mould’s last two solo releases. Both of those artists are also currently releasing records on the label Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballard founded, Merge, which is not a coincidental given the common thread of the bearded Wurster behind the kit.

Being the true renaissance man he is, Wurster is also prolific in the comedy world as well, having written episodes for such Adult Swim oddities as Tom Goes To Mayor and Tim and Eric Awesome Show. He is good friends with comedian Tom Scharpling, and the two have the very widely listened-to podcast The Best Show, which had previously aired on WFMU out of New Jersey prior to this December. And one thing the bearded Wurster’s prolific body of work makes abundantly clear is that there are never a lack of diverse projects to take on.

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Beard Of The Day – May 6th – Lou Barlow

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There are few musicians as important or as prolific in throughout the course of independent and alternative rock as Lou Barlow. As the original bassist for Dinosaur Jr., Barlow and guitarist (and former BotD) J. Mascis created a wall of distorted sound that deafened and delighted modern rock audiences. But the two butted heads frequently and Barlow was kicked out of the band in 1988. They reunite with Mascis 17 years later, and they have since produced arguably the finest work (Farm, I Bet On Sky) in their entire catalog, a true rarity among nostalgia driven cash-grab reunions.

In the years in between, Barlow helmed two acclaimed projects of his own: the low-fidelity outfit Sebadoh, and the cleaner, pop flavored sounds of The Folk Implosion. The latter of the two groups spawned one of the most unlikely modern rock radio hits of the 90s in the eery “Natural One” from the soundtrack to the equally disturbing film Kids. During that time Barlow has intermittently donned a full, admirable beard to compliment his consistently shaggy hair and glasses. And it is for all of those reasons he is honored here today.

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Beard Of The Day – May 5th – Guillermo Del Toro

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With today obviously being Cinco De Mayo, this space will be used to pay tribute once again to a fine Mexican export to the world of film, director/writer/auteur Guillermo Del Toro.

With a scraggly beard fitting enough for one of his fantastical characters, Del Toro was first introduced to American audiences with 1997’s Mimic, an ambitious if flawed horror/science fiction film that though it bombed at the box office, has since gained a cult following and was recut by Del Toro in 2011. His breakthrough came with his 2006 film Pan’s Labrynth, which won several Academy Awards for its elaborate set designs, production, and costumes, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language film.

Del Toro was even slated to take over the Hobbit/Tolkien franchise from Peter Jackson, but ultimately bowed out of the director’s chair due to the tremendous commitment those films would have required, but remained on as a producer. His most commercially successful film to date remains Pacific Rim, which Del Toro himself admitted is a big ridiculous spectacle, but undoubtedly fun as hell. There have been talks of a sequel that have yet to materialize, and his next project, Crimson Peak, is set to be released this coming October.

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Beard Of The Day – May 3rd – John Entwistle

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One of the Hawks problems so far this season has been consistency and intensity. They’d let the Preds back into the game by giving up a goal immediately after scoring and they let the Wild back into Game 1 after nearly running them out of the building in the first. So we need someone strong and dependable for today’s beard. And that’s why we’re going with The Ox. A founding member of The Who, Entwistle was known as”the quietest man in private but the loudest man on stage”. While Townshend and Daltry deservedly get a lot of the praise and Moon was a man of many legends, you can’t understate the importance of Entwistle to The Who’s sound. From actually insisting that Townshend be admitted to the group to being the first to use Marshall stacks, there is no Who without Entwistle. His furious and intense playing style has led some to claiming Entwistle is as important to the bass as Hendrix was to the guitar.

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Beard Of The Day – May 2nd – Frank Miller

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Once again, it’s one of the best days of the year… it’s Free Comic Book Day! To celebrate, we’re picking one of the greats, Frank Miller. Miller got his first real break as a penciler on Daredevil in the late 70’s. While at the time comics were still only the domain of heros in tights, Miller realized his penchant for writing grittier darker crime stories that happened to have superheros in them. Taking over Daredevil, Miller brought the character from an afterthought in danger of cancelation and transformed him into one of Marvel’s most popular (which I’m sure will only increase due to the excellent Netflix series). After Daredevil, Miller was able to also bring his themes to Gotham with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns which hugely influenced both the Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan films. Miller is also widely known for original works like Sin City and 300.

With the weather as nice as it is, I’m about to go walk down to my local shop and see what’s going on, if you’re able, I suggest you do the same.

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Beard Of The Day – April 30th – John Muir

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John_Muir_by_Carleton_Watkins,_c1875When you think of someone born in 1838 who devoted his life to the wilderness.. you ought to picture someone with a big scraggly beard and disheveled hair. And that’s exactly what you get with John Muir. Born in Scotland, Muir moved to the States with his family at a young age. He took a botany class while attending the University of Wisconsin which quickly set him down a path devoted to studying, protecting and most of all, enjoying the outside world. Muir’s work petitioning Congress helped establish the national park bill in 1890 which protected not just Yosemite but all of the surrounding mountains and forests. This bill paved the way for our National Park System which maintains and protects some of the most beautiful land in our country. And thanks to McClure, I now know that he was also featured in early 1990’s computer games too.

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Beard Of The Day – April 29th – Eli Caterer

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In the spirit of Chicago/Minnesota synergy, today tribute is paid to Eli Caterer, guitarist of The Smoking Popes, and youngest of the Flying Caterer Brothers that form the band. The Popes are opening for Twin Cities icons The Replacements for their two night set at the Riv tonight and tomorrow.

Along with brothers Josh and Matt (and a rotating cast of drummers now currently featuring Mike Felumlee once of Squirtgun, Alkalkine Trio, and Duvall), the Lake In The Hills natives have been consistently putting out punk flavored power pop for nearly 25 years.

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Beard Of The Day – April 28th – Damon Albarn

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Though he very rarely dons a full beard, given that today is the release date for the first Blur album in 12 years (and more importantly their first album with Graham Coxon since 1999), today’s selection is mercurial Blur lead singer Damon Albarn.

Since 2003’s Think Tank, the most recent proper release from the Britpop icons, Albarn himself has kept busy with Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad, and The Queen, and releasing material under his own name. But while all unique in its own right none of it has truly measured up to Blur’s mid-to-late 90s output.

While mostly famous in this country for being a hockey arena anthem, the original intent of “Song 2” was basically a middle finger at the Pixies’ “Tame” in true wry British fashion. That it took on a life of its own in sporting arenas across the continent really only proved the band’s point. But past that track, success as eluded the band in America where chief rival Oasis was able to produce multiple radio hits here in the states. Much of that might likely be attributed to the antics of the Gallagher brothers, which no one in Blur had neither the time nor the inclination to keep up with. Albarn and his occasional beard were far more concerned with putting out a wide variety of different music spanning the last three decades.