Benefit concert back on, planned before pandemic
Brings together notable Chicago musicians in honor of longtime nurse tech
When Homewood resident Chris Castaneda lost his mother in 2019 following a 15-year struggle with diabetes, he started thinking about doing a benefit concert in her honor.
“Music was always a big thing in our household,” Castaneda said. “Doing this show is like giving my mom one more Saturday night out. She did really like going to concerts.”
His idea will become reality
Saturday, when Dedicated — A Benefit for the American Diabetes Association is slated to take place at Blue Island Beer Company.
The event will feature a rotating cast of musicians performing an R.E.M. tribute, Beatles songs and more, as well as Sonic45, featuring White Sox radio announcer Len Kasper.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Castaneda said. “It’s going to be a big day.”
Getting to this point has involved a long and winding road. The original plan was formed around September 2019 and would have seen the show take place at Metro in Chicago’s Wrigleyville.
By the time Castaneda put down his deposit in March 2020, pandemic lockdowns went into effect.
When things finally started coming together this year, Metro no longer had the Dec. 10 date the musicians agreed to play.
So, Dedicated made a move to Blue Island, with brewery owner Alan Cromwell coming through within 24 hours.
“He was Johnny-on-the-spot when I needed it,” Castaneda said. “We’re really looking forward to being in that space.”
Castaneda’s mother, Elvira “Bee” Castaneda, was a longtime South Deering resident who worked as a nurse technician at South Chicago Community Hospital for 32 years. She was first diagnosed with gestational diabetes in 1985 while pregnant with Chris’ brother.
The diabetes went away but
eventually came back over the years. Following a stroke in November 2004, Elvira had a triple bypass, and her Type 2 diabetes got worse. She was forced to retire by 2005.
“She just kept running into difficulties,” Castaneda said. “Any progress she would make during that time, she’d always hit a setback and that would put her back two steps. … It was difficult to watch.”
Castaneda said his mother was fortunate to have plenty of family available to make sure she got where she needed to be and had help.
But Castaneda understands how hard it can be on families, especially if they do not have the same support system.
So it was an easy decision to do something to honor his mother while benefiting the American Diabetes Association.
“If $1 from this benefit helps with research or any financial assistance that the
ADA can provide to individuals or families who need assistance for medication or medical bills — we know; we’ve been there,” Castaneda said.
R.E.M. music is to be featured at the concert because of the family’s connections to it. Castaneda said his parents took him and his brother to see R.E.M. at the Rosemont Horizon in 1995 as his eighth grade graduation present.
“That was our first show,” Castaneda said. “It was a great night.”
The family also saw R.E.M.’s United Center show on its last tour, which was also the last show Castaneda’s mother was able to attend. The Beatles covers were added to the mix for Castaneda’s father, who is a big fan.
And the whole event is named after a Nicholas Tremulis song. The singer-songwriter, who Castaneda’s parents saw and met in the 1980s, was one of the first people asked to perform for the benefit.
“I’m really excited about the lineup that’s taken
shape,” Castaneda said. “It’s a good reflection of the music I grew up on in our household.”
Kasper, a radio play-byplay announcer for the Chicago White Sox after years on Chicago Cubs TV, has been playing bass guitar since his mid-20s in Milwaukee. But he largely left music behind for family and career when he got into baseball full-time in 2002.
“I rekindled things 10 or 12 years ago, coinciding with when Theo Epstein got here, because he brought his Hot Stove Cool Music event to Chicago,” Kasper said. “I helped facilitate that and got back into playing.”
Sonic45 came about in 2016, when Kasper turned 45 years old.
“It’s that midlife point where you’re looking at things you’ve done or haven’t done,” he said. “One thing that I really found interesting was the idea of creating a project on my own and writing songs from scratch and just seeing how that played out. I didn’t really have any specific goals other than to write some songs. It felt really good.”
So did performing live. “It’s a fun release,” Kasper said. “In this job, because of the all or nothing nature of it, once spring training starts it’s kind of an everyday thing for eight months and then I’m off for four, four-anda-half months. It’s nice to have a hobby, I guess, that’s totally unrelated to my day job. … It’s something I’m passionate about. I don’t take it lightly. I want it to be really good.”
After writing a couple dozen, he shared them with some friends, got good feedback and started the band. Sonic45 also includes Matt Spiegel (Tributosaurus, The Parkins & Spiegel Show), Liam Davis (Justin Roberts and a Grammy-nominated producer), Gerald Dowd (Robbie Fulks) and Dag Juhlin (Poi Dog Pondering).
Juhlin got to know Kasper through Hot Stove Cool Music. He described the band as a gathering of friends and musicians who have played together in various configurations over the years.
“We’re a tight unit,” Juhlin said. “I like just being a guitar player, rather than being a frontman or singer, which I do in other bands.”
The band put out its first album last year, and a second is being recorded and mixed right now, according to Kasper. The band tends to play four to five times a year, when everyone’s schedules allow for it.
“The idea is that when we get together, we always look forward to it,” Kasper said. “Especially when you get to your 50s, you have so many other things to do, you never want to feel like it’s a burden. We all agree that we get giddy when we get together to play. As long as that continues, we’ll stay together and keep making music.”
Juhlin has known Castaneda for nearly two decades. There was no hesitation when Castaneda asked Sonic45 to play the benefit.
“It’s a good cause,” Juhlin said. “I know it’s affected his family. As a band, we were on it straight away. … Chris has always had this charitable element to everything he does, which is very commendable.”
Kasper’s grandfather on his dad’s side was diabetic and died before Kasper ever got to meet him.
“It’s definitely something that has touched my family,” he said.
But Kasper added that he also trusts Castaneda and knows how important this event is to him.
“This has been a long haul for Chris, and I’m happy to see that it’s finally coming to fruition,” Kasper said. “It’s taken a few twists and turns because of the pandemic, but we’re all pretty excited about it.”
Doors for Dedicated open at 6:30 p.m., with the show expected to start at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10.
Tickets can be purchased in advance through the events section of blueislandbeerco.com. People are also encouraged to bring one nonperishable food item for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.