
Homewood Arts Council bringing rock veterans together for birthday tribute to The Who's Pete Townshend
Homewood Arts Council describes itself as being dedicated to supporting and showcasing its community's already deep passion for the visual, literary, musical and performing arts.
One way the 501(c)(3) volunteer-run community organization does this is by presenting events such as Who's Birthday – A Tribute to Pete Townshend for ages 21 and older on May 10 at Homewood Izaak Walton Preserve's Senior Hall.
'I'm friends with Chris Casteneda, who put this together. He knows me through a couple mutual friends and has seen me play,' said Phil Angotti, one of the event's performers. 'Besides writing original music I play a lot of '60s things. I'm a huge fan. He knew that so he asked me to part of this show.'
Castaneda, president and director of the Homewood Arts Council — which he joined in 2021 after moving to the village from Chicago's Mount Greenwood community, curated the celebration of Townshend's 80th birthday with sets featuring the musician's solo material and songs with The Who.
Who's Birthday also includes Homewood resident and longtime Townshend fan Dolph Chaney; Northbrook native Rick Rizzo, a founding member of Chicago-based band Eleventh Dream Day; and Sam Vicari, a northwest Indiana native and Chicago resident who is lead singer and guitarist for The Feeders.
'It will be interesting to see what everybody is playing. We're all such fans,' said Angotti, who will be making his Homewood Izaak Walton Preserve debut. 'It's going to be interesting to see what everyone brings. I'm looking forward to that.'
Born in 1961, Angotti will play acoustic guitar on and sing 'Blue Red and Grey,' 'However Much I Booze,' 'Slit Skirts,' 'Sea and Sand,' 'The Acid Queen' and 'I'm a Boy,' which were all written by Townshend.
Angotti, who has been the lead singer of Material Issue which is also known as Material Reissue since 2011, recalled being a teenager in his first band, The Fleas, when someone in high school gave him a copy of The Who double record featuring the 1967 albums 'The Who Sell Out' and 'Happy Jack.'
'Like everybody else I knew 'Quadrophenia' and I knew 'Tommy,' but I didn't know their early stuff. I just went crazy over that stuff and went looking for every Who album I could find. When the movie 'The Kids Are Alright' came out, that was when I really turned into a monster Who fan,' Angotti said.
Written and directed by Jeff Stein, the 1979 documentary 'The Kids Are Alright' starred The Who members Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Townshend, who was born on May 19, 1945, along with Ringo Starr, drummer of The Beatles — another of Angotti's favorite bands.
In addition to musical performances, Who's Birthday includes soft drinks and pizza slices for purchase and mixed cocktails provided by Family Wine & Liquors, of Homewood.
'There's so many great Pete songs,' said Angotti, who cites 'Pure and Easy' from Townshend's 1972 debut solo album 'Who Came First' and The Who's 1974 compilation 'Odds & Sods' and 'Keep Me Turning' from the 1977 solo album 'Rough Mix' with Ronnie Lane as top Townshend compositions.
On March 28, Universal Music Recordings released 'Pete Townshend: The Studio Albums,' an eight-CD set of his complete solo catalog of seven studio albums through 1993's 'Psychoderelict' with sleeve notes by Who archivist Matt Kent and an exclusive Townshend interview.
'Quadrophenia, a Mod Ballet,' which is written by Townshend, is in rehearsals for its world premiere and its United Kingdom tour begins May 28 at Theatre Royal Plymouth's The Lyric. The dance production features his wife, Rachel Fuller's orchestration of music from The Who's 1973 album 'Quadrophenia.'
Angotti called Townshend, the principal songwriter for The Who, 'a musical genius.'
'He actually demoed all of those songs before The Who recorded them. His songs are his children,' he said.
'My Generation' from The Who's 1965 debut album of the same name; 'Pinball Wizard' from 1969's rock opera 'Tommy;' 'Won't Get Fooled Again,' 'Baba O'Riley' and 'Behind Blue Eyes' from 1971's 'Who's Next;' and 'Who Are You' from the 1978 album of the same name were written by Townshend.
'He always wrote about interesting subjects. That appealed to me as a young guy and his obvious talent of writing great melodies. It was a combination of those two things for me, and there's his acoustic playing, which is super innovative and influential,' Angotti said.
After Phil Angotti & Friends were featured at Beatles Brunch with String Section on May 4 at FitzGerald's in Berwyn, the man known as 'THE Beatles guy' will return to the venue on June 1 for the monthly Beatles Brunch.
Angotti also is booked with original bassist Ted Ansani and original drummer Mike Zelenko for a Material Issue concert on Sept. 27 at Schubas Tavern in Chicago.
'I was a big fan of the band when they came out,' said Angotti about Material Issue, which Jim Ellison fronted until his 1996 death and was reformed as Material Reissue in 2011. 'Mike ended up playing drums in my original band before he asked me to be the new lead singer of Reissue.'
Angotti plans to release his next solo acoustic album, 'Notebook Head,' in late May or early June and the Phil Angotti Band album 'Sentimental Hogwash,' which will feature his single 'False Alarm,' in November or December.
Established in 2018, Homewood Arts Council welcomes people interested in joining its artist network, which includes visual artists, musicians, media artists and theaters.
'Our mission is to bring people together for powerful shared experiences and to enrich and inspire artists and audiences of all ages,' Homewood Arts Council states on its website.
The not-for-profit group, which also welcomes volunteers and donations, is collaborating with others to establish a performing arts center in the village along with exhibition and gallery spaces.
Who's Birthday – A Tribute to Pete Townshend
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Loving Giving Local: Rhoxon Productions
Movie enthusiasts will benefit from this week's Loving Giving Local donation. A local movie production company that sponsors a film festival is this week's recipient. Rhoxon Productions got a financial gift from Auto Express Resale Center. Rhoxon is an Erie-based non-profit independent film company that creates organic stories that promote a positive change. Besides creating art, Rhoxon strives to create jobs and educational opportunities in the film industry. 'Our last few projects have been about healing and about coping, and our next two are about revamping the social justice system,' said Katie Nixon, RhoxonProductions co-founder. 'That's sort of our creative endeavors, and we also create educational opportunities for people to learn how to do this professionally.' Nixon says Rhoxon has a vision of creating 50 new jobs in the film industry here. And she insists you no longer have to be on the East or West Coast to have a film career. 'No, the landscape has changed so much. Even Netflix has created their new studio out in Jersey. It's not just that you have be in New York or LA,' she explained. 'Erie is kinda a really interesting place. You have beach, you have woods, you have city, you have country all within 15 minutes of each other.' That landscape diversity, Nixon said, makes Northwest Pennsylvania the perfect place for shooting movies. This week's Loving Giving Local donation will help support an upcoming film festival. Nixon said, 'We started the only multi-genre film festival here in Erie. It's the Lake Effect Film Festival, which will be in September. So that money will go to help make that event possible.' After making his check presentation, Joe Askins of Auto Express Resale Center said, 'We're pretty fortunate to have Rhoxon in our community and they're already doing great things. So for us to be able to deliver loving giving local and to learn the donation we bring is going toward their film festival, that's what Loving Giving Local is all about,' Askins said. You can learn more about the film festival and Rhoxon's work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Proud Dad' Billy Ray Cyrus Congratulates Daughter on Performance With Country Legend
'Proud Dad' Billy Ray Cyrus Congratulates Daughter on Performance With Country Legend originally appeared on Parade. Just in time for Father's Day, is sharing a 'proud dad' moment. The 'Achy Breaky Heart' singer took to Instagram on June 8 to celebrate a landmark performance by his daughter with country music legend . 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 Along with a video of the performance, Billy Ray commented in the caption, 'O. M. G. !!! 😭🎤💥 Is it okay if a proud dad brags a little? CONGRATULATIONS @noahcyrus & @wynonnajudd — you rocked CMA Fest last night! What a powerful performance... Open up the door. When Love starts knocking !!!!! ❤️." Along with Billy Ray's post came a slew of comments, including some from fellow celebrities and one from Judd herself. 'I love your girl!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥹,' Wynonna wrote. '@wynonnajudd and i love you Miss Wynona 🖤🖤🖤,' Noah Cyrus responded. Billy Ray's new girlfriend, , weighed in by sharing, '❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.' '@wynonnajudd I'm loving all this love and kindness on top of this beautiful talent 💓 so refreshing and beautiful ❤️ Wynonna you're such a gorgeous singer! I'm in awe! Stay blessed 🙏😇❤️,' wrote one fan. 'I love this Performance so much! ❤️🔥,' wrote a German-based Noah Cyrus fan account. 'Wowza! What an amazing performance. I really enjoyed watching it.❤️🙌 🔥👏,' another fan commented. '😍😍😍 Noah is becoming more gorgeous as she ages. Absolutely stunning! ❤️,' yet another fan Cyrus, 25, is the daughter of Billy Ray and . Although she's not quite as well known as her older sister Miley Cyrus, she's also appeared on TV and has been making music since she was a child. Her latest album, The Hardest Part, was released in 2022. Since then, she released the single 'How Far Will We Take It?' a duet with country star . She's also featured on and co-wrote the single 'My Fault' with included on his hit album Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going. 'Proud Dad' Billy Ray Cyrus Congratulates Daughter on Performance With Country Legend first appeared on Parade on Jun 9, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.


Cosmopolitan
3 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
Hailey Bieber Convinced Me to Wear Cowboy Hats All Summer
There's no question: Hailey Bieber is that girl. You prob didn't need me to tell you that. The model-turned-businesswoman just casually sold Rhode Beauty for a $1 billion and graced the cover of Vogue in the span of, like, five minutes. It's only right she take a little time for some R&R (and a poolside bevvy). "Lemon drop martinis all summer long 👍🍋🍸," Hailey captioned a carousel of pics from vacay. And while there's a lot to unpack from the post (including, ahem, the original caption), I'm still stuck on her beachside look—aka the bikini and cowboy hat combo that's sorta becoming her signature. She finished off the 'fit with bold gold hoop earrings and a black bolero cover-up. It's hardly the first time our girl has stepped out in the beachy western-inspired style. Just last year, she paired her fire hydrant red swimwear with a straw version from Lack of Color. Her besties Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid have similarly adopted cowboy hats as a beach accessory—and it's enough to convince me of its status as the it style of the season. While I wasn't able to track down Hailey's exact hat from her latest Insta, a quick Amazon search revealed options that look just—if not, exactly—like hers. Take this $25 style, which is crafted from a high-quality suede-like fabric and comes in additional shades if you aren't looking to copy-paste Hailey's all-black look. "Howdy, ma'am.... I feel like a real cowboy when I put this on," one shopper said. "I like the soft velvety feel of it. The size is easily adjusted with a little string inside. " There are beachier picks too, just like the Hailey's straw hat from last summer. While her style sold out (obvi), there's a similar iteration from the same brand that was practically primed for the pool. The Seashells Cowboy Hat has a more casual woven design with seashell charms and a pinched crown. Summer plans, you ask? Sipping beachside lemon drops in a cowboy hat—while manifesting my own billion dollar deal. Megan Schaltegger is an NYC-based writer. She loves strong coffee, eating her way through the Manhattan food scene, and her dog, Murray. She promises not to talk about herself in third person IRL.