Chicago Tribune

The happy ups and dangerous downs in the life and career of Chicago rocker Michael McDermott

The musician Michael McDermott at home in Orland Park on Nov. 10, 2022.

CHICAGO — The rock ’n’ roll life can be a very hard life, and Michael McDermott knows that as well as anyone who is still alive and kicking, and writing: “Music is an amazing, time-traveling vehicle that glides atop the ether of our memories and dreams. Sights, sounds, and scenes come rushing back like a strong narcotic to catapult you into the stardust of your life. To untether you to swim in the beauty and madness of life. Music is that vast ocean that can carry you.”

Those are not the lyrics to any of the songs on his many albums. They are from his first book,

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