Butch Walker, a ’66 Triumph, and the Pacific Coast Highway

I ride into Venice, California, on a borrowed electric motorcycle. It’s warm and the fog is pouring in off the ocean. I push open an unlocked street-level door to Rubyred Studios and find Butch Walker sitting at a console, typing into a laptop. “Oh, hi!” he says, and gets us some coffees.

Veruca Salt @ Lincoln Hall, 7/12/14

Photos: Veruca Salt @ Lincoln Hall (Chicago), 7/12/14

On Saturday, the reunited Veruca Salt played the first of two Chicago shows in three nights, celebrating the 20th anniversary of American Thighs with the dueling harmonies and dirty riffs of singer-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post.