Empty Pockets And Stolen Trailers

The Empty Pockets are not only a rock group in their own right but the backing band for Al Stewart. After youthful ventures in the Bournemouth area, the inventor of historical folk-rock started his career as a solo performer but also worked with other musicians including the band Shot In The Dark, guitarists Peter White, Laurence Juber, and most famously his acolyte Dave Nachmanoff. 

The Empty Pockets are much younger than Al, who will be 78 later this year, but know his music inside out, especially Erika. They are also from Chicago where there were over 2,000 carjackings in 2021. No, that is not a misprint – two thousand! Fortunately, The Empty Pockets appear to have avoided this crime so far, but recently they had a trailer full of equipment stolen. 

It remains to be seen if they will recover any or all of their chattels, but fortunately this has not affected their output. They are currently playing weekly concerts on-line.

Sadly, thefts of this nature are far from uncommon. Wishbone Ash had their equipment stolen way back in 1972. The following year, Paul McCartney and his wife were mugged at knifepoint in Nigeria while recording Band On The Run. Chicago is arguably worse than Nigeria, even with Lori Lightfoot gone, but if The Empty Pockets ever decide to stop touring, they could do worse than relocate to Maryland where a fellow musician and native Chicagoan might decide to hire them as a house band. Apply in writing to Tim Pool!