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Rachael Ray

Rachael Ray looks to SXSW and beyond

USA TODAY
Rachael Ray, center, and her husband, John Cusimano, listen to Debbie Harry with Blondie perform at the Rachael Ray Feedback Party during the SXSW Music Festival, Saturday, March 15, 2014, in Austin, Texas.

AUSTIN -- In addition to prepping for her ninth annual Feedback event here at South By Southwest, Rachael Ray is working on another batch of gatherings in other cities.

An additional Feedback showcase, where the celebrity chef mixes music and food in a daylong festival, is planned for Chicago on June 25 with other host cities to be announced.

The Austin event, scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Stubbs BBQ, is free to adults 21 and older, includes performances by Naughty By Nature, Jenny Lewis and George Clinton with Parliament & Funkadelic (see full lineup on the Feedback Web site).

"We make promises with this event that I really am steadfast with and there are no exceptions to the rule," Ray said in a telephone interview. "No overcrowding, access to clean toilets, food, beverage, multiple stages and there must be music for everyone. Everyone must be made to feel welcome and included. And quite frankly that’s how I listen to music."

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She and husband John Cusimano, whose band The Cringe also performs at the Feedback event, are vinyl record buffs, she said. "We are obsessed with our music and we listen to everything," she said. "We love rap. We love opera. We love classic rock and good pop. And that is what we try to put into the mix and we have done that every year."

People gather together for music and for food, she said. "The whole vision of Feedback was to combine these two things that I love. Everybody can come together and it will all be cool," Ray said. "This is my utopia and I wanted to do it here because it is my favorite city."

Among the dishes to be served Saturday are beer and bourbon pulled pork sliders with pineapple pico de gallo, upside-down Frito pie, grilled corn off the com "with pimento cheese slathered all over it," and chicken drumettes with a coating made with a dozen spices. "I think the Colonel did 11 and I wanted to kick that."

The upcoming Chicago Feedback event will be held at Lincoln Park Zoo with Grace Potter and Lee Fields & The Expressions among the performers on the main stage, with more local artists on a second stage. That and the other planned events are being produced with Knitting Factory Presents.

Tickets for Chicago will go on sale March 25 and range from $49.50 for a general admission ticket and two food tasting items to $299 for unlimited food and private viewing area.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider

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