The Break is your new favorite band. Homegrown real sound straight out of Chicago. A true to form great rock band. The next hook in your head. The Break has played every major venue in Chicago to a constantly growing fan base and despite their youth, wants to buy you a beer and sing you a song.

Where were you when Napster slammed the coffin lid shut on the old-school music business? Tucker Jameson was writing songs in his suburban Connecticut bedroom and playing guitar till his little 10-year-old fingers ached or his mother commanded, “Lights out!” While his classmates pored over Harry Potter books or glued their thumbs to Nintendo games, Jameson scrutinized the liner notes to Revolver andNevermind.

Jameson is part of the first post-CD generation, yet he’s steeped in the rock classics that form a necessary foundation for anyone hoping to build a music career lasting longer than the blink of a YouTube video.

After some early adventures in recording, Jameson toured the country and landed in Austin, determined to use his rock appreciation and Berklee-honed skills to write modern songs that speak to his own generation. He spent a year working in the studio, finally emerging with a group of tunes that unequivocally achieve his goal. “Son of Superbia,” “Technological Warfare” and “Ritalin” couldn’t have been written in the ’60s or the ’90s, but they contain the kind of power-pop songcraft that fans of any rock era can identify with.

Chicago-based indie pop quartet Purple Apple is made up of three 15 year old girls and their twentysomething babysitter, Devin, on drums. The three schoolmates at the core of the band – Olivia, Madi and Nonie – are wise beyond their years, and nowhere does this show more than in their songwriting. While their peers were playing tag and trying out for the junior high cheerleading team, Purple Apple focused their free time writing songs about the things that matter to them, songs that capture the complex world of being a teenager. Armed with a handful of original material, the band released their debut EP, Sweet Wolverine, in 2010. For the past couple of years, the girls have worked hard to perfect their live sound, initially at venerable venues like Schubas and the Hideout, and eventually graduating to become the youngest band to ever headline Chicago’s legendary rock venue, The Metro.