Pitched somewhere between the loose revivalism of Jack White and the groove of Alabama Shakes, Rival Sons possess a chimera-like character: a jazz -trained rhythm section that met at Isaac Hayes’ house, a garage-rock fuzzadelic guitar maestro, and a Blues rooted street singer with the powerful raw delivery of rock and the sensitivity of a Laurel Canyon trip.

Though rooted in the past Rival Sons play with awareness and modernity like they’re calling on inspiration through their roots anew, filtering out more of rock’s overblown past and bringing in call-and-response testaments to truth – In their own words, they “want to give the people the rock and roll they deserve by keeping it honest, visceral, and dangerous”.

Rival Sons’ 2012 3rd album Head Down scuzzy “blues-rock invades Motown’s backbeat to startling effect”, displaying a range of skill from the eerily insightful Jordan to the breathy summer pop stylings of Until The Sun Comes or Wild Animal, and setting the whole thing aflame with the sprawling psychedelic guitar freakout Manifest Destiny Pt.1. All of this emphasizing how American roots music is now grounded in the 60’s notion of blues and soul.

That’s not to say Rival Sons ignore the straight stuff, drummer Miley “channels John Bonham’s brute force &Tommy Lee’s restless energy” much of Head Down is anchored in fuzzy guitars and soul groove spliced from The Small Faces and The Animals – Rival Sons don’t mess about, but they’re not purists, they’re modern – they splice familiar sounds and forms together but mix them up with the secret ingredient of song-writing skill, that balances story-telling with Scott Holiday’s pugnacious guitar and the beauty of Jay Buchanan’s voice in an explosive reminder that “soul is the key”.

Fizzing with freshness, Head Down honours half a century of classic rock with reverence, respect and the realisation that this music’s still happening, right now. – BBC

Introducing the band in the words of singer Jay Buchanan:

“[Bassist] Robin is an accomplished jazz player, and the guy loves Motown and listens to rap a little too much for my liking. [Drummer] Miley also has deep roots in jazz and Latin percussion as well as rock, and he shares the same birthday as Keith Moon. He’ll be the first to tell you that he listens to Steely Dan a little too much for my liking. [Guitarist] Scott is highly influenced by Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards, and he talks about ninjas and muscle cars a little too much for my liking. I whine and complain into a microphone for a living, and I talk to myself a little too much for my liking.”

Like Jack White or The Black Keys, Rival Sons see the creative process as a snapshot, only spending less than a month in the studio for each album; writing and recording all live under one roof to keep the process raw. The band bear no special allegiance to the didactic needs of retro-rock, their roots are just that, grounding from which they launch using the creative chemistry and the schooling they all possess to create in the moment, capturing a live feel that thrills and delights in often quite unexpected and exciting ways. Witnessing what a band in tune with each other is really like and knowing that what you hear on record as a 1st or 2nd take still comes second to the electric performance you will see on stage.

Formed in 2011, at Columbia College, Chicago rock band Apollo House has been compared to the Black Keys, Led Zepplin, the Black Crowes, Rival Sons, and numerous other bands that can be described as “old fashioned rock ‘n roll.” Though the band has embraced every single one of these acts, Apollo House focuses their attention on three things: heavy riffs, heavy soul, and heavy rock n’ roll.

According to singer Joe Korbee, “The band was formed to be true to the classic idea of rock n roll…” This includes blues laden guitars, heavy drums, and “honest lyrics through a soulful voice.” It’s this take on classic rock that will often take audiences by surprise, not expecting to witness such a true tribute to classic blues and rock music. It’s with this that the band hopes to give back to music what went missing in an industry where numbers always seem to overshadow talent. However, Apollo House has still managed to create and play music that exceeds traditional rock n’ roll standards. It’s the homage to classic rock music that intrigues people to Apollo House, but the modern distinction is what makes people stay.

This past August, Apollo House recorded and released their self titled EP and continues to tour and perform as much as possible. They continue to perform the show and festival circuit this upcoming spring and summer. Most recently, Apollo House recorded a release show with JBTV which will be released/aired in the coming months.

Blue Dream is a rock & roll experiment from Chicago, Illinois; containing Danny Awisha on drums, Anthony Cook on guitar, Jimmy Russell on bass, & Justin Sanetra on guitar/vocals. Inspired by the elements of psychedelia, Blue Dream has been described as, “A calm euphoria wrapped in an energetic noise rock exterior, a feeling of intensity delivered in a laid back fashion” (Paste Magazine). In December 2017, the band released their first 7″ single thru Chicago label Treehouse Records. This was quickly followed by a vinyl release of their first album, Volume Won, by European label Kozmik Artifactz in January 2018. And in September of 2018 the band wrapped up the year by releasing their second album, Volume Blue. “Neo-Psych-Mit-Der-Funky-Grooves cut chic enough to be urbane but fuzzed out enough to make the freakouts more than just a come on. I’ll take the dream-tone shimmer any day in a kind of self-aware reflection of British folk, but the dense roll that immediately follows re-imagines grunge as more than just an influence from 3 popular bands and something that could genuinely move forward from the perspective of a new generation” (The Obelisk).