Four Chicagoan friends playing rock music for your third ear. We will rock your socks off. We draw from a wide variety of influences, but most people classify us as some type of hard math rock. There’s a definite psychedelic vibe going on that continues to develop, but we are not a jam band in the stereotypical sense of the genre. ETP includes members of the now defunct bands, Tough Get Going, Devlin Progress, Halos Astray, and Maus as well as the active artists Monsoon, Asa Nisi Masa, and Masochistic Values.
Well, it’s been a while. After playing 150 shows last year and making appearances on CBS and various radio stations across the country, I needed a break. It wasn’t necessarily a choice. If I had it my way I’d still be touring everyday, but fate and my pocket book said I might need to take some time to regroup. …… They were right. After multiple car break downs and band members changing out, a regroup was in order. I’ve spent the past 8 months in Chicago just living and enjoying music and people. I spent a lot of time playing with different musicians and writing new music and lot of time (oddly enough) surrounded by recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. Yep, that’s right. It started as something to do with my music to encourage people on my time off (I’ve played a few places like that while on tour). Well, I ended up completely loving it. There I was every friday night surrounded by people who’ve been through it all being completely honest with who they were and their healing process. It brought out change in me…in a non fight club kind of way. I’m taking what I’ve learned and now gearing up to tour again this fall with music from my self -titled album engineered by the awesome Ryan McConnaughay of Moody Radio……. With some new band members and a newly inspired purpose, we’re taking this music to the next level. We’ve already got to play with some pretty amazing groups (groups like Relient K, Switchfoot, Phil Wickham, Keri Noble, Kutless, and John Reuben to name a few) and are pretty thrilled to play with some even more amazing ones coming up (preferably Beyonce, but I’ll let you know.) Honestly, though, if it’s just us at a coffee shop playing for a few people, we’ll be excited still. I can’t wait to see everyone and for you to hear these songs live.
“Pree’s unique brand of lyrically driven, experimental pop throws a shock of light on a rare nexus of style and substance within an irresistible sonic realm.
Pree’s latest album, Rima, will be released on Paper Garden Records this fall.”
THE Legend of “John Burrows” Two hours after Elvis’s death was announced publicly, a man who reportedly looked remarkably like Elvis purchased a ticket for Buenos Aeries, paid in cash, and used the name John Burrows: the same name Elvis had used as an alias several times before.
THE JESTERS
Local Chicago band, The Jesters, have been playing the Chicago scene for nearly 20 years. With a heavy dose of showmanship, The Jesters mix funk rock, ska, swing and a bit of insanity into a high-energy, action packed show. Don’t bother pulling up a chair…you’ll be too busy dancing!
Psychedelic rock is in the midst of a resurgence with groups like the Flaming Lips releasing their most experimental music in years and new acts such as Tame Impala gaining major international attention. KAVA does what comes natural to three Chicago music veterans when writing, rehearsing and performing together. Ryan Behling (bass/vox), Wilson (guitar) and Marshall Greenhouse (percussion/electronics) first met while forming AfroZep, a national touring act that fuses African influences into Led Zeppelin covers. The trio clicked from the start. It quickly became obvious that it was time to move away from strictly arranging together and start writing original music. So they packed their cars with as many instruments as they could fit and headed far out of the city where they locked themselves up in a cabin for the weekend and experimented. The result was about 20 hours of recordings that included tightly composed odd time grooves in the vein of The Mars Volta, to 15+ minute minimalist jams which featured drones supplied by the Juno and Kaossilators. KAVA has since continued to hold retreats, toured the country, performed local shows (often fully improvised), recorded 2 studio EPs plus an experimental improvised EP and in the summer of 2013 released their first full length album entitled Shikaakwa.
A confused and shy individual, Charlie Parr plays original and traditional folk and rural-style blues, accompanying himself on National resonator guitars, 12-string guitar and a fretless banjo. Parr has failed at most things in his life. Music seems to have rendered him unemployable and is the only thing he’s ever done with any confidence. A lot of folks have been saying nice things about Charlie, despite the lingering odors and indecipherable comments he makes. It says a lot about folks; they’re hanging in there with him, in spite of himself.
The musical journey of Eric Moeller began at a very early age. Inspired by the death of a family friend, Eric wrote the lyrics to his first song at the age of ten. Ever since then, he has never stopped, and has matured into a talented and inspiring writer and performer. Today, Eric is living in Augusta, Missouri and working hard.
In the past couple years, Eric added a band to his live show. Known as Eric Moeller and the Strummalongs, they are currently playing shows around the St. Louis area and hitting the road when possible. This full band sound is a combination of Bruce Springsteen, the Clash, and current punk acts such as the Bouncing Souls and the Dropkick Murphys.
A new recording has been completed as well. The new full length record is titled ‘Daily Life’ and is due for release July 2010. It features 11 full band tracks as well as 2 solo tracks. The full band songs feature Joey Kotsybar on drums, Eric performing the lead vocal and the rest of the instrumentation, and Bruce Moeller, Nick Falcone, Brian Gunderson and Trey Garrison performing some backing vocals.
Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. Eric Moeller will surely be heading to your favorite local venue, and putting his music out into the world.
Howdy! M’name is Gus Kumo, and you can call me Gus. I’ve been makin music since 2004 or so with sampler loopy machine thingamabobs! Somewhere along the line, I met a good pal by the name of Doggy P. Lips (he’s the fella with antennas). We had the idea to join forces and perform for people, with Gushing Cloud music being the backdrop. Since 2007 we’ve been performing our unique brand of electro-funk-dj party-meets-weirdo-performance-art-goodvibes-mayhem for lovely pals across the fine state of Illinois. Along the way we’ve been joined by other friends to enhance the show, friends like Stan, Oedipus C. Dopanopolis, and Uncle Brian. We’d love to perform for you!
“Take the Doors, shake ’em up with a touch of Pink Floyd and throw in some Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and you have the psychedelic rock vibe of Electric Shepherd… “Down the River” sounds like it could have come right out of an intro to a Tarantino flick… This tale told through music carries the listener through a complex multi-layered universe of sound…” -MEUN MAGAZINE
THE HARD WOOD BOYS
What ever happened to all those dudes that were in those local metal bands of your youth? Well, in the case of The Hard Wood Boys they play old timey traditional folk with a twist now. With a few instruments (and some cleaning supplies made into instruments) these four long time friends are bringing you that hot new jug band joint straight from the underground. And by underground I mean rural Illinois. Featuring a washtub bass as well as mandolin, banjo, washboard and guitar The Hard Wood Boys tap into the very earliest American roots music. If the name Alan Lomax means something to you then this is your kind of band.
A culmination of high energy blues, rock and funk music is what The Beeson Brothers bring to the stage. Enjoy deep driving bass lines, powerful drum rhythms, soulful organ & keys and cutting guitar lines with raw blues lyrics. The band thrives off of live performances and has been making itself a regular showcase in the midwest. Based out of Champaign, Illinois the band consists of four brothers that hail from the northern suburbs of Chicago. Ryne Beeson plays guitar and sings lead vocals, Myles Beeson is on drums and percussion, Drew Beeson can be found on keys, guitar, and vocals, and Callan Beeson is on bass, harmonica and vocals. Drawing from many past and modern influences, including genres of world music for their creative inspiration, the brothers have been writing and are preparing to lay down some original tracks in the coming months. Check out the bands website and online sources for more info on the brothers and an updated schedule of shows.
Described by Rockabilly-Online as pure, original country/rockabilly, it’s hard not to like Carmen Lee and The Tomorrow River Two. With their first album BIG STAR released this August and gigs throughout Wisconsin and Chicago, Carmen Lee and the Tomorrow River Two are starting to become a force in the scene. The rockabilly-country-blues singer has been writing music since she was four years old, and has never stopped since. Although Carmen Lee’s smoky rich voice has been compared to Patsy Cline and Billie Holiday, and her hit song ‘Big Star’ has been compared to an early Johnny Cash, her sound is truly original. Armed with a train-slappin’ upright bass and simple Luther Perkins style guitar leads, Carmen Lee looks the part of a classic rockabilly queen as she pays homage to 50s rockabilly/country roots and the Sun Studio sound. With Carmen Lee you can’t go wrong, her soulful crooning is sure to hit you right in the gut, if not in the heart.
Villains Company is a five piece rock group from Chicago, IL, that blends the slick tones of classic and modern rock with interstellar grooves and harmonious vocals to create a collage of new and eclectic music.
Geoff Farina is a professional musician currently living and working in Chicago, the home of Atavistic, Southern Records, Schuba’s Tavern, the Fireside Bowl, and other institutions that patronized Geoff’s bands during the indie-rock heyday of the 1990s. Geoff continues to write original music, release records on small labels, and tour the US, Europe, and Japan as a soloist and with his current band Glorytellers. He also performs the solo guitar arrangements of Mississippi John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotton, Blind Arthur Blake, Sylvester Weaver, Blind Willie Johnson, William Moore, Bayless Rose, Norman Blake, Clarence White, Doc Watson, and other seminal American steel-string guitarists. Geoff performs in the Piedmont, Delta, and flatpicking guitar styles developed in the southeastern United States before WWII, using period instruments from his personal collection of vintage Martin, Gibson, National, and Stella guitars. The Last Kind Words, Geoff’s duo with mandolinist and American & Country Tune Book author Kenneth P.W. Rainey, emulate the Monroe Brothers, the Blue Sky Boys, and other classic guitar/mandolin combos from the 1930s and 1940s. Geoff’s duo with guitarist/songwriter Chris Brokaw recently released a collection of pre-WWII blues, rags, and spirituals called The Angel’s Message To Me.
Geoff teaches music history at DePaul University, where his courses include That High Lonesome Sound: Bluegrass 1936-1972 and What Were The Blues? 1920-1960. He has also taught music history and music theory at Colby College and the University of Maine, and English composition at the University of Massachusetts. Geoff’s own music education includes a BA from Berklee College of Music, an MA from the University of Massachusetts, and private studies with Guggenheim fellow Roswell Rudd and guitar virtuoso Ben Monder.
Geoff is probably best known for the genre-flouting guitar style he developed during his 12 years fronting Boston’s Karate, or as one-half of The Secret Stars, the seminal early-90s duo that circulated home-made cassettes of original songs now covered by the likes of Ida and Death Cab for Cutie. Since the early 90s, he has played on 40 releases, and performed at more than 1000 venues in 20 countries, including the Brussels Botanical Gardens, Denmark’s massive Roskilde Festival, MTV Europe’s Supersonic, and NPR’s Talk of the Nation radio show. More recently Geoff has recorded 3 albums with the Roman punk/folk group Ardecore, and composed original music for Cinamazero’s annual Schermo Sonoro festival in Pordenone. Geoff’s music has also appeared in Staccato Purr of the Exhaust, a film featured in the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, and Andrew Gillis’ 2000 film Security, Colorado, a film produced under the constraints of the Danish Dogme 95 Manifesto. Geoff has collaborated with musicians Michael Zerang, Massimo Pupillo, Dan Littleton, Luther Gray, Frank Rosaly, Nathan McBride, Allan Chase, Taylor Ho Bynum, Rebecca Gates, performance artist Jed Speare, and dancer Alissa Cardone.
“Frank Bang has a blue soul and a rock and roll heart. He plays that guitar like he was born with it in his hand” -Tom Marker 93XRT Chicago
Whether it be… Alone and acoustic…. Amped up and rocking with “The Secret Stash” …. Or playing guitar and singing in the All Chicago Blues Band “Cook County Kings”. Frank Bang is devoted to the music of his youth. His heart is pure rock and roll, but his soul screams the blues. Like Mike Bloomfield and many more before him, it was the combination of raw talent, hard work and devotion that earned him respect, and a following, among blues loyalists. Blues guitar master Buddy Guy chose Frank to play blues guitar alongside him on his national and world tours. When you hear him play you will understand why.
For Frank, being on the road with Buddy Guy was an advanced education in the blues, especially in the fields of guitar mastery and showmanship. The experience has not only honed his ability with traditional material to that of a true journeyman, it has strengthened his contemporary guitar presence. As well as opening up Frank to musical influences from Rock to Country, Blues and Soul music. On the road, he has jammed with some of Rock and Roll’s great legends including The Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana, Robert Plant, Jimmy Vaughan, R.E.M. John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, to name a few. He has performed on the Tonight Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and numerous European and American television specials, including a documentary on BRAVO and Jules Holland “Live”, for the BBC. His dozens of live radio broadcasts include shows on Mancow, KFOG, KBCO and E Town.
Calli Dollinger was born in East Texas, the swampy industrial wasteland also responsible for the howls and hisses of the late Janis Joplin. Described by Time Out Chicago as “the back room ghost of a classic rock chanteuse”, Calli developed her swamp-rock meets psych-pop sound, while growing up in Austin, Texas, and later, as a student at Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Calli Dollinger is based in Chicago, IL and will release an EP later this year, produced by the Grammy award winning, Stuart Sikes, who has previously worked with country legend Loretta Lynn, Cat Power, Jack White, and Modest Mouse.
BOB WAYNE
After a long hard run, down the roads across this land. Bob Wayne gathered up some outlaws, and they formed themselves a band. Now every day is different, every player every show. Will you see a bearded lady? Unless you go, you’ll never know. So come one, yeah, come all. When this ho down comes around. Who know’s, you could be an outlaw too! Lettin out that carnie sound.
Lawrence Peters is a singer, songwriter, drummer and America’s preeminent electric washboard player, with a musical career spanning twenty-plus years. He was a key player in the Lawrence, Kansas music scene before moving to Chicago in 1992. Since then, he has recorded or performed with dozens of bands, including The Lawrence Peters Outfit, Magnolia Electric Company, Plastic Crimewave Sound, Velcro Lewis Group, The Golden Horse Ranch Band, Eiren Caffall, Mar Caribe, and Tijuana Hercules. Lawrence’s main musical passion is deep-rooted American country music, but he also plays acid punk, swamp rock, Shaker-modern, and Western-pirate-surf music, and somehow gets away with it. In his spare time he volunteers for CHIRP Radio.
With the future on the horizon, so emerges change. Birth and Death of all things. it is now 2012, and from Chicago comes the punk rock band Shift.
Shift started in early 2011 by Joe Hibbs (Guitar), with later additions being Dan O’Brien (Bass), Mike Miles (Vox), and Dennis Michael (Drums) and right out of the gates recorded our first album in less than 6 months. When you are driving around your Dodge Dart, pop in Shift’s first album “Issues and Addictions” and crank it. You car will be instantly transformed into a Trans-Am going 140 mph….
