Mr. Blotto was born in Chicago as an off-night vehicle for musicians who loved each others playing but were in different bands at the time. The only rule was that they would only play what they loved. That philosophy continues today and has led Mr. Blotto into unique musical situations.

Mr. Blotto takes the Jam band asthetic into areas unfamiliar to the standard Jam Scene. They have been known to cover entire albums by Led Zeppelin and the Who as well as perform entire shows of Country and Reggae. Artists as diverse as the Grateful Dead, the Flaming Lips, Willie Nelson and The Velvet Underground have seen their material interpreted by Mr. Blotto in the 2000+ shows the band has performed in the last 15 years, yet covers only pepper the bands hefty catalog of original material stemming from five studio albums and other unreleased crowd favorites.

From the blacktop and concrete of Chicago’s southside comes Mojo Walker – a band formed in 2011 by former members of the infamous funk-rock group Slinky Styles. With a musical relationship that has spanned the better part of twelve years, Chuck Naegele and Anthony Barraco worked their fingers to the bone honing songs in their former band and after a brief hiatus are back on the scene with a batch of new songs, their latest work, a series of blues and jazz originals, would later lay the foundation for what is now the band Mojo Walker.

Once the initial material was ready to expand Naegele and Barraco decided to bring in an old friend to play drums: Myron Cherry. They also contacted Lindsay Morris, singer of The Six Pigeons to fill in on vocals.

After a few months of writing, the strain of playing in an amazing eight different bands, began to wear on Myron. The band had no choice but to part ways with their friend and audition new drummers. From these auditions Mojo Walker met Laurin “Mack” McPhee. Skilled in Jazz and armed with a metronome-like precision, Mack became the obvious choice for the position behind the skins.

Up and running but not yet complete the auditions didn’t stop there. Chuck invited old friend and ex-keyboardist of Broken Belts, Matt Sukevicius to join the band. Matt, with a blues background and an ear for music, instantly became an integral and often stand-out voice within the group’s music.

Now a fully functioning band the final pieces were still to come for Mojo Walker. For the extra strut in their stride and bang for your buck the group searched high and low for some backup vocals.

Boy did they find them!

Jaime McGuffage and Julie Martin were more than qualified to handle the task and now reside in the background spotlight, filling in the cracks between the sweet soul step and the bright strident grooves Mojo Walker throws into the heart of every track.

With all the pieces now in place Mojo Walker has perfected their original repertoire and is concentrating on making new music. The band has created a Blues, Rock and Jazz genre that is unique, original and has a style all its own.

Hailing from Hemlock Michigan Big Brother Smokes paints a musical sound scape with their unique blend of influences. The boys have been playing together for just a short time and have already had great success with their self titled debut EP. Big Brother Smokes plays music for the soul reason to have fun and allow others to join in the festivities. Big Brother Smokes has a dynamic sound headed up by lead vocalist Matt Wardin. Matt’s smooth smokey vocals remind many of the classic days of rock. Lead guitarist Travis Wardin brings a new edge to the bands sound with electric solos sweeping the mix. Holding down the backbone of the rhythm section you’ll find Joe Balbaugh on the bass guitar and Ross WIlkin on percussion. Together Big Brother Smokes unites to form a strong and diverse sound for all to enjoy.