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.

“In a world of disposable heroes, autotune and a mindless TMZ culture that has all but declared Rock and Roll dead…there is one band that stands alone. “Smidgen” is traditionally defined as a very small amount of something but Chicago’s Smidgen brings it big. Comprised of longtime veterans of the Chicago music scene, Smidgen has answered the call to fight for what’s right…to fight for Rock and Roll.” – Marc Brown, Music Critic

Our sound contains strong melodies, hooks, and straight ahead power….its a blend of classic rock, progressive, super pop, and alternative with a dash of indy sound put into Vegomatic blender on pulse. See us live.

The address on songwriter Ben Todd’s 2002 Driver License reads “Hwy 180 W South of SF Bridge, Alma, NM”. This vague location is where Lonesome Shack began. Living in the isolation of southwestern New Mexico’s Gila Wilderness, Todd hunkered down in the shack he built and studied the music of the American folk and blues lineage. Today Lonesome Shack’s songs continue to be informed by these early explorations as they combine the sounds of post-WWII electric country blues with a modern sensibility which plants them firmly in the present.

In 2007 Todd moved to Seattle and within a year joined up with drummer Kristian Garrard (Thousands). Together they recorded and released the “Bound to Die” LP in 2009, “Falling Down on Your Floor” EP in 2009, “Slidin Boa” LP in 2010, and completed two west coast tours and two national tours. With the recent addition of bassist Luke Bergman (Also a member of Thousands) the band has become heavier and more rhythm-focused. The band finds influence in the Georgia drumbeat styles of James Davis, the one chord drone blues of Junior Kimbrough, and the high energy boogie of John Lee Hooker. When performing live, they are known to stir a subdued crowd into a fevered dance party.

With a new full length album “City Man” to be released Oct. 26th, Lonesome Shack will be touring the west coast and Southwest to bring their latest material to new audiences.

The story of The Hot Mollies is a long and often misunderstood one. It all began one year in high school. Wheeling High School, to be specific. Three young boys, two of whom knew eachother before, and the other just a loser, met under some strange circumstances: a school variety show. From there, they formed the power trio known as Suttree, performing at several other High School variety shows. It was not until their guitarist, a young fellow named Joseph, came up with the idea to change the name to “The Hot Mollies”.

The Hot Mollies? Yes, and they were from then on known as The Hot Mollies, and have been bringing the Wheeling Countryside rock and roll for the past several years.