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.

CRAWL was born out of a set break at a Chicago jazz venue, when the three musicians backing a great local jazz vocalist decided that they really enjoyed each other’s unique approach, and wanted to advance that into a setting that actually highlighted each of their unique playing abilities to create an original, instrumental project. Of course, as any musician knows, talk like this is always present on gigs – its usually a great way to seal the deal on a networking opportunity in order to make sure the calls keep coming. Well, this one only took a year of talk before it was put into action.

Three powerhouse Chicago musicians adding yet another project to their roster seemed a daunting task, but as the planets aligned in some supportive fashion, a rehearsal, and then another took place. After only a few rehearsals a show was booked and CRAWL was presented to the public. The response was overwhelming, including high kudos from some of Chicago’s most prominent fusion players, as well as bartenders and non-musicians. Even the soundman loved it! So now the band is real and ready to share their music with the rest of the world.

CRAWL is comprised of composer, and keyboardist extraordinaire Paul Mutzabaugh playing exclusively Wurlitzer in this band, bassist and composer Chris Clemente, and drummer/percussionist Rich Stitzel. Three totally different backgrounds, one ridiculous sounding instrumental trio. This band has super high energy, very deep grooves, and incredible polyrhythmic interaction in an improvisational approach to original, structured compositions.