I should admit upfront that Im a big Handsome Family fan and an even bigger Andrew Bird fan.Bird announcing Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of, a Handsome Family covers album with his current touring band, The Hands Of Glory, was only good news to me, but for more reason than my fandom.Bird...

Submitted By: @312mrgPhotos: Adam McCall PhotographyThe internal excitement hit me like a heat wave in the midst of the polar vortex-ed Chicago winter. When the New Mastersounds announced a return appearance at Chicago's House of Blues on June 7th in February, it stoked the flame and was promptly marked on the calendar. Consider this your...

The notorious FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island opened its season under clear skies last weekend with a pairing of Jack Johnson and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes.The acts shared the stage for a pair of covers of The Beatles and The Band and Johnson and his band reeled off additional takes on...

Contributed By: Ashley M. DowningI have always heard that birds of a feather flock together. This was recently proven to me first-hand when The Ragbirds and Birds of Chicago gathered together in the windy city for an intimate evening at City Winery. I arrived to the venue just before the sold out show began; eager...

Words: Alex WoodPhotos:Eujin KwakKishi Bashis set at the Metro balanced expressive violin performance with a creative use of effects. Though only three band members backed the violinist, their sound was massive, achieved through looping techniques and well-composed songs.Kaoru Ishibashi has released only two records under the Kishi Bashi moniker, but the set list...

Words / Photos: Alex WoodChad VanGaalen has become increasingly prolific in recent years, his unique songwriting always recognizably his own.VanGaalens set at The Empty Bottle focused on his newest release, Shrink Dust, a record that blends simple folk songs with murky, psychedelic flourishes.While Shrink Dust is an excellent record, the songs sounded even better...

Given the format and its inherit lack of spontaneity, I was in "no spoilers" mode and had shut myself off from the flow of information about the Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration featuring Warren Haynes prior to the Chicago stop on the short spring tour.So it was a bit strange that the only bit of (...

You may have seen the high praise I gave Cabinet in our recent jambands-of-tomorrow feature. I won't rehash everything I wrote over there in this post, but there is no doubt I believe the future is bright for this band who is mining some unexpectedly new territory in the jamgrass space.They swung through Chicago...

What I think I know about Beats headphones:1. They don't sound good. They produce too much bass. True audiophiles look down on them.2. Their original guts were engineered by Monster, a consumer products company built on deceiving its customers. They have since moved on.3. Their leadership team decided to branch out into streaming audio, purchasing...

Welcome to the eleventh edition of the The BarnsThese Are My Jamsseries. To see what this is all about,check out Volume Oneand for more jams, ourlanding page for the entire series.1. It was immediately after my first exposure to Cabinet that I added this as my jam. Since then, I can say that they've...