By: @WeirScrewedJason Isbell and his band The 400 Unit played to a sold out crowd at the Chicago Theatre on Saturday night. Although Isbell toured extensively around Southeastern, this was the first time his full band (including Isbell's wife and violin player Amanda Shires Isbell) had played Chicago since the release of the Grammy-winningSomething More than...

By: @312mrgSongwriting is amathematical equation rooted in art -- and it blows my mind. To the layman, it evolves coding and decoding, instant translation and digestion, and the courage to present a final product as something worthy of consumption.Tom Hamiltonseems to embrace these concepts for entire albums... and even tours. Painstakingly assemblingtracks exactly how...

Occasionally, if I'm inspired, rather than take the time to write up a full  review up here on the site, I'll take the the twitter feed to get some quick and dirty thoughts on something right out into the ether.To say that I was inspired by Jerry On Jerry: the Unpublished Jerry Garcia...

Words: Carmel O'Farrell (@carmelocorn) | Photos: Kristine Condon Photography| Video:shinepigeon 2.0On Thursday, January 28th, Umphrey's McGee kicked off their two night run at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, WI. This was unquestionably the most anticipated show of winter tour with a promise of a full set of music that would be100% improvised.With special guest...

Photos: Adam MiszewskiI need to come clean. When the Allman Brothers Band dissolved in 2014, my first thought was whether Derek Trucks would reform the Derek Trucks Band.Sure, I was a huge fan of the Tedeschi Trucks Band over the course of their first two albums...but wouldnt it be great for him to fill...

[Update 1/25] Since Bruce had to cancel his MSG weekend gig due to the blizzard, he's offering a free MP3 download of the Chicago show as consolation. Check it out at nugs.net (for a limited time).The start of this week was kind of a struggle for me. Granted, it largely consisted of #firstworldproblems --...

By: @WeirScrewed| Video:izeoftheworldphotos"Who hustles harder: Chicago or Detroit?" was the question asked by Greensky Bluegrass over their four show run, spanning the extended New Year's weekend with two shows eachat Michigan's Royal Oak Theater and Chicago's Vic Theater.Not sure about the city's hustle, or even those of the fans in each, but...

Words & Photos: Alex WoodThough notorious for his storytelling during live shows, Steve Earle gave the audience at City Winery something far more special than a few pastime tales during his solo performance on Monday.Earle used the show to run through his discography chronologically, performing one song off each album he had released since...

By: Carmel O'Farrell (@carmelocorn) | Photos: Ab PhotographieNew Years Eve is a special night for most live music fans. If we aren't traveling the country to join our favorite band on the road, we hunker down and enjoy the acts that come to us. Either way, we suit up, pop some bottles, and try to keep...

By: Carmel O'Farrell (@carmelocorn) | Photo: Megan Sanders | Video: Charles IzenstarkOnce again, Tonic Room in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood brought a unique Umphrey's McGee side project to its intimate stage.On Saturday, December 19th,it came in the form of 30db, which consists of Umphrey's lead vocalist Brendan Bayliss and mandolinist Jeff Austin. It's been years...