By: Amanda Roszkowski | Photos / Video: Wyatt BrakeGoing from featured festival performer to theater headlineris animportant transition, and one that can provide a whole different perspective on an artist.Headliners can offera bit more drama and showmanship. When the lights dimmed on Friday night, a shadowy figure -- tall and lanky-- stepped to the sage to...

Photos: Mandy Pichler PhotographyI first became aware of Steve Kimock as he was touring with the West Coast collective Zero in the early 90s. I became further intrigued throughout a series of collaborations with members of the Grateful Dead in the late 90s. But I truly went "all-in" on Kimock via his instrumental, four-piece SKBs...

Intimacy is a word that gets tossed around a lot in music writing.Sometimes it describes a feeling of connection with the artists, or their particular openness to the crowd. Sometimes it's the relative size of the venue (I've heard8000 seat amphitheaters described as intimate).But since the last time I saw Phil Lesh it...

On Highway 61: Music, Race and the Evolution Of Cultural Freedom - Dennis McNallyBy now, everybody knows that the story of America is the story of race. So, too, is the story of its music perhaps even more overtly. Onetime Grateful Dead publicist and historian Dennis McNally takes an uncompromising look at how various ingredients fall...

By : Ryan MannixI got a chance to speak with Aqueous guitarist Mike Gantzer before Thursday's show at Chicago's The Original Mothers.He described the band'ssound as groove rock, and while that definitely applied for the dancing crowd, he might be selling the band a bit short.Might I suggest improvisation-heavy groove prog-rock? Certainly more fitting,...

Words: Ryan Mannix | Photos:Kristine CondonFor a band whose best moments occur in when all of its members areon the same page, contrasting styles provide a critical part of their sound.Umphrey's McGee's Brendan Bayliss offers afluid counterpoint to fellow guitarist Jake Cinningers jaggedness, more influenced by 70s rock. His solos are characteristically rooted in...

Words: Ryan Mannix | Photos: Kristine CondonCinningers guitar technique is precise, yet expansive. Stylistically and technically, he has no boundaries. Combine amastery of jazz harmony with a love of 80s-stylemetal shreddingand he canreally open things up. Hes capable of anthemic, melodic licks, and repetitive odd-time feels.Jakes one of the most creative, and unique guitarists playing...

A friend of mine recently issued a challenge.A longtime musician, prolific stoner, and general musical omnivore, he never really "got" the Grateful Dead.He's theright age to have caught their late eighties popularbreakthroughin his impressionable years, and has the propensity to chew on some meaty sonic dishes -- he lists punk, krautrock, psych, jazz...

By: Ryan MannixWhen a band walks out to an 8-bit version of their own tunes, you know something strange is about to go down.Dr. Dog used a Nintendo-fied version of "Badvertise" to kick off their show at Riviera Theatreand pivotedinto a psychedelia infused pop and rock showworthy of the creative walk out music.They...

By: Ryan MannixSteve Kimocks Last Danger of Frost may sound like completely different music than what he's delivered to Chicago-areaaudiences in the past, but this may beas close to the true artist as it gets. Self-recorded, thealbum blends acoustic instrumentation with electronic soundscapes for a lush pastoral sequence crafted more for a seated audience than...