Words / Photos: Alex WoodDuring his second night in Chicago, Andrew Bird referred to this years Gezelligheid series at Fourth Presbyterian Church as the fourth annual, before acknowledging skipping a year somewhere in there.Regardless, the church shows have become a staple for Bird fans, a tradition celebrating the Chicagoans musical gift.And always just in...

Words / Photo: Alex WoodPokey Lafarge & The South City Three played a boisterous, confident set at Lincoln Hall, packed to the brim with the energy of all their pre-WWII musical idols rolled into one.Swing. Ragtime. Blues. Jazz. Country. Folk.The band owned every single one.Even beneath the entertaining stage personality that Pokey himself...

Reporting by @WeirScrewedCrafting a true "destination" event can be as risky for a promoter as the improvisational turns that performers take on stage. Stakes are higher when the music is delivered by a one time configuration, then ratcheted up another notch when the supergroup draws from a pool best known for both Grateful Dead related...

Photos: Adam McCall PhotographyIt's been almost fifteen years since I first saw Yonder Mountain String Band perform at their first ever Chicago area show, huddled around a single microphone at Abbey Pub for no more than about two dozen people. Billing themselves at the time as "Colorado's Nakedest Bluegrass", this intriguing (yet meaningless) tagline, along...

If you're reading this site, and especially this post, it's likely that you're no casual music fan. It's time consuming, but not so bad being a hard-core -- we can obsess a little, we explore and poke and look for the next great thing... and sometimes we discover gold. Yes, every now and then, this...

Words & Photos by @WeirScrewedFrank Zappa is one of the most polarizing musicians in the history of rock music. It's not uncommon to see, depending on what part of his songbook a critic is familiar with, to find points of view ranging from dismissive to reverential. It's true that tunes like "Valley Girl" or "Bobby Brown"...

It was another fine fall weekend with Widespread Panic in Milwaukee. Indeed, these are great times to be a Panic fan, and these shows really drove that home, so I'm offering a list of reasons why, with the Milwaukee run as my supporting detail. Special thanks to Adam Misewski and The Riverside Theater for use...

Words & Photos: Matt Van GronigenThe crowd was packed tight and it was a challenge to navigate the bodies during of Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers performance at Lincoln Hall. As part of this event, the audience submitted their dreams to be projected on the wall during the performance. Yes, World Peace made the list,...

I think I stumped Steve Kimock with the very first question of our interview. With an upcoming weekend of shows at Martyrs with ALO guitarist Dan Leibowitz, I was curious as to how these two like-minded pickers first hooked up. "Over the years, we've just gotten better and better at playing together and have enjoyed...

Photos and additional reporting by Adam McCallThere's something going on in Aurora.Wait... Aurora? Home of Wayne's World? Closer to Joliet than Chicago? Well, actually, yeah.We've been hip to the fine Two Brothers Brewery for a while now. Their brewpub is situated in the old Burlington Northern Roundhouse at the end of the line...