By Ryan Mannix | Photo: carmelocorn InstagramA Thursday night tradition,Family Groove Company is somehow the first band I see at Summer Camp every year. It's fitting that the Illinois based outfit gets the weekend started for the quintessential Illinois festival, having played the festival since its earliest days as a small jam-band gathering.The group...

Van Ghost has delivered another hook-laden, soul-stirring pop nugget ahead of the release of the upcoming release of their full length The Ghost Unit.Head Ghost Michael Harrison Berg wrote this one with guitarist Grant Tye, and it takes full advantage of the all-star band behind them, with fresh sounding backing vocals from Natalie Cressman...

Words & Photos: Ashley M. DowningOn a brisk Friday evening in May, The Park West in Chicago kicked off its summer season with a wild, music filled event. This show was presented as the official Summer Camp Music Festival pre-party, with all of the musicians in attendance scheduled to play at upcoming fest the following...

Last month's Live Music Blog feature, the five part What Bands Should Be Bigger Than They Are was one of the most enjoyable reads of November. Equal parts validation of some of my favorite under-the-radar acts, controversial picks that make you think, and short list of new bands to check out, I eagerly awaited...

The Cornmeal Thanksgiving in Chicago tradition has been going strong for many years, and even with some changing of the guard, the band is making a return to the Vic for the 2012 edition on (Black) Friday Novemer 23rd.Last year's festivities included a show opening for Umphrey's McGee on Saturday and a rare club gig...

Here's an interesting showcase of five apps that will change concert goingA couple of great items from our friends at Hidden TrackI really enjoyed reading about the jamband "glass ceiling" vis a vis Grace Potter & The NocturnalsAnd they offered some sweet video of Eddie Vedder fronting Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in AmsterdamThere is...

We've creeped past the solstice marker and are entering the heart of festival season in the Midwest. The oddest trend for 2012 seems to be festivals moving locations, which no less than five of the fests that we are tracking declaring a new home this year. Here's our roundup of the most intriguing camping and / or...

Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers sucked the audience down a into wormhole on Sunday night. We entered an alternate reality where popular music valued chops and musicianship over flash and gimmick -- a world were Bruce and his primary musical outlet have had unparalleled commercial success over the past 25 years.But alas, we don't live...

North Coast Music Festival, the Labor Day weekend event entering its third year in Chicago's Union Park has staked its reputation on eclectic lineups and an outside-the-mainstream sensibility. But while the inaugural festival in 2010 seemed to carve out a spot for edgier and crossover jambands, last year's lineup seemed heavily tilted towards EDM. It seemed...

The 30db / Van Ghost pairing was just one of the many inspired double (sometime triple & quadruple) bills that the Abbey Pub has been programming lately and certainly one of the most high profile, considering the national prominence of the artists involved, yet a strong sense of Chicago hung in the air all night. This...