Upcoming Shows

Roots of a Rebellion, The Tritonics

ThursdayOctober 24, 20198:00pm $15.00

Roots of A Rebellion are a jam band from Nashville, TN playing heavy Reggae-Rock-Dub music for the soul. The band is known for their dynamic live performances showing their progressive sound and energy. Having shared the stage with The Wailers, Rebelution, 311, Slightly Stoopid, moe., North Mississippi Allstars, SOJA,....

Rasputina, Charming Disaster

FridayOctober 25, 20198:00pm $20.00

Super-Unknown, Big Bang Baby, TEN Chicago

SaturdayOctober 26, 20198:00pm $12.00

Chicago's premiere Soundgarden, Audioslave, & Temple Of The Dog tribute, with spot-in vocals honoring the late, great Chris Cornell.

Recently Added Shows

Yipes!

FridayNovember 1, 20198:00pm $20.00

Launched in late 1977, Yipes crisscrossed the Midwest playing hundreds of shows and logging thousands of miles playing 4 sets a night often 6 nights a week, nearly 300 times a year. The hard work paid off and earned Yipes a record contract with RCA/Millennium Records. Yipes released 2 albums on RCA/Millennium. The....

30th Anniversary Shank Hall show with Semi Twang and Loey Nelson

SaturdayNovember 23, 20198:00pm $15.000

Maybe Semi-Twang should have tried something else. Back in 1988 when Warner Brothers released their first record, Salty Tears, someone was thinking their kind of country-tinged midcoast rock and roll was sorely needed. That....

California Guitar Trio

ThursdayDecember 5, 20198:00pm $20.00

SistaStrings

SaturdayDecember 28, 20198:00pm

Individually, Monique and Chauntee have performed in some of the most reputable venues in the country, including Carnegie Hall, and have soloed with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. SistaStrings formed in 2014 after undergraduate training (Chauntee from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor....

Miles Nielsen & The Rusted Hearts

SaturdayJanuary 4, 20208:00pm $15.00

Rockford, IL-based Miles Nielsen has spent nearly a decade enthralling audiences with music that draws force from the prime years of Western-influenced rock music and classic '60s soul. Claiming influences as diverse as Otis Redding's classic soul and Jellyfish's cult power pop recordings.

PHUN (Phish Tribute)

FridayJanuary 24, 20208:00pm $10 advance / $15 door

Members of PHUN have been playing together on and off for two decades, and it shows! "Part of our success is the energy and band chemistry we bring to the show," said Mike Scieszinski, guitarist. Bassist, Mark Norman, keyboardist, Joe Burbach, Drummer Peter Treuden, and Scieszinski all work tirelessly to learn new Phish....

Bruce McCulloch

SaturdayJanuary 25, 20208:00pm $25 advance / $30 door

Bruce McCulloch is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, and director. Perhaps best known for his work with the award-winning sketch troupe, The Kids in the Hall, Bruce has since had a career spanning television, film, and the stage. In his stage career, he has written and/or performed several one-man shows including....

Michael McDermott

SaturdayFebruary 8, 20208:00pm $20.00

Anthony Gomes

SaturdayFebruary 29, 20208:00pm $15.00

Ana Popovic

WednesdayMarch 11, 20208:00pm $25.00

Widely regarded as one of worlds very best female guitar-players, Ana’s career has been meteoric and shows no signs of slowing down! The 5x Blues Music Awards nominee blends smoking electric funk slide guitar, jazzy instrumentals and tight blues groove with soulful feminine vocals. Her incredible stage presence makes her....

The Bel Airs

ThursdayMarch 12, 20208:00pm $15.00

Fronted by brothers Dick and Dave Pruitt on bass and electric guitars, with Michael Cherry on drums, the Bel Airs play a danceable mix with an authentic but eclectic bluesy-country-soul-and-rock-n-roll sound influenced by the likes of Wilson Picket, Slim Harpo, Howlin' Wolf and Johnny Cash. Living on the road and....

Albert Cummings

FridayMarch 13, 20208:00pm $20.00

The Monochrome Set, The JetBeats

SaturdayMay 16, 20208:00pm

Featuring original Monochrome Set members Bid (Guitar/Vocals) and Andy Warren (bass) with John Paul Moran (keyboards) and Mike Urban, who was previously in the band in the early 90s, on drums, The Monochrome Set formed in 1978, and were heavily influential in the 'post-punk' scene that evolved after the initial scorched....

Alternative Concert Group Presents

Dream Theater: The Distance Over Time Tour

TuesdayNovember 5, 20197:30pm $55 - $225

At Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the Overture box office or by phone at 608-258-4141.

Arlo Guthrie

SaturdayNovember 9, 20198:00pm $45.00

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com, or by phone at 608-241-8633 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Arlo Guthrie

WednesdayNovember 13, 20197:00pm $55 / $45

At the Meyer Theatre, Green Bay, WI

Tickets on sale at the Resch Center box office, Ticket Star or by phone 800-895-0071.

Marc Cohn

WednesdayNovember 20, 2019

At South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center box office or by phone at 414-766-5049.

George Winston

TuesdayDecember 17, 20198:00pm $51.25

At Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the Overture box office or by phone at 608-258-4141.

George Winston

WednesdayDecember 18, 20198:00pm $51.25

At Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the Overture box office or by phone at 608-258-4141.

George Winston

FridayDecember 20, 20198:00pm $50 / $39

At South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center box office or by phone at 414-766-5049.

Steven Wright

FridayMarch 27, 20208:00pm $48 / $38

At South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale online, at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center box office or by phone at 414-766-5049.

Quick Calendar

Pioneers in the use of cello as the sole instrument within a rock band, Rasputina has been inspiring young string players to commit a number of musical sins since 1996. The group's concept was written as a manifesto, and manifested accordingly by directress Melora Creager as a wily subterfuge for a plot to open audiences to adventure. The funny, the sad, the heavy, the tender-- it can all exist together. Employing elaborate costuming spanning a number of historical periods, Rasputina brings marginalized historical female figures and stories to light in the pop form, using archetypal characters such as Indian princesses, Hawaiian handmaidens and Medieval queens. Melora last performed in Europe with Nirvana, on their final tour in 1994. Over the years, Rasputina has performed/recorded with Marilyn Manson, Porno For Pyros, Cheap Trick, Goo Goo Dolls and many others. Hardened road-dogs, and with more than 7 albums under their belt, Rasputina continues to amaze and amuse.

About 'UNKNOWN'- the new Rasputina album:
Melora says, "Unknown' is 14 new songs recorded alone in a dank basement studio. I quite liked it though, that dank basement studio. I didn't feel at all alone. Using only one microphone, the whole album poured out of me in just 3 weeks- writing, recording, the whole thing. "Unknown is a CD only release- non-digital. Why? At one level, this album is about trauma, Melora's trauma at being hacked- silently and anonymously observed through the Cloud. Conceptually, this album doesn't exist on the Internet. It's a real and physical thing. Anyone who purchases it is known to her.

MELORA CREAGER - voice, cello, banjo
Kansas born & raised, she moved to NYC in the 1980s. Melora received classical music training as a child, but her performance career began with rock bands and East Village drag/performance artists. She founded the alternative/ historical cello ensemble Rasputina in 1991 as a way to meet like-minded girls- girls that wanted to rock out on the cello and wear fine costumery. The sound and visual concepts that began in Creager's Rasputina manifestos presaged and influenced movements and trends such as Modern Victorians, Steampunk, freak-folk, corsetry, and crafting. In 19 recordings, and countless public performances, Creager has led a 20 year exploration in cello amplification, recording, and performance.

LUIS MOJICA- piano, beat-boxing
Luis uses the piano to cast, wild narrative spells. His eyes are that of an androgynous monk with rainbow tentacles. Luis loops words, chants, and sounds through a loop pedal AKA beatboxing, 'Beat-Boxing Baroque'. Luis brings his musical madness to Rasputina today.

CARPELLA PARVO- cello, voice
Cello-fingers in flight and with the voice of a bird, Carpella is from another country, but keeps it a secret which one. She played on Rasputina's debut album, Thanks for the Ether (1996), then succumbed to the very condition from which she takes her name- carpal tunnel syndrome. Having healed over 20 years, Carpella jubilantly returns to Rasputina in the 21st century.

Blues is not for the faint-hearted. Since the genre first drew breath, its greatest practitioners have embraced the darkness, spinning tales of hardship and death, hellhounds and devilry. If the sleeve of Witchy Feelin' suggests that Kim Simmonds, too, has a tendency towards the macabre, then Savoy Brown's iconic leader is happy to confirm it. "Blues has always dealt with themes of the Devil, witchcraft and so forth, and I've always written along those lines. At least three of the songs on Witchy Feelin' have that hoodoo vibe..."

Released in 2017 on Ruf Records, Witchy Feelin' proves the Devil still has all the best tunes. From the thrillingly brittle guitar riff that opens Why Did You Hoodoo Me, we are in the hands of a master, with Simmonds reigniting the seismic vocals and searing fretwork that established Savoy Brown as linchpins of the '60s British blues boom. "On this album, I tried my best to get my voice in its power zone," he explains. "I'm a baritone singer. I like listening to singers I can relate to, such as J.J. Cale, Mark Knopfler, Tony Joe White and Tom Rush. For my guitar playing, I still get inspiration from Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and all the Chicago players I grew up listening to back in '63... but I always listen to new music too."

Recording alongside Pat Desalvo (bass), Garnet Grimm (drums) and engineer Ben Elliott, Simmonds leads us into a world of dark nights, wild weather, women and whiskey: all perennial themes given a modern twist by this ageless bluesman. "The songs on this album have been two years in the making," he reflects. "I tried to write songs that had a personal point of view yet can be relatable to everyone. On Vintage Man, I wrote about being the type of guy who doesn't change as he gets older. I wrote about the power of love on Why Did You Hoodoo Me. And with Guitar Slinger, I wrote a song about seeing a great guitar player in an old country bar -- as I did when I first saw Roy Buchanan in '69."

Anyone who witnessed Savoy Brown leave the blocks in 1965 would speak of a similar epiphany. Back then, the band were the spark that ignited the blues-boom, signing to Decca, opening for Cream's first London show and boasting a lead guitarist who was being namedropped in the same reverential breath as peers like Clapton and Hendrix (with whom Simmonds jammed). Already, the guitarist was emerging as the band's driving force. "I had a vision," he reflects. "When I started the band back in 1965, the concept was to be a British version of a Chicago blues band. And the exciting thing now is, that vision is still alive."

Soon, Savoy Brown had achieved what most British bands never did -- success in America -- and became a major US draw thanks to their high-energy material and tireless work ethic. "There's far too much said about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," Simmonds told Classic Rock. "It's a cliché. We were all extremely hard-working guys. When we came over to America, we were like a little army. I look at that time as being filled with incredible talent."
Times changed, of course, and by 1979, Simmonds had moved from a London he no longer recognised -- "The punks were everywhere!" -- to settle permanently in New York. The Savoy Brown bandmembers came and went, and the music scene shifted around him, but the guitarist stuck thrillingly to his guns and reaped the rewards, performing in iconic venues like Carnegie Hall and the Fillmore East and West, releasing thirty-odd albums, and later enjoying a well-deserved induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk Of Fame.

Even in the post-millennium, while his peers grow soft and drift into semi-retirement, Simmonds retains a vision and an edge, spitting out acclaimed albums that include 2011's Voodoo Moon, 2014's Goin' To The Delta, 2015's The Devil To Pay -- and the emphatic new addition to Savoy Brown's catalogue, Witchy Feelin'. "I'm amazed that I still have the energy inside me to play guitar, create music and write songs," he considers. "I've been blessed in my life and I thank God for that. I've never been a believer in holding on to the past -- I don't look over my shoulder and congratulate myself. I always want to climb the next mountain -- and I'm very pleased with this new album..."

Jesse Malin -- whom the London Times says "writes vivid songs with killer tunes and sings them with scary conviction" -- and Lucinda Williams -- the southern troubadour once named "America's best songwriter" by Time magazine -- first met in the early 2000s at a jazz club in NYC's West Village. In a joint 2017 Rolling Stone interview, the two discussed their "shared love of miscreants, misfits, the misunderstood and the mysteries of everyday lives binds them across the Mason-Dixon line."

"From the early frontier days of hardcore in New York to all the punk rock and singer/songwriter touring," says Malin, "it's all been about survival and reinvention. I wanted to make an open-sounding record with the space to tell these stories. I like to write about characters and people I meet along the way. The dreamers, schemers, hustlers, romantics, lovers, leavers and believers."Many of the dreamers, schemers and so on from Jesse's own life contribute to Sunset Kids, his new album of highly personal songs being released August 30 on Wicked Cool Records.

Sunset Kids first took shape at The Hollywood Bowl, when Jesse accepted Lucinda's invitation to see her open for what turned out to be Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' final concert. The bittersweet experience inspired one of the new album's highlights, "Shining Down," a rainy day jangle about "keeping alive the spirits of the ones we've lost." During that same visit, the idea came about of three-time Grammy-winning Lucinda producing Jesse's next record.

"Lucinda has a great eye for finding the beauty in broken things and a knack for always picking the right take. Once she started dancing in the control room, we knew we had it."

In addition to this rare turn in the producer's chair for Williams, she co-wrote and sang on the evocative Country-flavored "Room 13," which Malin calls "the heart of the record in a lot of ways, about those meditative moments far away from home, where you're forced to reflect on the things that really matter."

The album also features "Chemical Heart," an upbeat pop basher located at a mythical point on Queens Boulevard where Paul Simon and The Ramones intersect, namechecking Bernie Taupin and Jake LaMotta among others. "Shane" is a gentle ballad about one of his heroes, the lovably shambolic Shane MacGowan of The Pogues.

"My first album, The Fine Art Of Self-Destruction, was about finding glory in the wreckage," says Malin of the album which was upon release Uncut's "Album of the Month." "Sunset Kids is about owning it. The failures, the victories, the moments. And moving up from there."

After reflecting on his life while walking the streets of London, jamming riffs in an East Village basement and writing songs in Florida hotel rooms while visiting his ailing father, the ambitious 14-song album was recorded on both coasts between the two artists' touring schedules.

It opens with the pre-apocalyptic confession "Meet Me At The End Of The World Again," which includes backing vocals by Malin confidante and collaborator Joseph Arthur. Another key guest contribution comes courtesy of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, who co-wrote and sang on "Strangers & Thieves."

"Billie Joe was in town and I showed him where we hung out when we were kids in the hardcore days," Malin recalls. "A couple days later, I got a text and he had finished the song. He went into the details of his experience in the Bay Area with that scene, and also my experiences, which were very parallel in New York."

Those early days found a young Jesse "riding the subway trains from Queens to the record stores and nightclubs in dirty, pre-Disney New York City" and never looking back. His band Heart Attack put out the first New York hardcore single "God Is Dead" when Malin was 14 years old. He later went on to acclaim as the frontman for the fast and loud D Generation, whose albums were produced by Ric Ocasek, Tony Visconti and David Bianco.

Bianco is one of the Sunset Kids referenced in the album's title. The engineer who won a Grammy for his pristine sonics on Tom Petty's Wildflowers and produced the first major-label release of Jesse's career passed away suddenly after overseeing the initial sessions for Sunset Kids in his L.A. studio.

"Playing music is something I need to do. Singing under those hot lights every night is a great exorcism. We get to put together this pirate ship of characters and go around the world making trouble and singing our guts out."

As the line in crucial cut "When You're Young" says, "Don't waste your life on things that don't get better." Malin concludes: "It's about finding ways to survive and navigate through all this stuff. Being compassionate and loving in a world that will break your heart. But you're still here. You wake up again and put one foot in front of the other and live every day like it could be your last."

"We've come Full Circle And Then Some," goes the chorus to the title track of Trigger Hippy's sophomore album, and it's the perfect description of the long road these experienced musicians have traveled to harness their collective roots -- from country, Delta blues, R&B and gospel to Southern rock and funk. Trigger Hippy co-founders, former Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and songwriter bassist Nick Govrik, believe the band's sophomore album, on Turkey Grass Records distributed by Thirty Tigers, embodies the music and vision they've chased since the two met 15 years ago.

For Steve, working with Thirty Tigers is personally significant: it reunites Gorman with Thirty Tigers founder/owner David Macias. Over 30 years ago, Macias played a pivotal role in the development of first recording contract for The Black Crowes.

The new collection spotlights Trigger Hippy's patented call-and-response duets and three-part vocal harmonies, with a stylistic range that encompasses traditional country plaints ("Strung Out on the Pain"), classic rockers (the title track), honking blues ("Dandelion"), a Basement Tapes-ish swamppop nod to the devastation of Katrina ("Goddamn Hurricane"), Dr. John-meets Allen Toussaint bayou grooves ("Long Lost Friend") and even a psychedelic "trance/dirge raga" ("Born To Be Blue").

Recorded largely in a small hillside home, dubbed the Tree House, in Nashville's eclectic Love Circle district, the album boasts some of the city's finest musicians, including longtime Willie Nelson harp player Mickey Raphael, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's guitarist Sadler Vaden, guitarist/mandolin player Guthrie Trapp, London-born pedal steel player Spencer Cullum, and guitarist Sol Philcox- Littlefield, among others.

Trigger Hippy's co-founders -- Gorman and local Nashville mainstay (and restaurateur) Govrik -- first met shortly after Gorman moved to town in 2004, taking part in a jam session organized by Govrik at a local music haunt, the Family Wash.

"We hit it off right away," says Govrik, whose own love of southern rock icons like Lowell George, Leon Russell and Levon Helm can be heard throughout. "Steve was like a freight train barreling from the get go. He played the show like it was Madison Square Garden, and we just been doing it virtually non-stop ever since."

For Govrik, who'd spent more than a decade with his '90s group Highwater, a "boogie-woogie, dance bar band", and recorded three albums at the famed Muscle Shoals studios for Mississippi blues label Malaco. he longed for another opportunity to be part of a group, and Trigger Hippy more than fit the bill.

The first incarnation of Trigger Hippy took place in 2009 at a benefit for the Allman Brothers Big House Museum at the Cox Capital Theatre in Macon, GA.

"We were just a full-on rock jam cover band initially," says Gorman, looking for a new direction after his roller coaster ride as co-founder of the Black Crowes -- which he details in his upcoming memoir, Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes. "But once I heard Nick's songs, I realized his tunes were a great starting point for us. We share a common sensibility across the board about music."

In 2014, joined by singer Joan Osborne and guitarist Jackie Greene, the band released its self-titled debut on Rounder Records, taking a "let's see what happens" approach, performing some 40 live dates over seven months.

Says Gorman: "Nick and I always pushed for more of a commitment to become a functioning, fulltime band, but everyone had their own things going on, which made it difficult to keep that lineup together. We always had a vision and an idea of what we wanted to do."

After a lengthy break, a new lineup emerged with multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ed Jurdi (Band of Heathens) and vocalist/sax player Amber Woodhouse joining Gorman and Govrik. "We took our time -- we knew the chemistry had to be right. With Ed, we found our new direction right away and when Amber came along, we knew we'd found the final piece."

"This is the culmination of a 15-year conversation, and I mean that literally and musically," explains Gorman of his partnership with Govrik.

It's no surprise that Trigger Hippy is built on a rhythm section because each song on Full Circle and Then Some starts with a solid foundation that underlines its many strengths.

According to Govrik, Full Circle and Then Some is the band's story to this point. "We never really wavered, we just kept going. We've come full circle because we believed in each other, even with the changes this band has been through...new lineup, new commitment." He concludes, "We're doing this the way we want to, the way we want it to sound...and that's the beauty of this."

Donna the Buffalo offers everything you want in a roots band -- songs that matter, a groove that makes you dance, an audience that spans generations, and a musical voice that evokes a sense of community.

Dance in the Street, their first new album in five years, captures the dynamic energy that has earned the band the love and respect of their fans, "the Herd", for thirty years.

Donna The Buffalo is well known for their lyrics about human potential and community. Throughout Dance in the Street, Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins, the band's co-founders, share songs of social commentary and self empowerment. "We feel the album provides an enjoyable ride between the general and the personal, from both male and female perspectives," says Puryear.

Puryear took it upon himself to write a topical song after a friend slyly commented, "We could use some songs like you used to write." That off-handed remark led directly to "Dance in the Street," which falls somewhere between Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, with lyrics:

For change of rule, we had better stand,
Before there's nowhere left to land,
Doomed to histories repeat,
It's time to dance in the street.

Nevins adapted the imagery in the lyrics from "Dance in the Street" to create the globally-inspired album cover.

"My songs on this record are about letting go," says Nevins. "Whether it be the attachment of love lost, the past, or the particular blue funk you're coming out of." Nevins in particular adds an interesting twist of "creating future" in Motor, the inspired second cut of the album with the chorus:

You'll be dancing under the moon before too long,
You'll be flying high as a kite when the wind gets blowing,
You'll be right back where you started,
You'll be holding tight to the motor that gets you going.

Donna the Buffalo joined forces with legendary Producer/ Engineer Rob Fraboni to record Dance in the Street at Sonic Ranch Studio in El Paso, Texas. Best known as producer of The Last Waltz soundtrack, Fraboni is also acclaimed for his work with Bob Dylan, The Band, Eric Clapton, and The Rolling Stones. Fraboni set out to capture the essence of Donna The Buffalo's live performances on a studio record. He had the band record in a circle directly to tape. Dance In The Street is a fully analog recording all the way to vinyl. The track list alternates in his-and-hers fashion; even so, Nevins believes the album makes a cohesive statement. "We think of it as painting a picture and I like the picture that we've painted with this record," she says.

Nevins and Puryear have nurtured a close friendship after meeting at an old-time fiddle convention years ago. In 1989 they landed their first gig in a Trumansburg, NY restaurant setting Puryear and Nevins on their musical path. During that time, Puryear took note of Nevins' songwriting ability -- "the first person I met that wrote songs that sounded like you could hear them on the radio". While they mostly write separately, their music is often on the same wavelength." Our history is so long and very successful musically," he says. "She's my best friend -- we've done this forever. It's a big part of what makes it still interesting to do. We definitely have a good, rough-and-tumble, super-longstanding respect and love."

Donna The Buffalo is not just a band, rather one might say that Donna The Buffalo has become a lifestyle for its members and audiences. The band has played thousands of shows and countless festivals including Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival, Telluride, Austin City Limits Festival, Merle Fest, and Philadelphia Folk Festival. At several festivals Donna The Buffalo has become the house band for closing the events by backing up artists including The Avett Brothers, Keller Williams, Zac Brown, Bela Fleck, John Paul Jones, and Chris Thile. They've opened for The Dead and have toured with Peter Rowan, Del McCoury, Los Lobos, Little Feat, Jim Lauderdale, Rusted Root, and Railroad Earth to name a few. They also toured with Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen to help raise awareness about increased corporate spending in politics. In 1991, the band started the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg, NY. The four day festival has become an annual destination for over 15,000 music lovers every year and was started as an AIDS benefit. It continues as a benefit for arts and education. To date, the event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and is now one of three Grassroots Festivals; the Bi-annual Shakori Hills fest in North Carolina and Virginia Key festival in Florida. In 2016 GrassRoots Culture Camp was introduced in Trumansburg, New York as four days of music, art, dance and movement workshops, including nightly dinners and dances.

"Successes? We have certainly tried to make a difference in the world, trying to inspire ourselves and others to treat their lives as a work of art, and our collective destiny as something that we are creating, not just something we are subject to. And at the same time we're having a blast, who wouldn't want to ride around on a bus playing music with their friends?" Puryear added.

The most loyal fans in the Herd are always eager to accept a call to action. Last year Donna the Buffalo started a crowdfunding campaign to buy a new tour bus; within three weeks, they had raised $90,000. "You can imagine how validating that felt for us," Nevins says, still overwhelmed at the generosity.

By creating a bridge between generations, Donna the Buffalo attracts one of the broadest demographics on the festival circuit. When Nevins encounters young women in the autograph line, she likes to write "Girl Power!" She's proud to see them looking up at the stage and watching a female musician really getting down, comprehending that they could do the same thing one day. In addition, Puryear has noted that Vietnam veterans have gravitated to the band. During a songwriting workshop, Puryear sang "Killing A Man," which examines the complicated psychological ramifications of ending another person's life. He felt uncertain about recording it, he says, until a veteran came up and asked him how he got those emotions exactly right.

Dance In The Street closes with "I Believe," a song with a message of support. From the stage, Nevins often hears men and women singing it with her. "I think our message is encouraging. It's something for people to latch onto," she says. "And what an awesome sound and feeling to hear an audience en masse singing your song with you."

Donna the Buffalo draws on a lot of musical influences, from country and rock 'n' roll, to bluegrass and old-time fiddle, as well as Cajun and Zydeco. In many ways, they were Americana before the term was ever coined. The common thread? Songs of the human spirit, and an incredibly tight relationship with their fans.

"The fans, they show up to be a part of it. We show up to be a part of it," Puryear says. "And we don't have an intimidating vibe where we're different than them. If a scene is really on, it doesn't matter whether you're watching, listening, dancing, or playing -- it's on, everybody knows it's on and it feels great! I think that's the nature of the connection."

The R&B Cadets played their first gig shortly after New Year's in 1980 and their last in the summer of 1986. In that time they got a lot of folks out on the dance floor, playing a distinctive mix of of deep soul cuts from Paul Cebar's massive record collection and some sparkling originals, written by John Sieger, often in tandem with Michael Feldman, a friend and now longtime host of Public Radio's Whad'ya Know?

Splitting lead duties with Sieger and Cebar was the lovely chanteuse, Robin Pluer. Owner of one the lovelier voice heard in the midwest, Ms. Pluer was a dollop of sweetness at the top of the band's deep range. Rounding out the lineup was Mike Sieger, John's brother and vocal doppelganger, who played bass. Original drummer Cy Costabile, was later replaced by Bobby Schneider and the saxophonist Juli Wood was replaced by keyboard/sax man Bob Jennings.

In it's prime, the band had a large following in Milwaukee, where they were pretty much the house band at the late, lamented Century Hall. They travelled well too, with fans in the Twin Cities, Chicago, Madison and even New York where they played legendary clubs like CBGB's, The Knitting Factory and The Lone Star. Their only record, Top Happy, came out in 198-. It featured a song produced by Nick Lowe, a fan who had stumbled across them after playing a show in Milwaukee. The record got great reviews and could have been the start of even bigger things, but like many bands, people were pulling, and being pulled, in different directions.

The positive result of their breakup was two, then three very vital and entertaining acts. There was Semi-Twang, which concentrated on John's songs and did a record, Salty Tears for Warner Brothers that gathered more love than sales. John later moved to nashville and had many of his songs recorded by artist like Dwight Yoakam, Flaco Jimenez and The Bodeans.

Paul and Robin continued with the beefed up and ever-popular Milwaukeeans, releasing a record in the 1990s on Shenachie that got radio play around the country. That lineup stayed around until Robin bid adieu. Tired of touring and now married, she headed to New York for a while, before returning. She has carved out a special niche between soul, swing, standards and the French chanson that she loves, and is still performing today.

In 2009 Semi-Twang reunited and have released two CDs, both of which garnered raves. Paul has continued non-stop, his latest was out last year with his most recent moniker, Tomorrow Sound. The three headed beast has been in rehearsal, tightening up songs old and new. The crowd at their first reunion gig in many years was up and dancing at the first down beat, you probably will be too.

Whether one leans towards the blues, opts for Americana or ignites some special fervor by playing with a garage band, there's a common bond that suggests a reverence for the roots. Looking back towards an earlier template -- no matter what the genre -- proves the point that appreciating what came before can be a stepping stone for what comes next.

Samantha Fish knows that all too well, and it's been evidenced in the music she's made her entire career. While she's well known as a purveyor of blues, having been lauded by such legends as Buddy Guy, the Royal Southern Brotherhood and Luther Dickinson, her real love is simply raw, scrappy rock and roll. "I grew up on it," she insists. "Working with Luther on my last album further instilled that spirit in me. It made me realize just how much that basic, unfettered sound means to me, and how well it ties into soul music, R&B, country and so many other forms of music that are essential even today."

It's little wonder then that when it came time to record her new album, Chills & Fever (released March 17, 2017), Fish ventured off in another new direction, one she was exploring for the first time in her career. She traveled to Detroit and joined forces with members of the Detroit Cobras, a band whose insurgent ethic has made them darlings of the Midwest punk/blues scene. The two entities -- which included Joe Mazzola on guitar, Steve Nawara on bass, and Kenny Tudrick along with Bob Mervak on keys, and the New Orleans horn section featuring Mark Levron and Travis Blotsky on trumpet and saxophone -- bonded over a common love of classic soul and rollicking rhythms, so much so that the results testify to a seemingly timeless template. Covering songs from the '60s and '70s -- indelible melodies from the pens of legends like Jackie DeShannon, Jerry Ragavoy, Bert Berns and Allen Toussaint -- and revisiting some earlier demos she cut along with producer Bobby Harlow, Fish and the Cobras created an album that's best described as a pure slab of rocking rhythm n' blues.

"I listened to a lot of soul music, and I dug deep into people like Otis Redding and Ray Charles," Fish recalls. "I was also influenced by people like R.L. Burnside and North Mississippi's Junior Kimbrough. It's a lot less restrained style of music than the sound people may be used to hearing from me, but it's definitely a different facet of my personality. It's far more straight forward."

The fact is, Fish has never been bound by any expectations whatsoever. Growing up in Kansas City, she switched from drums to guitar at the tender age of 15. She spent much of her time in local watering holes listening to visiting blues bands. Samantha caught the attention of Ruf Records. The label subsequently released her album, Girls with Guitars, which found her co-billed with Cassie Taylor and Dani Wilde. That led to her forming her own trio and recording three more albums, Runaway (2011), Black Wind Howlin' (2013) and Wild Heart (2015), as reaping an awards for Best Artist Debut at the 2012 Blues Music Awards in Memphis. Along the way she found herself working with other artists as well -- Jimmy Hall, Devon Allman, and Reese Wynans, among them.

Still, nothing she's done before can prepare her faithful fans and followers to the seminal sounds of Chills & Fever.

I don't think I ever enjoyed making a record quite as much as I enjoyed making this one," Fish insists. "I love the sound of the brass and the edgier intensity. One thing's for sure. Nothing ever felt so authentic."

The universe of guitar knows no boundaries for The California Guitar Trio. Since 1991, the group has enthralled listeners with a singular sound that fearlessly crisscrosses genres. The trio's questing spirit drives it to explore the intersections between rock, jazz, classical, and world music. It even throws in the occasional surf or spaghetti Western tune for good measure.

Comprised of Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya and Paul Richards, the group has established a unique, personal connection with audiences. In addition to dazzling musicianship and interplay, The California Guitar Trio's (CGT) shows are full of captivating stories and humor that enable concertgoers to feel like they're part of the music, not just spectators. In fact, the group's goal is to transcend their instruments, so people focus on the music first, and its considerable technical prowess a distant second.

CGT's 16 albums, streamed over 65 million times on Pandora, offer diverse snapshots of the group's mercurial muse. The trio's most recent release Komorebi showcases its acoustic side, with beautiful lush originals and innovative cover arrangements of Beatles, Beach Boys and more. Other highlights include Masterworks and album of classical works, with expansive takes on Bach, Beethoven, Arvo Pärt, and Schubert. Andromeda, which combines their many influences into a visionary album of original material; CG3+2, an exploration of kinetic rock territory in collaboration with bassist Tony Levin and drummer Pat Mastelotto; and Echoes, which reimagines timeless material by artists such as Mike Oldfield, Penguin Café Orchestra, Pink Floyd, and Queen.

The trio's output has made a major global impact, having served as the soundtrack for Olympics coverage, and programs on CNN, CBS, NBC, and ESPN. They have fans in high places too: NASA used their music to wake the crew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

CGT's lineup is truly the sum of its distinct parts: A Utah native now residing in Los Angeles, Paul Richards immersed himself in rock, blues, jazz, and folk during his early days and while attending The University of Utah's jazz guitar program. Bert Lams, originally from Belgium, graduated from the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, specializing in classical guitar. Tokyo-born Hideyo Moriya began his guitar journey with surf music and British rock, before relocating to Boston to study at Berklee.

All three felt the call to push themselves to the limit by enrolling in Robert Fripp's challenging Guitar Craft courses, where they first met in 1987. They went on to tour together as part of Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists, before forming the California Guitar Trio in Los Angeles four years later.

Recently, the trio expanded its collaborative possibilities by working within a six-guitar format with the Montreal Guitar Trio. During these groundbreaking, highly-entertaining shows, the acts perform inventive arrangements of each other's repertoire, and new music for guitar sextet.

28 years and 1,800+ gigs later, the CGT remains intensely committed to explore, evolve and communicate a wide-ranging musical worldview.

KICK - The INXS Experience is the USA's most captivating salute and tribute to the internationally acclaimed rock band, INXS.

Formed in 2014, two years after INXS stopped touring, KICK - The INXS Experience has beautifully managed to capture the spirit of INXS in both its sound and live performance, bringing the highest level of musicianship to the audience while showing a true passion for the music of INXS. Vocalist, guitarist, and singer-songwriter Cory Massi is the founding frontman of KICK, and has long held a respect and admiration for the late great Michael Hutchence. Massi even auditioned for the reality TV show, Rockstar: INXS, in 2004, where contestants competed to become the new lead vocalist for INXS. What convinced him to audition? "I loved Michael's singing and his personality," notes Massi. "I saw INXS when I was a teenager in '88 and '89; they were great, and the people were just gaga over them. Michael left a big impression with his star power; he really had it, that guy. Our range is similar and I just went for it. I had to sing "Mystify" acappella so I was kind of nervous because I didn't have a band behind me. There was a camera a foot away from my face and it was out of my comfort zone; I would probably still feel uncomfortable today. I didn't get the gig: I was one of the last people to try out and I think by the time I auditioned they had already made their selection. No excuse: it was a good experience. We include "Mystify" in our set and when I sing it, I have my band with me and we love the music, so we play it with a lot of heart."

KICK is already garnering the attention, admiration, and accolades of well-seasoned "ears" in the music industry. Radio personalities in several markets have been quick to offer praise; WZXL / Atlantic City program director Steve Raymond, a longtime fan of INXS, raved after listening to only part of one song, "Wow! These guys have got the vibe down. Really impressive!" 107.1 The BOSS (WWZY)'s midday air personality Michele Amabile concurred, "I had to go back and listen again with my eyes closed.... I could have sworn I was hearing Michael Hutchence!"

Sounding like legendary frontman Michael Hutchence is no easy task. "I guess the hardest thing, the most challenging thing when I started KICK," acknowledges Massi, "was capturing the great variety in Hutchence's voice. He can sound sensitive and soft and he can be super strong and really belt it out and sometimes that all happens within one phrase or even a word. It took a lot of self-control to capture how he projects his lyrics and the music. It's impossible to really sound and look like him; he's an Adonis, another Jim Morrison, Morrison in a pop sense. I can't mimic that; all I can do is do my best to capture his spirit."

The focus has been on faithfully recreating the music in its most powerful sense; an in-the-pocket bottom end from bass player Don Leslie and drummer Johnny Dee, a brilliant combination of piano and synth by Mark Goodnough, the signature guitar tones produced by guitarist Todd King and Jason Taylor, the saxophone by Nottingham, England's Tom Wheat, and the spot-on lead vocals by Cory Massi, all lend to a powerful high-energy show. KICK - The INXS Experience will take you back. It will reignite your passion for INXS. It will introduce you to music that is still as fresh today as the day it was written; from "Original Sin" to "Elegantly Wasted" and everything in between, including (but not limited to) "Need You Tonight," "New Sensation," "What You Need," "Don't Change," "Listen Like Thieves," "The One Thing," "Bitter Tears," "Suicide Blonde," "Not Enough Time," "Beautiful Girl," and "Devil Inside." The band hears it, time and time again.

Greg Koch and the Koch-Marshall Trio consist of American guitarist Greg Koch, his son Dylan Koch on drums and Hammond B3 specialist Toby Lee Marshall. At the heart of this organ trio is a blues sensibility - but Koch's compositions are an amalgam of rock, funk, jazz and country served up with heavy grooves and dynamic improvisations delivered with no small dose of humor and occasional wild abandon.

Milwaukee native Greg Koch has forged a successful career as a guitar player's guitarist. He has been called "fiendishly talented" by author and former editor- in-chief of Guitar Player Magazine Tom Wheeler and "scary good" by guitar phenom Joe Bonamassa. In addition to his 15 releases on multiple record labels which feature his unique take on a variety of American guitar styles and his versatile compositions, Koch is widely known for his lengthy tenure as an international ambassador for Fender Guitars which listed him in their "Top Ten Unsung Guitarists" on Fender.com. He is also a best-selling author and video instructor for music publisher Hal Leonard. Greg is a contributing columnist for a variety of guitar magazines including Guitar Player Magazine which listed Greg's "Chief's Blues" in their "40 Badass Blues Solos You Must Hear" and Premier Guitar. For the last few years Greg is renowned for his wildly popular internet videos (which number in the thousands with views exceeding 50 million) originating from the legendary Colorado guitar shop Wildwood Guitars.

Dylan Koch gravitated to the drums early on in his life using kitchen utensils to play along with music as soon as he could walk. After digesting an early diet of Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell and John Bonham, Dylan was mentored by the legendary Tom Brechtlein (Chick Corea/Robben Ford). In high school Dylan participated in the Jazz Institute at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and furthered his studies at the McNally Smith School of Music in the Twin Cities. While still in his teens he performed with young guitar guns Tallan Noble Latz and Jared James Nichols and has performed alongside his father with such artists as Robben Ford, Little Feat's Paul Barrere, Jon Cleary, David Grissom, Roscoe Beck and Malford Milligan. Dylan was recently nominated for drummer of the year by the Wisconsin Area Music Awards (WAMI).

Toby Lee Marshall's screaming B3 is the perfect compliment to the musical stew that is the Koch songbook. Hailing from the Twin Cities area he came from a musical family, playing piano for years until falling under the spell of the sound of the organ while at a baseball game at age seven. His fascination for the Hammond B3 took hold after his Dad took him to see Steve Cherewan playing with Dr. Mambo's Combo at their legendary residency at Bunker's in Minneapolis. Steve mentored Toby in the ways of the B3 and he hit the ground running landing a gig with bluesman Lonnie Brooks while still a teen. He would go on to travel the world as a member of Bernard Allison's band. After taking a hiatus to spend some family time, Toby is returning to music with a vehemence and the Koch-Marshall format gives him a long leash to let his freak flag fly, providing groovy bass lines, sinuous chordal work and incendiary solos.

The trio blends the explosive guitar manipulations of Greg, the groove-centric, power-pocket playing of his son Dylan on drums (who share many telepathic musical moments) and the glorious, Hammond organ stylings of the uber-talented Toby Marshall, Greg’s compositions are properly portrayed in the blues drenched, funk, chicken-fried, gospelly, jazz-rock panorama in which they were conceived.

More than four decades have passed since Steve Forbert made his way to New York City from his Meridian, Mississippi birthplace in quest of a career in music. It was the most unlikely time and place for a folk singer to leap into the fray in a burgeoning scene where new wave and punk were emerging while he took the stage as a the archetypal folkie, armed with just an acoustic guitar and sheaf of very personal songs. After busking on the street for change from passers by, he rose to sharing bills at CBGB's with the likes of Talking Heads, The Shirts and John Cale as well as headlining more traditional venues such as The Bitter End and Kenny's Castaways. Against staggering odds, he found blazing success early on with a string of critically acclaimed and commercially accepted albums including Alive on Arrival (1978), Jackrabbit Slim (1979), and Little Stevie Orbit (1980) and a most unlikely smash hit single, "Romeo's Tune."

His career had its share of triumphs as well as stumbles and disappointments as did his private life. Through it all, over the course of a marriage, divorce, raising three children, writing and recording 18 studio albums and fronting an ever changing line-up of supporting musicians, he persevered and stayed true to his roots and the folk ethos.

Now, those life-changing experiences have been chronicled by Forbert in Big City Cat: My Life In Folk Rock, co-written with Therese Boyd, that will be released September 14 by PFP Publishing. The memoir, originally conceived as a stage play, offers a uniquely introspective view of a life and career during a period of cultural upheaval and the author's emerging self-awareness. Sharing reflections and journals he kept at the time, Forbert weaves an absorbing narrative that fully addresses the trials, travails and triumphs that would eventually play out over the course of his prolific 40+ year career. With a colorful cast of characters that includes managers Danny Fields and Linda Stein, along with such music legends as Doc Pomus and John Simon, it offers a revelatory look at his personal life and family, as well. Big City Cat: My Life In Folk Rock features first-person commentary from those who worked with Forbert on the road and in the studio.

The book will, in a manner of speaking, be accompanied by its own soundtrack. Simultaneous with the release comes an evocative new Steve Forbert album from Blue Rose Music entitled The Magic Tree. Produced by Karl Derfler (Tom Waits, No Doubt, Two Gallants), it offers a series of songs gleaned from previously recorded acoustic demos, augmented with new backing tracks. The collection rings with the verve and vitality that Forbert's fans have always come to expect. It takes on special meaning in light of the recent health scare that sidelined him for several months while he recovered from kidney surgery and chemotherapy with the help of his girlfriend of 17 years. Consistently upbeat and optimistic, the album's songs recorded in Meridian, Nashville, New York, and New Jersey and Virginia convey a firm sense that age ought not diminish a lust for living. Big City Cat and The Magic Tree underscore what revered critic the late Paul Nelson wrote about Forbert in Rolling Stone almost 40 years ago: "..Nothing, nothing in this world, is going to stop Steve Forbert, and on that I'll bet anything you'd care to wager."

In Chicago, a city overflowing with unrivaled blues talent, world-renowned Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials have been standing tall for almost 30 years. The band's big sound, fueled by Lil' Ed's gloriously rollicking slide work and deep blues string bending, along with his rough-edged, soulful vocals, is as real and hard-hitting as Chicago blues gets. The Chicago Sun-Times says, "Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials are the hottest purveyors of bottleneck boogie to come out of Chicago since Hound Dog Taylor."

Lil' Ed Williams comes to the blues naturally. His uncle, Chicago slide guitar king and master songwriter J.B. Hutto, taught him how to feel, not just play the blues. Nine albums and thousands of performances later, Lil' Ed is now universally hailed as a giant of the genre. Lil' Ed and The Blues Imperials--bassist (and Ed's half-brother) James "Pookie" Young, guitarist Mike Garrett and drummer Kelly Littleton--have remained together for nearly 30 years (an extraordinary feat for any group), the band fueling Ed's songs with their rock-solid, road-tested, telepathic musicianship.

The Big Sound Of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials is the musically electrifying, emotionally intense and downright fun new album from the band Guitar Player calls "a snarling boogie-blues machine...they blow down the walls." The CD features Lil' Ed's incendiary playing and playful, passionate singing, with the ragged-but-right Blues Imperials cooking like mad alongside him. Produced by Williams and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer, it is a tour-de-force of authentic, deeply rooted Chicago blues. Williams wrote or co-wrote all but two of album's 14 songs, the other gems written by Uncle J.B. The Chicago Reader says the band's music "is a soundtrack for dancing and celebration infused with a sense of hard-won survival. Williams attacks his lyrics like he attacks his guitar: with bare-bones intensity that makes each word sound like a matter of life or death."

Born in Chicago on April 8, 1955, in the heart of Chicago's tough West Side, Ed grew up surrounded by music. He was playing guitar, then drums and bass, by the time he was 12. Ed and Pookie received lessons and support from their famous uncle. "J.B. taught me everything I know," says Ed. "I wouldn't be where I am today without him." Ed and Pookie spent their teen years making music together, and in 1975 formed the first incarnation of The Blues Imperials. They played their first gig at a West Side club called Big Duke's Blue Flame, splitting the $6 take four ways. Over the next few years, the group played every club in the neighborhood. Even so, they still needed day jobs to pay the bills. Ed worked ten hours a day as a buffer at the Red Carpet Car Wash. Pookie drove a school bus. Night after night they played their roaring brand of blues in tiny clubs, and eventually the word reached Alligator president Bruce Iglauer.

At the time, Iglauer was looking for local talent for The New Bluebloods, an anthology of some of Chicago's younger blues musicians. "Ed and his band had a good reputation," recalls Iglauer. "I had only seen them live once or twice. I knew Ed was a hot slide player, but I had no idea what he and the band were really capable of. I just knew that their music reminded me of Hound Dog Taylor and J.B. Hutto, two of my favorite musicians. It seemed like having a band this rough and ready would be a nice change of pace for the anthology, so I asked them to come down to the studio and cut a couple of songs. I never expected what happened."

The band--never having been in a recording studio before--treated the studio like a club, playing live to Iglauer, the engineer, and all the people on the other side of the control room glass. After Ed recorded his two rehearsed songs quickly, there was still plenty of studio time left, so they just kept playing. After 10 songs were in the can, Iglauer offered the band a full album contract. The end result of the session was 30 songs cut in three hours with no overdubs and only one second take. Twelve of those songs became the band's debut album, Roughhousin', released in September of 1986.

The national press reacted with amazement to the blues world's new discovery. Feature stories ran in Spin, Musician, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune and dozens of other publications. The Village Voice declared, "Roughhousin' just may be the blues album of the year." The New York Times raved, "Raw-boned, old-fashioned Chicago blues has a new young master--Lil' Ed Williams."

But it wasn't until 1987, when guitarist Mike Garrett joined the band, and a year later, when Garrett recruited his Detroit hometown friend Kelly Littleton to play drums, that things really began to take off. Garrett's risk-taking rhythm guitar work and Littleton's unpredictable, old school drumming were the perfect complement to Lil' Ed's and Pookie's rambunctious playing. With their 1989 album Chicken, Gravy & Biscuits, doors opened and audiences poured in. Through relentless touring, the group crystallized, becoming tighter with each performance, more adept in their abilities to read each other's musical moves. Their spontaneous and unpredictable live show became legendary among blues fans worldwide.

They have played the Chicago Blues Festival multiple times, and have appeared at The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Portland's Waterfront Blues Festival, The Tampa Bay Blues Festival, The San Diego Blues Festival, The Pennsylvania Blues Festival and dozens of other festivals around the country. Satisfying worldwide demand, they have performed at festivals in Canada, Great Britain, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Japan, Australia, India, Turkey and Panama.

Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials released eight Alligator albums between 1986 and 2012. With each one, the band's national and international stature grew as their fan base--known internationally as "Ed Heads"--continued to expand. With 2006's Rattleshake, Ed and company reached a whole new audience. Die-hard "Ed Head" Conan O'Brien brought the band before millions of television viewers on two separate occasions. Success and accolades never stop pouring in. Living Blues called 2012's Jump Start "scorching and soulful" with "crafty, clever lyrics...joyous and stomping."

The group took home the Living Blues Award for Best Live Performer in 2011, 2012 and 2013. They won the prestigious Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year in both 2007 and 2009. The Associated Press says, "Williams fills Chicago's biggest shoes with more life and heat than anyone on stage today."

With The Big Sound Of Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, the band continues to bring their blistering Chicago blues to "Ed Heads" new and old. Their infectious energy, joyful showmanship and masterful playing have been honed to a razor's edge by their many years together. Lil' Ed, Pookie, Mike and Kelly have seen sports stars and presidents, musical fads and fashion trends come and go. Meanwhile, their fiery music has more than stood the test of time. "We're not band members," says Williams, "we're family, and families stay together." Night after night, gig after riotous gig, the musical family called Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials bring their big, dynamic Chicago blues sound to fans across the country and around the world

Michael McDermott burst onto the scene in his early 20s with his exceptional debut, 620 W. Surf and subsequently found himself touted as Rock's 'Next Big Thing'. MTV, Rolling Stone, The New York Times and even author, Stephen King added their appreciative nods and having the backing of Giant Records and prestigious producers like, Brian Koppelman and Don Gehman, seemed to go a long way towards assuring his success - overnight success.

The missteps and failures that followed, the collapse of an industry that once embraced him as its next sensation, are troubles and travails that either ruin a person completely, or they force a change of attitude and staunch determination to gather one's resolve to not only survive, but overcome. McDermott vowed to do both. Ten albums in, it's resulted in Willow Springs (Pauper Sky, June 17, 2016), one of the most honest, daring and defiant recordings of McDermott's career. Named for the small town where he now resides with his wife and young daughter, it reflects a certain circumspect about his life, the situations he's encountered, while realizing that ultimately, his fate resided in his own hands.

"This is an album of reckoning I suppose," McDermott reflects. "There was a real cacophony of change going on in my life at the time... being a new father, losing my own father, leaving the city for the country, dealing with sobriety, grief, death, mortality, shame and forgiveness. It was a veritable emotional tsunami and yet somehow I had to navigate through it all. That journey is reflected in these songs. Willow Springs is the name of the place where I took refuge and had to confront a lot of things".

Recorded at his home in the country and fan-funded, Willow Springs finds McDermott behind the boards as producer for the first time with longtime producer and collaborator, Lex Price doing the mix. Having enlisted a stellar support group of musicians -- including multi-instrumentalist, Price; guitarist, Will Kimbrough; keyboard player, John Deaderick ; sax player Rich Parenteau; and McDermott's wife, Heather Horton on backing vocals - McDermott found himself able to craft the unassuming yet cutting sound he envisioned.

Indeed, the results bear out the fact that Willow Springs is the most honest and expressive album of McDermott's extraordinary 25 year career. Songs such as, 'These Last Few Days', 'Getaway Car', 'Half Empty Kinda Guy', 'One Minus One' and the title track, convey all at once, a sound that's both reflective and confessional - borne by stark emotion and a tattered, battered delivery that's both sobering and sublime. McDermott remains more determined than ever, and Willow Springs is the result. "My enthusiasm is only matched by my desire to continue to evolve as an artist" he insists.

Accolades and kudos can be accumulated one minute and quickly dissipate the next. After all, the music biz is a fickle beast and it doesn't matter how much you pleased the masses last year, last month or even last week, but rather, about what you offer today.

Today, McDermott has offered his best.

Kudos to Michael McDermott - overnight success.

For almost 30 years, John 5 has been one of the most in-demand guitar players on the planet. As well as a guitarist for hire, 5 has shared the stage as axe-man for Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and Rob Halford. He has also worked with an impressive array of names, from all walks of music, including KD Lang, Rod Stewart, Dave Lee Roth, Alice Cooper, Tina Guo and Steven Adler.

To call John 5 a shredder does not do him justice. There's little he can't put his hand to.

John 5 was born John William Lowery, on July 31st 1971, in Gross Pointe Michigan. His love of guitar began at age seven, when he began watching the Hee Haw series with his father. "I watched the guitar playing and knew that was what I wanted to do. My friends wanted to be astronauts and such but all I wanted to do was play and play and play". Other notable influences included KISS and Jimi Hendrix.

John's parents brought his first guitar for Christmas, and supported their son as he began playing in bars and clubs, on the pre-condition that he kept his grades up. This in turn led John to form his first band 'Dirty Trixx' who won a major battle of the bands contest when he was in sixth or seventh grade. In a subsequent high-school band 'Vampirella', John began to experiment with what is now the trademark make-up that he still wears today; "we looked crazy on stage. I'd already started wearing eyeliner anyway but the stuff we wore on stage was crazy".

At the age of 18, John made the decision to move to Los Angeles to pursue a session guitarist career. Despite being the victim of a robbery on his first night, John hunkered down in abandoned warehouses and went door to door to sell his skills. A lucky break saw John get his first band experience in LA with 'Alligator Soup'. Stepping in when the singer was pulled from stage following a bizarre accident, John caught the eye of Rudy Sarzo who was so impressed with John's quick step-up, that he took him to dinner and asked to work with him. This in turn saw John meet producer Bob Marlette, who became a gateway for John's burgeoning career as a session guitarist. This partnership, and friendship continues to this day.

Big breaks saw John working with the legendary Lita Ford opening up for KISS, which for the man who is a huge KISS fan was like "all my Christmas' coming at once". Further work included with former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo and his first big project -- 'Red Square Black'. Together they released one EP -- 'Square' Shortly after John was selected from over 2000 other guitarists to play with K.D.Lang.

John's career flourished when he teamed up with Rob Halford and formed industrial/classic rock band '2wo' (Two).Their album, 'Voyeurs' was produced by Nine Inch Nail's frontman Trent Reznor. Following this, John worked with another chldhood hero -- Dave Lee Roth -- writing and playing on 'The DLR Band' album. "We did it in two weeks, and I remember Dave saying before we started recording, if you can't do it in two takes, then you can't do it."

In 1998, shock-rocker Marilyn Manson had just recording 'Mechanical Animals' and was in need of a new live guitarist following the departure of Zim Zum. John had just returned home following a European tour with 2wo, and almost immediately was contacted by Manson's management team, who invited John to lunch; 'I get there and it's Manson himself sitting at the table. As a result of that first meeting I had a new name and I was in the band." Signed on initially to play on the Rock Is Dead tour, John, now anointed John 5 by Manson, also contributed to the Grammy nominated "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes".

In April 1999, the US was rocked by a horrifying mass shooting at Columbine High School, and a media backlash saw the band the recipients of several death threats. Regrouping at the Houdini House in Laurel Canyon work began on 'Holywood: In The Shadow of the Valley of Death' the first full studio album that John 5 worked on. "Manson is a phenomenal producer and visionary. His production knowledge is astounding." During this period John 5 continued to do session work, contributing to the Jimi Hendrix Tribute album 'Hazy Days' and reuniting with Dave Lee Roth for the track 'Thug Pop'.

After the phenomenal success of Holywood, the band returned to the studio to record a different kind of album -- the Burlesque, Weimar Republic stylized 'The Golden Age of Grotesque'. However, the subsequent tour proved deeply conflicting as John 5's personal life clashed with his work life and as a result some tensions arose in the band. So in 2004, after 5 years in the band, John 5 and Manson decided to part company; "I'll never regret working with Manson, it was such a blast, but we both knew it was time to move on". Retaining his nickname and after a chance encounter with the legendary Les Paul, began working on his first solo album 'Vertigo'. The mix of John 5's trademark Drop D tuning intermixed with the Bluegrass music sounds he has listened to as a child, proved a hit with old fans, as well as introducing him to new followers.

John 5's solo career turned out not to be a flash in the pan, and he has now released 9 studio albums, a live album and a remix album . He has worked with several special guests on those albums, including Albert Lee who called John 5 "one of the nicest guys I've worked with", Steve Vai who called John "underrated", Joe Satriani, Jim Root, Eric Johnson and many more. As well as his solo albums John 5 teamed up with the vocal talents of Joe Grah (formerly of Texas band Jibe) to form "radio rock project" Loser. Their first single, 'Disposable Sunshine' featured on the Fantastic Four soundtrack.

In 2006, John 5 was invited to join Rob Zombie for a short Ozzfest tour. Despite being told "not to get too comfortable", the pairing brought a resurgence in Zombie, who at the point was turning his hand to directing movies and taking a break from music, they began work on 2006's 'Educated Horses'. As a consequence John 5 had to make the decision to leave his fledgling band Loser. "Being the founding member of Loser, my decision to leave was not an easy one."

John 5 continues to work with Zombie, co-writing on all studio albums since Educated Horses, and composing the score for Zombie's 2013 movie 'The Lords Of Salem'.

In 2015, following a series of web shows to celebrate the release of his solo album 'Careful With That Axe", John 5 decided to take his solo set on tour, and formed The Creatures band to support his live shows. Initially joined by long-term friend Rodger Carter on drums, the band continues touring to this day, and now work as a unit on 5's solo albums, including 'Season Of The Witch', the live album 'It's Alive' and 2019's 'Invasion'. The current line-up includes John 5, Ian Ross on bass and drummer Logan Miles Nix.

Although John 5 does less "hired gun" work, he has contributed to work with Lynryd Skynrd, Meatloaf, Ricky Martin, Rod Stewart, Motley Crue and Rod Stewart.

"I'm busy, constantly busy with work but I look at who I am in the studio with or sending music to and I think I don't ever want it to stop."

Anthony Gomes, #1 Billboard Blues Artist, is a triple threat force as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Blues Revue Magazine recently declared that, "Gomes' formidable guitar chops and authentic singing place him in the forefront of modern blues." This, along with his high-energy shows and dynamic stage presence, make him one of the top draws on the Rock/Blues circuit today. Gomes has headlined concerts in 17 countries and has had the honor of sharing the stage with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Robert Plant, Joe Bonamassa, Heart, Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Word of Gomes' electrifying performances has reached Eric Clapton, Morgan Freeman, John Goodman, Toby Keith, Jonny Lang, Ron White and Vince Vaughn who have all attended Gomes' concerts. After experiencing Gomes live, John Goodman referred to him as "a pure soul brother" and comedian Ron White declared his official endorsement of Anthony Gomes. Perhaps the greatest complement was offered by Morgan Freeman who jokingly professed that Anthony was, "not bad for a white boy."

In addition to performing, Gomes is an award winning blues history scholar, earning the University of Toronto's C.P. Stacey Award for the highest overall academic grade point average by a history major. Anthony completed his master's degree thesis on the racial and cultural evolution of blues music, graduating with high distinction.

Believing that music can inspire the human spirit, Anthony founded the Music Is The Medicine Foundation in 2010. This non-profit organization is dedicated to changing the lives of others through the healing power of music. Through private donations and winning sizable grants from State Farm Insurance and CVS Pharmacy, the foundation has funded songwriting scholarships, offered music education programs, and donated musical instruments to those in need.

Born in Toronto, Canada to a Portuguese father and a French-Canadian mother, Gomes began playing guitar in his early teens and was drawn to the blues sounds of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.

He relocated to Chicago in the late '90s to learn from the blues masters. During his brief stint as a sideman for Magic Slim and the Teardrops, Gomes put together his own group and won the first annual Buddy Guy's Legends "Best Unsigned Blues Band" competition in 1998. Later that year, Gomes released his debut CD, Blues in Technicolor, which introduced him as a guitar-slinger loaded with impressive firepower.

On 2002's Unity, he accomplished the album's title with a heavy mix of styles leading Bandit Blues Radio to name it one of the "Top 30 Essential Blues CDs" of all time. Gomes was elevated to the top of the blues field just one year later when BluesWax Magazine named him "Artist of the Year," an award he would claim for several years in a row due to his endless commitment and touring. Music Is the Medicine (2006) peaked at number four on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart, only to be outdone by LIVE (2008) debuting at number one. In 2012, Gomes received critical acclaim for his release of Up 2 Zero. The album was named the "Best Blues CD of 2012" by A1 Blues.com and the Blues Underground Network voted the album "Best Blues Rock CD of 2012." The accolades continued in 2013 with the release of Gomes' gusty acoustic album ...Before The Beginning. Blues 411 honored the release with the "Jimi Award" for best Blues/Rock CD of 2013 and it continues to make many "Best Albums of the Year" lists.

Gomes shows no signs of slowing down. 2015 will see the release of Electric Field Holler, a guitar driven blues infused rock 'n' roll album that showcases Gomes' blistering six string work and whiskey soaked voice. "I feel like this will be our pinnacle year in terms of creativity and artistic achievement," says Gomes, "it's time to turn it up."

Entertaining audiences from his phenomenal guitar work to his incredibly impassioned lyrics and overall songwriting prowess - one thing has certainly become clear about Albert Cummings' music: He is FAR MORE than simply just the guitarist or the bluesman he's often painted as by fans and the media alike. He offers the complete package.

Though undoubtedly a masterful guitar player who burst onto the blues rock scene in the early 2000's and almost immediately began gaining praise in that realm, his latest release "Live at the '62 Center"further portrays not only his versatility as singer/songwriter and live performer but as an artist first and foremost.

This comes to fruition in the true spontaneity and creative spirit of the album, in which he put together a newly formed version of his usual trio that afternoon of the October, 2016 recording. With longtime friend and Grammy Winner Jim Gaines behind the soundboard, what comes through in both sight and sound is an incredible journey into the live performance world and true artistry of one of today's most seasoned musicians.

"His muscular guitar work is simply outstanding. He's a great blues singer as well with passion for the tunes inherent in his full throttle approach." - Rock and Blues Muse on Live at the '62 Center

Like many greats before him who've been painted into a corner as merely great blues players, or guitar players, or singers - Cummings seeks to rise above these labels and be praised for the devotion to his overall craft as a true musician. In artist terms - he's sought to be known for the overall pallet of his music, rather than one specific color. From greats like Eric Clapton to the more recent stylings of John Mayer, his artistic integrity has allowed him to focus on the big picture, writing songs from the heart rather than catering to his specifics strengths as a singer, guitarist, or bandleader (all of which he does impeccably, however).

His musical journey began when young Albert first picked up a guitar - learning the requisite three chords from his father, but later switched over to banjo at the age of 12 after becoming a bluegrass fan. After hearing the early recordings of Stevie Ray Vaughan, he was impressed by the sheer virtuosity of the artist, and following his first chance to see him LIVE while in college in Boston he returned to the guitar with a new outlook and resolve.

At age 27, as he continued to grow in his newfound passion, he landed on the Northeast blues circuit with his first band Swamp Yankee. Then, in 1998, after walking into a Northeast Blues Society's open jam, Cummings won the right to compete in the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge the following year. By 2000, his debut single "The Long Way" was released to rave reviews, and began opening new doors for the artist.

His first big opportunity came in the form of a chance to work with Double Trouble, the late Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section. So taken with Albert's fire and passion were bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton that they volunteered to play on and produce his solo debut recording, 2003's self-released From the Heart. Recorded in Austin, Texas, it featured Cummings fronting Double Trouble (including Reese Winans) in their first recording project since Stevie Ray's passing. Having began his musical journey in part due to Vaughan's inspiration, it seemed Cummings' passion had brought him full-circle.

Cummings' soulful and explosive approach to blues and rock then caught the attention of Blind Pig Records (Muddy Waters, Jimmy Vivino, Elvin Bishop), which signed him to a multi-album deal. On his label debut, True to Yourself, released in 2004, Cummings was again joined by bassist Tommy Shannon. Recorded by producer extraordinaire Jim Gaines (Santana, Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy), the all-original release showcased Albert's rapidly developing songwriting chops and deeply emotional vocals as well as stunning guitar pyrotechnics, fully showcasing his well-rounded talents. Soon tours and shows with blues legends B.B. King, Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy and others brought Albert's music to a much larger audience.

His second release, Working Man (2006), also produced by Jim Gaines, furthered a growing focus and maturity both in Albert's stinging, incisive guitar work as well as in his fluently idiomatic songwriting - leading Billboard Magazine to exclaim "This recording is the calling card of a star who has arrived".

2008 saw his first live album "Feel So Good", recorded at the historic Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts which has hosted everyone from Will Rogers to Al Jolson. The audience was so enthralled and supportive they became part of the performance in a way that's rarely heard. As AllMusic put it, "It sounds like it was one hell of a party that night". Music Connection also called it "one of the best live albums recorded in a long time".

As he continued to grow, playing with the likes of legends from B.B. King (who called dubbed him "a great guitarist"), Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy, and many more - Cummings built on not only his all- around songwriting and musicianship but his guitar playing skill as well. Using his knowledge to give back to fellow guitarists wanting to advance in their craft, he released the instructional DVD "Working Man Blues Guitar" in 2011. His next album, 2012's self-released "No Regrets" followed as a return to his true musical roots, poignantly capturing the core of his influences and displaying the impact that R&B, Rock, Soul, Country, and the Blues have had on both his playing and writing. It debuted at #1 on iTunes music charts in the USA, Canada and France.

2015's "Someone Like You" was recorded in Southern California with Grammy-winning producer David Z. (Buddy Guy, Prince, Jonny Lang, Gov't Mule) at the helm. Said Z, "Albert Cummings writes, plays and sings the blues like nobody else. What a blast to watch him jell in the studio with some of the best musicians in Los Angeles." One of those musicians was Blind Pig label mate and leader of The Basic Cable Band on the Conan TV show, Jimmy Vivino, who performs on three cuts.

Now, as he continues writing and performing, relentlessly devoting effort to his craft, Cumming's is ready to continue on his ever expansive musical journey.

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