October 2023

Minnesota based Guytano is made up of brothers Grant and Eddie Hamilton along with Isaac Hesse and Colter Benoit. The band first met in 2010 while attending middle school in Sartell, Minnesota where they began covering punk rock songs eventually finding their own synth-based pop-rock sound behind the songs of the band's Grant Hamilton.

With over 8 million streams on Spotify alone and a dedicated, cult-like fanbase. Guytano has been able to find their place in the Minneapolis scene and beyond.

The new single "She Knows" with Jon Gilmore (The 1975) mixing. This song embodies the excess of Vegas and tells the story of losing everything in sin city. From the music video to the album art, the aesthetic is overwhelmingly consistent with everything you'd find walking down 'the strip.' They are ramping up for a massive 2023, with multiple EP's, music videos, and tours.

Tickets available here.

Todd Barry has released three one-hour stand-up specials including his latest one for Netflix, Spicy Honey.

He's appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ,The Late Show with David Letterman, Conan and Late Night With Seth Meyers and his acting credits include The Wrestler, Road Trip, Flight of the Concords, Chappelle's Show, Spin City, Sex and the City. You may have heard his voice on the animated series Bob's Burgers, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Todd is also the author of the critically-acclaimed 2017 travel memoir Thank You For Coming To Hattiesburg.

Some folks are lucky to find what they love to do at an early age and settle in for the long haul working to expand and improve their work over the arc of a lifetime. Willy Porter is one of those folks. He has followed his own path to explore the sacred language that music truly is. 30 years after his solo recording debut, he continues to reach further into his guitar & pen while stretching the form of what his own music can be. He's currently working on his 13th album for release in early 2022.

Willy Porter continues on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 11 albums, and multiple continents. His journey has been defined by an inquisitive love for humanity and the language that describes what we all hold to be true. Porter's songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven grit, soul, silence and muscle-- at times electrifying, dynamic, and unique in the way that Porter's voice blends and fuses with his fret work.

A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late '80's while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.

Porter's breakthrough album, Dog Eared Dream, was released in 1994, and the song "Angry Words" quickly became a staple at the burgeoning AAA radio format. This led to a major label deal with BMG/Private Music in 1995. Unfortunately, Private was dismantled by BMG just as Porter was preparing to release his follow-up. With contractual freedom in 1998, Porter quickly signed with the San Francisco-based label Six Degrees. There he released three albums beginning with the studio gem, Falling Forward (1999), produced by multiple Grammy-winner Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting). The eponymous Willy Porter (2001) followed featuring great guest performances by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and Tony Levin. His fan-favorite solo disc, High Wire Live (2003) was co-produced with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin).

In 2005 Porter left Six Degrees and launched his own imprint, Weasel Records. Together with longtime keyboardist/ collaborator Dave Adler, Porter produced the atmospheric album Available Light in 2006. His work with Guild & Fender guitars over the next several years would result in the manufacture of the "Willy Porter Signature" acoustic guitar. Porter then took time to record and produce singer/songwriter Natalia Zukerman, on her whip-smart Weasel debut, Brand New Frame (2008). Porter released his next disc, How to Rob a Bank in 2009, the heavily Americana-flavored record featuring the contributions of the LA-based quartet, Raining Jane. Bank was followed with a live disc recorded with the Carpe Diem String Quartet in (2010). This collaboration produced a gorgeous EP featuring several of Porter's most enduring tunes ("Breathe," "Paper Airplane," "Watercolor"), elevated and reinterpreted against a backdrop of lush string arrangements.

In 2011, Porter produced the second Weasel release for Natalia Zukerman, the driving Gas Station Roses. A partnership with Milwaukee-based singer/ songwriter Carmen Nickerson resulted in the album, Cheeseburgers and Gasoline (2013). This spartan production illuminates themes of life-longing and relationship repair, all while balancing the dream of self-actualization on the axle of a carnival's Tilt-a-Whirl. The record also includes Porter's brilliant cover arrangement of Peter Gabriel's "Digging in the Dirt." Porter's follow-up release, Human Kindness (2015) incorporated all of his acoustic, electric, and multi-string chops to bear in service of a great selection of songs bearing the influence of soul, rock, blues/Americana, showcasing Porter's growth as a writer, musician, and producer.

After touring extensively together for more than two years, Porter and Nickerson released a full-length disc of original co-writes: Bonfire to Ash (2016). Produced by Grammy winning producer Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Jonatha Brooke) and featuring Bassist Zev Katz and Drummer/Producer Ben Wittman, Bonfire to Ash is a record that charts the experiences bridging the intimate with the universal. Porter and Nickerson borrow from their strong stage chemistry to render the same kind of musical conversation that unfolds in performance within a studio setting. This dialogic style broadens to consider the connections and values forged in the communities we call home ("Living Proof") and in the responsibility we have to the planet that gives itself to house us ("Plant A Garden"). Bonfire to Ash compiles candid snapshots of the human journey, exposing ideas such as hope, regret, love, loss, and connection that remain immutable against time, history, or place.

In addition to making a life in music, Porter finds ways to make an impact on local and international levels. He is an active supporter of Advocates of Ozaukee, a shelter and treatment facility for victims of domestic violence and abuse in Mequon, Wisconsin. His annual benefit concerts have raised more than $100,000 for this organization to date. He is also an Ambassador for Guitars for Vets, a Milwaukee-based International organization that works to improve the lives of veterans by providing them with guitars and music lessons.

Willy Porter lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife and two children.

Some folks are lucky to find what they love to do at an early age and settle in for the long haul working to expand and improve their work over the arc of a lifetime. Willy Porter is one of those folks. He has followed his own path to explore the sacred language that music truly is. 30 years after his solo recording debut, he continues to reach further into his guitar & pen while stretching the form of what his own music can be. He's currently working on his 13th album for release in early 2022.

Willy Porter continues on a musical and personal odyssey spanning over two decades, 11 albums, and multiple continents. His journey has been defined by an inquisitive love for humanity and the language that describes what we all hold to be true. Porter's songs weave a universal perspective about the questions, struggles, and triumphs of human existence. His live shows are guitar-driven grit, soul, silence and muscle-- at times electrifying, dynamic, and unique in the way that Porter's voice blends and fuses with his fret work.

A largely self-taught musician, Porter began treating audiences to his brand of guitar playing and wry storytelling in the late '80's while living in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1990, he released his first full-length independent album, The Trees Have Soul, and the touring life has flowed steadily ever since. Porter has literally logged millions of miles across America, Canada, the UK, and Europe, touring solo, as well as with various incarnations of the Willy Porter Band and in support of artists like Tori Amos, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Sting, and Jeff Beck.

Porter's breakthrough album, Dog Eared Dream, was released in 1994, and the song "Angry Words" quickly became a staple at the burgeoning AAA radio format. This led to a major label deal with BMG/Private Music in 1995. Unfortunately, Private was dismantled by BMG just as Porter was preparing to release his follow-up. With contractual freedom in 1998, Porter quickly signed with the San Francisco-based label Six Degrees. There he released three albums beginning with the studio gem, Falling Forward (1999), produced by multiple Grammy-winner Neil Dorfsman (Dire Straits, Sting). The eponymous Willy Porter (2001) followed featuring great guest performances by Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and Tony Levin. His fan-favorite solo disc, High Wire Live (2003) was co-produced with Grammy-winner Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin).

In 2005 Porter left Six Degrees and launched his own imprint, Weasel Records. Together with longtime keyboardist/ collaborator Dave Adler, Porter produced the atmospheric album Available Light in 2006. His work with Guild & Fender guitars over the next several years would result in the manufacture of the "Willy Porter Signature" acoustic guitar. Porter then took time to record and produce singer/songwriter Natalia Zukerman, on her whip-smart Weasel debut, Brand New Frame (2008). Porter released his next disc, How to Rob a Bank in 2009, the heavily Americana-flavored record featuring the contributions of the LA-based quartet, Raining Jane. Bank was followed with a live disc recorded with the Carpe Diem String Quartet in (2010). This collaboration produced a gorgeous EP featuring several of Porter's most enduring tunes ("Breathe," "Paper Airplane," "Watercolor"), elevated and reinterpreted against a backdrop of lush string arrangements.

In 2011, Porter produced the second Weasel release for Natalia Zukerman, the driving Gas Station Roses. A partnership with Milwaukee-based singer/ songwriter Carmen Nickerson resulted in the album, Cheeseburgers and Gasoline (2013). This spartan production illuminates themes of life-longing and relationship repair, all while balancing the dream of self-actualization on the axle of a carnival's Tilt-a-Whirl. The record also includes Porter's brilliant cover arrangement of Peter Gabriel's "Digging in the Dirt." Porter's follow-up release, Human Kindness (2015) incorporated all of his acoustic, electric, and multi-string chops to bear in service of a great selection of songs bearing the influence of soul, rock, blues/Americana, showcasing Porter's growth as a writer, musician, and producer.

After touring extensively together for more than two years, Porter and Nickerson released a full-length disc of original co-writes: Bonfire to Ash (2016). Produced by Grammy winning producer Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Jonatha Brooke) and featuring Bassist Zev Katz and Drummer/Producer Ben Wittman, Bonfire to Ash is a record that charts the experiences bridging the intimate with the universal. Porter and Nickerson borrow from their strong stage chemistry to render the same kind of musical conversation that unfolds in performance within a studio setting. This dialogic style broadens to consider the connections and values forged in the communities we call home ("Living Proof") and in the responsibility we have to the planet that gives itself to house us ("Plant A Garden"). Bonfire to Ash compiles candid snapshots of the human journey, exposing ideas such as hope, regret, love, loss, and connection that remain immutable against time, history, or place.

In addition to making a life in music, Porter finds ways to make an impact on local and international levels. He is an active supporter of Advocates of Ozaukee, a shelter and treatment facility for victims of domestic violence and abuse in Mequon, Wisconsin. His annual benefit concerts have raised more than $100,000 for this organization to date. He is also an Ambassador for Guitars for Vets, a Milwaukee-based International organization that works to improve the lives of veterans by providing them with guitars and music lessons.

Willy Porter lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife and two children.

Featuring vocalists Jackie Caldwell, Joe Jordan & special guest Terry Jeanne, Jr.

Complimentary appetizers from 6-7.

Juliana Hatfield's inimitable 35-year career has seen her an underground darling, a cultural emblem and a time-tested veteran whose tender singing and exemplary guitar playing is an iconic and enduring pinnacle of indie and alternative rock. In 1986, she co-founded beloved Boston indie-rock trio the Blake Babies with Freda Love and John Strohm, injecting a glassy pop sensibility and keen knack for melody into the East Coast's vibrant underground rock scene, which included peers like Dinosaur Jr., the Pixies and The Lemonheads. After releasing three LPs and an EP with the band, in 1992 her debut solo album, Hey Babe, proved Hatfield a force in her own right. Its 11 tracks of melodic alt-rock portend the explosion of her singular blend of hard and soft (and also the cultural impact of grunge figureheads Nirvana, detailed in the album's song of the same name). That's not to mention Hatfield's crucial contribution as bassist and backing vocalist on The Lemonheads' celebrated albums It's a Shame About Ray (1992) and Come on Feel The Lemonheads (1993).

But it was Hatfield's 1993 album Become What You Are -- released under the moniker The Juliana Hatfield Three -- that marked her a star. Its runaway single, "My Sister," gave voice to women and girls worldwide, detailing the complex emotional stew of sisterhood and female friendship, and becoming a rare hit without a chorus. It topped the Billboard alternative chart in 1993, and the album was designated a rising phenomenon on the publication's heatseekers index, peaking at the pole position. "Spin the Bottle," a quirky, rollicking tune written in 5/4, was featured in Reality Bites, one of the era's most celebrated films. Its accompanying video, directed by Ben Stiller, features Hatfield and the band playing the pubescent-favorite game alongside the actor Ethan Hawke and Belly's Tanya Donelly. Its follow-up, Hatfield's Only Everything, released in 1995, further highlighted her dexterous guitar shredding against a backdrop of melodic pop structures. It catapulted her fierce-yet-tender outlook to new heights, and produced two more celebrated singles, "Universal Heart-Beat" and "What a Life." The same year, she contributed the original song "So-Called Angels" to cult-favorite television show My So-Called Life, and made her acting debut on the show's Christmas episode.

Since her commercial peak, Hatfield has released 16 solo albums of stirring originals and imaginative covers, delving further into her love of melodic pop and rock frameworks, and fine-tuning her unmatched vision. In 2001 she reconvened the Blake Babies for a new album, God Bless the Blake Babies, and in 2016 she collaborated with The Replacements' Paul Westerberg under the band name The I Don't Cares. She's adorned magazine covers and played the country's most celebrated rock clubs but at her core Hatfield is an artist and a technician -- a skilled singer, songwriter and player whose influence and endurance is all but unmatched.

Globally acclaimed by critics and fans alike for his unique acoustic and electric ?ngerstyle guitar playing, Adrian Legg masterfully blends diverse musical styles, in?uences and inspirations to create a distinctive sound all his own. With multiple awards and accolades spanning four decades, Legg has been heralded as a "guitarist of astonishing virtuosity, (whose) imagination and melodic invention seem unbounded," (Q magazine); "ridiculously talented," (Music Week) and "simply the best acoustic guitar player I've ever heard."(guitar icon Joe Satriani). Setting the stage for his international success in the decades to follow, Legg was named as Acoustic Guitarist of the Decade by the UK's Guitarist Magazine(1984-94), and Best Acoustic Fingerstylist in Guitar Player Magazine's Readers' Poll for four years in a row. (1993-96).

But there's even more to Adrian Legg's draw as an engaging, one-of-a-kind performer. Described by Audio Magazine as a "kind of cross between Robert Fripp and Garrison Keillor," Legg is more fully characterized as a "genuine entertainer who excels at not only painting pictures, if not frescoes, and telling stories with music-- but also wittily regaling his audiences with tales from his life and travels and his cogent and often oblique yet thought-provoking observations on a spectrum of topics. It's all part of his dedication to making his performances a fullblooded emotional experience."

Over his career, Legg has released a dozen or more recordings of his original compositions, which are consistently described as "thrilling, engaging, emotionally compelling and evocative." Legg encapsulates his own music by saying, "I'm a collision between European classicism and the American guitar."

Loyal fans around the globe enthusiastically appreciate Legg's witty, entertaining stories, often shared in between songs onstage and on his live albums. As noted by popular BBC radio personality Andy Kershaw, "Quite simply, there is no one else like him," citing Legg's "dazzling technique and equally large dollops of spirit, humor, passion, eclecticism and spontaneity."

For Legg, the essence of his creativity is in live performance."Playing live is the whole point," he stresses."Everyone makes a journey, an effort; we all come together -- me, the audience,the people who run the venue -- to share this wonderful, universal, human emotional interaction. This is where music lives; it has a huge social value which I think is very important."

When it comes to musical technique, Legg plays ?ngerstyle guitar, mixing an alternating-bass style with harmonics, banjo-peg retuning and single or double string bending. Often, he plays a piece entirely in arpeggios (similar to a classical guitar style) and extensively uses altered tunings and capos to create his signature sound.

In addition to his well-honed gifts as a performer, Legg is an innovator in guitar design and ampli?cation technology, an instructor, photographer, writer, author, and an at-large commentator for National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" which still regularly uses many of his varied guitar interpretations of its theme music. So it's no wonder that What's Up magazine hails London-born Legg as "the greatest British import since Newcastle Brown Ale."

The eighth full-length from singer/songwriter Jason Eady, To The Passage Of Time first took shape in a frenetic burst of creativity back in the doldrums of quarantine. Over the course of a three-day period last August, the Fort Worth, Texas-based musician wrote more than half of the album, locking himself in his bedroom and emerging only when he felt completely burnt out. "I went in thinking I was going to write just one song--but then the songs kept coming, and I didn't want to break the spell," he recalls. "I'd go to sleep with the guitar by the bed, pick it back up when I woke up the next morning, and do it all again. I'd never really experienced anything like that before."

With its nuanced exploration of aging and loss and the fragility of life, To The Passage Of Time arrives as the Mississippi-bred artist's most lyrically complex and compelling work to date. As Eady reveals, the album's understated power stems in part from the intentionality of the recording process, which involved enlisting Band of Heathens' Gordy Quist as producer and gathering many of Eady's favorite musicians he's played with over the years (including Noah Jeffries on mandolin and fiddle, Mark Williams on upright bass and cello, and Geoff Queen on Dobro, pedal steel, and lap steel). "I really love egoless players--people who know how to serve the song," notes Eady, who recorded at The Finishing School in Austin and made ample use of the studio's goldmine of vintage gear. "We started every song with just me on guitar, and if someone felt like they had a part to add, they had to come forward and say what they heard there. Everything was built from the ground up, and because of that there's no filler--nobody playing to show off or take up space."

On the album's exquisite centerpiece "French Summer Sun"--a devastating epic astoundingly captured in the very first take--Eady shares one of his most riveting pieces of storytelling yet. "My grandfather fought at Battle of Anzio in Italy in World War II, and a few years ago on tour I went to visit the beach where the battle took place," says Eady. "I was struck by how small the beach was--I realized that if my grandfather had made one wrong move he would've been killed, and I wouldn't be standing there thinking those thoughts. I ended up writing this song about how when someone dies in war, it isn't just killing that person: it's killing the generations of people who would have come from them." Building to a shattering plot twist in its final moments, "French Summer Sun" drifts between its somberly sung chorus and spoken-word verses, attaining an unlikely transcendence as Eady sheds equally poignant light on the horror of war and the ephemeral beauty of everyday
life.

Looking back on the making of To The Passage Of Time, Eady points to such unexpected moments as the recording of the album-opening "Nothing On You." "Apart from my guitar, the only two instruments on that song are cello and steel guitar--which is a combination I'd never heard before, and gave it a whole new character that took my breath away," he says. But for the most part, Eady achieved a rare outcome in the album's production: a direct expression of his deep-rooted and highly specific vision. "I write my songs on acoustic guitar, so sometimes in the studio things take different turns and end up not really matching with what you had in your head," says Eady. "But because of the approach we took with this album, there's hardly anything that came out different from what I'd envisioned. This is 100 percent the album I hoped I would make."

Low Cut Connie is an American rock and roll band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Low Cut Connie has become the alter ego for frontman, pianist, and songwriter Adam Weiner, who has been the band's only constant member since its formation. Beginning as an impromptu recording session in 2010, Low Cut Connie gradually evolved into a vehicle for Weiner's songwriting and his onstage persona. The band has earned praise for its high-energy live performances, which Los Angeles Weekly described as "unmatched in all of rock right now." NPR Music described Weiner as "masterfully fluent in the foundational languages of Western pop." Low Cut Connie has also gained notoriety for attracting high-profile endorsements such as a surprise inclusion on Barack Obama's Spotify Summer Playlist in 2015, and a personal association with Elton John, who has called the band one of his favorites. Drummer/bassist Jarae Lewis joined in 2019.

The Lovin' Kind is a Milwaukee based group which has re-emerged as a 60's rock band with Beatles and Rolling Stones roots. Our group of seven musicians is dedicated to entertaining those folks who truly love a song with a hook and a beat. We intend to keep this time honored music alive and thriving by performing songs that never leave your head.

All of our songs are chosen with you, the audience, in mind! Our aim is to always be a "fun" band playing songs with a rockin' beat that makes you want to get up and dance all night long. Each popular rock classic is played with great care and musicality. The Lovin' Kind has been playing together for 18 years producing a sound that is really "tight". Powerful lead singing and spot-on harmonies are joined with the full instrumental sound of lead, rhythm and bass guitars, keyboard, drums, degembe, and percussion making for the most complete night of music in years!

Giacomo Turra is an Italian musician born in 1997.

Intrigued by the vinyls of his father, Giacomo started playing guitar at the age of 13,learning by jamming on his favorite artists like Stevie Wonder, George Benson and HerbieHancock. In 2018, he started his solo musical project, exploring R&B, Funk and Jazz andreleasing his first singles under the name JMT between 2019 and 2020. In March 2020,during the pandemic lockdown, Giacomo started posting video performances on hisInstagram account, soon becoming an Artist for D'Angelico Guitars and gaining hundredsof thousands of followers. In July 2021, Giacomo released "The Groove Sessions", acompilation of Funk and R&B covers recorded with renowned musicians and singers fromall over the world like Brandon "TAZ" Niederauer, Phoebe Katis, Jessica Burdeaux,George Collins and Augie Bello. On November 12th, 2021, Giacomo played his firstinternational show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam for the Soul Live in front of 2500 people.In December 2021, Matteo Dallape on drums, Francesco Dallago on bass and AnnaPollinari on vocals and keys joined the project as part of the band for Giacomo Turra. OnAugust 26th, Giacomo released his first original single "Get Into The Groove" with VokallRecords. The following day, Giacomo and his band played their debut show, opening forJoss Stone, Candy Dulfer and many more artists at the summer edition of the Soul LiveFestival in the Netherlands, in front of 5000 people. On October 21st, Giacomo releasedhis second original single "Sweet Life", in collaboration with Italian R&B singer FilippoPerbellini. In November 2022, Giacomo and his band went on their first headliner tour inItaly, with sold out shows in Milan, Bologna and Rome. In January 2023, Giacomoreleased his signature guitar pickup model with Italian company Mama Pickups. InFebruary 2023, Giacomo announced the release of his signature Envelope Filter pedal incollaboration with Canadian brand SolidgoldFX. Later that month, Giacomo and his bandplayed two sold out shows at The Zone in Tel Aviv, Israel. In March 2023, Giacomoopened for French artist Mezerg in front of 1000 people at Fabrique in Milan. Later thatmonth, Giacomo Turra and his band announced a tour in May in the United States, withshows in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Philadelphia and Nashville.

Stop Light Observations is a dynamic five-piece hailing from Charleston, South Carolina. Their sound is a unique blend of rock, pop, and indie, infused with electronic beats and soulful vocals. From songs like "2young" to "Trajic Majic," their music is a true reflection of their unique personalities, and their live shows are a testament to their authenticity and raw talent.

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

Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams performed in its entirety by Sam Llanas formerly of the Bodeans. Starring Guy Hoffman and Bob Griffin.

Since their arrival on the music scene in the first wave of 1960s psychedelia, the name Soft Machine has become synonymous with musical experimentation, instrumental virtuosity, and inspired creativity all animated by a truly adventurous, progressive spirit. Although the personnel may have changed over the years, the commitment of those playing in Soft Machine today has remained consistent.

Some of the very brightest stars in the British jazz firmament have served in the ranks of this revered musical institution. Robert Wyatt, Mike Ratledge, Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Karl Jenkins, John Marshall, Roy Babbington, Allan Holdsworth, John Etheridge, Theo Travis, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen, Andy Summers, Jack Bruce, Gary Husband, and many others, have all focussed their own unique musicality to help shape the band's sound and personality.

Just like those earlier configurations, since they began recording and working live in 2004 as Soft Machine Legacy and the arrival of Theo Travis in 2006, the current lineup continues to defy easy categorization For Theo Travis, there's a rich combination of elements that combine to form what he believes to be Soft Machine's appeal. "I like the freedom, I like the variety of colors, the band improvisation. The fact that it has such a strong catalogue of music going back over 50 years from which we dip into and play. With a lot of jazz stuff, you do it and people come up and say 'good gig' or whatever, but it's not like it means something in the same way as a band that has history and a cultural significance in the way that Soft Machine has. For me, it's a suitable combination of rock, jazz, improv, melody, risk-taking, textures, and experimental looping. It's pretty much all the things I like to play in."

Their latest album, Other Doors, sees them move seamlessly between hardcore improvisation, pop-tinged ebullience, muscular rock, and visceral jazz along with shimmering electronica and ambient overtones. The album also signifies another change within the Softs' roster, marking the first recording to feature new bassist Fred Baker, who had guested with the band on occasion dating back to 2008 but actually took over permanent live duties from Roy Babbington in 2021. Baker, a superb musician with connections to the whole of the extended Canterbury family tree that includes a long-established duo with Phil Miller and the band In Cahoots, has enjoyed touring with Soft Machine. "We recently played a large theatre in Istanbul and it was sold out. There were lots of young people and they were coming up after the gig wanting things signed which was fantastic." Alongside the new compositions which Baker enjoys, is Soft Machine's impressive back catalogue which is featured through their live shows. Giving people an opportunity to hear these compositions in a live setting is important, he believes. "My big thing with all this music is I see it like in a way that people used to look at, say classical music or early music. . . it's keeping the music alive and in the present, enabling people to revisit music that they might only have heard on record. I'm so glad to be part of it."

The release of Other Doors in 2023 is also the end of an era as the last studio session with the legendary John Marshall, who first joined the group in 1972 and at the age of 81 has decided to retire. Marshall's place has been taken by another good friend of the band, drummer and composer Asaf Sirkis. Lauded by Robert Wyatt who says of Sirkis, "there's nothing he can't do when he puts his mind to it," Asaf had previously played with Soft Machine when Marshall was unable to tour due to ill health. However, a fan of the group since he first heard Softs' 1975 album, Bundles, featuring Allan Holdsworth, the music of the group has been incredibly influential on his whole outlook and career. "It's very exciting for me especially because of my history. Obviously, I'm a relative latecomer compared to the others in Soft Machine but it's the music I grew up listening to and not just Soft Machine, but the music of all the various people that have played in the band over the years. So, it's really exciting, like the closing of a big, big circle for me."

Marshall's departure from recording and performing now leaves John Etheridge, who joined the group in 1975, as the last surviving member of the group with roots in Soft Machine's 1970s heyday. A highly respected player, Etheridge has performed in a variety of settings across his long and distinguished career but, he says Soft Machine feels like his spiritual home. "I definitely feel when I pick up the guitar and play under the banner of Soft Machine, I feel different to any of my other gigs. It's my favorite of all things I do by far. When I play with the Soft Machine, that is when I really feel like I'm contacting the player I want to be."

Whilst the primary focus is on new work and improvisation their ability to call up almost any part of the back catalogue is something all members relish. The latest album, Other Doors, includes Joy Of A Toy, which was first heard on 1968's debut, The Soft Machine. This much-loved number, written by Kevin Ayers, has been included in the band's recent live set for a while now. Putting it on the album seemed very natural, says Etheridge. "Of course, it's long before my time and it wasn't something I knew but it's a great piece. Fred Baker transcribed the original with Kevin Ayers' charming bass playing. it's got a sort of nice bounce about it. . . As a group, we are always, looking for variety, not for its own sake but to cover a broader territory. So, to be playing the second-ever Soft Machine single alongside brand-new compositions is something that's a really good approach. There's a degree of eccentricity about that's very important to Soft Machine."

This is Soft Machine - a living, breathing music that is as vital and relevant today as it ever was. Both long-time fans and new converts alike can take heart in the knowledge that the Soft Machine family tree -- with its deep roots in the musical revolution of the '60s - continues to sprout healthy new limbs well into the new century, showing no signs of slowing. The legacy is in very good hands indeed. In 2018 Soft Machine released the album 'Hidden Details' which reached the Number 1 slot in the Amazon.co.uk Jazz Fusion chart. It also reached Number 1 for 8 weeks in the prestigious progressive radio chart from Philadelphia USA 'Gagliarchives' with Tom Gagliardi. Following the 50 date, 50th Anniversary World Tour, Soft Machine released a live album at the prestigious Los Angeles club the Baked Potato. - 'Live at the Baked Potato' was released in 2020 to great acclaim.

At a time when the world seems intent on pushing us further inward and further apart, Kiss the Tiger are here to rattle our bones and bust us out of our cocoons with some good old fashioned rock and roll.

Fronted by the magnetic and disarming Meghan Kreidler, who draws on her background in theater to break the fourth wall between audience and band with her righteous fist pumps and high kicks, this is a band that doesn't just play. They combust. And watching them set the stage ablaze, it's hard not to feel that tension that's been built up in all of us these past few years slowly release, too, like a collective exhale set to ratcheting guitars, buoyant bass lines and Kreidler's perfectly pitched screams. Theirs is a clean-burning fire. Hell, you might even call it healing.

"We want to give the audience an experience that is visceral and jolts them awake--creating community in that moment," Kreidler notes. "I think that's a really nice gift you can give people: Just let go."

Over the past few years Kiss the Tiger have set the Twin Cities ablaze, and there's nary a club, block party, park amphitheater or backyard that they haven't transformed with their commanding live shows. And their rigorous performance schedule has paid off: The band has never sounded tighter or more certain of its mission. Kreidler is backed on stage by her longtime partner and creative foil, Michael Anderson, on rhythm guitar, plus lead guitarist Bridger Fruth, bassist Paul DeLong, and drummer Jay DeHut.

Their sets are often accompanied by sing-alongs to regional hits like the hard-knocking "Motel Room," their ode to pandemic loneliness, "I Miss You," or their pleading anthem "Hold On to Love," all of which have become instantly recognizable to locals thanks to regular airplay on the tastemaking public radio station 89.3 The Current. ("Hold On to Love," specifically, spent a whopping nine weeks at No. 1 on The Current's Chart Show and was inducted into the Chart Show Hall of Fame.)

Their latest album, Vicious Kid, is a tour de force through the band's increasingly sophisticated songwriting, which is handled jointly by Kreidler and Anderson. There are plenty of moments where they embody the spirit of late '70s new wave punk, like in the ridiculously fun "Who Does Her Hair?" But they have started weaving in softer textures, too, like the crooning and feminist alt-country ballad "Grown Ass Woman" or the skeletal and simmering "Out of My Mind." Unsurprisingly, Vicious Kid was named one of the Best Minnesota Albums of 2021 by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and highlighted as their longtime critic Chris Riemenschneider's personal favorite that year.

In addition to exploring a wider variety of sounds and genres, Vicious Kid also features some of Kiss the Tiger's most thought-provoking lyrics to date. In "Grown Ass Woman," Kreidler pleads, and then demands, that she be allowed to cut her own path in this world--a message that dovetails seamlessly with Kiss the Tiger's approach to making music. "The angel of death wants me to draw another breath/But angel won't you leave me alone," she sings and sighs. "Even near the end not a foe or a friend/Is gonna tell me what to do."

In addition to headlining their own barn-burning shows, Kiss the Tiger have also been tapped to open for prominent acts like Lake Street Dive, The Suburbs, Ike Reilly, Jackie Venson, Black Joe Lewis, and Daughtry. They have also brought their act on the road to open for Philly's Low Cut Connie, Austin's Emily Wolfe, and fellow Minneapolis indie favorites Bad Bad Hats. Given how quickly they've won over the Twin Cities, Kiss the Tiger are poised to roar into more markets soon. Their transcendent, heart-forward rock and roll is right on time. -Andrea Swensson

Electric Six. The band that put out an album a year for what seemed like 666 years. The most reliable act in show business, there was simply no question that each year would bring another E6 record on Metropolis Records. Mayans based their calendar on Electric Six. Flocks of migrating birds used the new Electric Six record as a homing device. Small time criminals were sentenced to four to seven E6 albums with time off for wonderful behavior. In a business so fickle, so unreliable, so difficult to navigate...the only constant was Electric Six. There was always an album a year...

....until there wasn't.

Five years has gone by since the last Electric Six offering and we've heard the chatter. "Electric Six just doesn't have it anymore." "Electric Six has really let me down." "Gotye will have an album before Electric Six does."

As we all know...talk is cheap. And bullshit walks. And now there's a new goddamn Electric Six record ready to go and it's good, Jack. Real good.

Behold Turquoise is here, the long awaited studio album return of Electric Six!!! Perhaps the catchiest, brightest album in their catalog, Electric Six reminds you how profoundly fun they can be, hitting you over the head with fourteen pop explosions guaranteed to burrow their way into your dance hole.

The recording of Turquoise began in January of 2020, but you know, something distracted us for a couple of years shortly after starting the record. The pandemic tacked a bit of time onto the schedule of this project and Electric Six certainly felt the need to tap into the collective feelings of the time in tracks like "Panic! Panic!" and the title track "Turquoise".

The overall vibe of Turquoise ranges from the infectious pop of "Take Me To The Sugar" and "Staten Island Ass Squad", to the heavy rock of "Child Of Hunger" and "Skywriting", to the Springsteeny goodness of "Units of Time". Electric Six is a band for all tastes, all times and all sizes.

The pandemic slowed us all down and ripped time into shreds. It forced Electric Six to take a little time to look at itself in the mirror. And who did Electric Six see staring back? The answer? It saw Electric Six. It saw Turquoise. When a band finally makes an album this exciting, it doesn't need to do anything else anymore anytime soon ever again.

But it will.....Electric Six can never die. And we are still the band that does one album a year....if you re-define "year". Which we do.

Turquoise is Electric Six's long awaited 15th studio album and it is available on Metropolis Records on September 8, 2023.

---

The Surfrajettes are a four-piece instrumental combo from Toronto, ON, Canada. Since forming in late 2015, the band has charmed audiences with their clever mix of psychedelic rock and reverb-drenched surf music, sky-high beehives, go-go boots, and eyeliner as thick as their guitar strings.

The band achieved viral online notoriety from their home-made performance videos and their feature by Norman's Rare Guitars in LA. The debut 45 single "Party Line / Toxic" released late 2018 on Hi-Tide Recordings to immediate success. The band has toured extensively in its support, including performances on The Beach Boys Cruise, The Melissa Etheridge Cruise, at Nashville Boogie, Wild O Fest in Mexico City, The New England Shake-Up!, Surf Guitar 101 Convention, Tiki Oasis & Hi-Tide Summer Holiday: Asbury Park.

The band released the follow up single "Hale'iwa Hustle / Banzai Pipeline" in 2020, supported by a festival appearance at Hi-Tide Winter Holiday: Pittsburgh. The group spent the rest of 2020 and most of 2021 writing and recording their debut LP "Roller Fink" - in stores NOW from Hi-Tide Recordings.

The Surfrajettes are guitarists Shermy Freeman and Nicole Damoff, bassist Sarah Butler, and drummer Annie Lillis. When not on tour, the group is busy woodshedding in their secret beach hut, sewing new miniskirts, debating vintage gear, and daydreaming about performing in a Quentin Tarantino movie.

FRENSHIP is an American pop duo, consisting of James Sunderland and Brett Hite. They are best known for their 2016 single, "Capsize".

Sunderland and Hite met while working at the fitness store Lululemon and became fans of each other's music; this led to them creating music together. The duo first posted to SoundCloud the song "Knives", which was produced alongside Norwegian producer Matoma. The track gained popularity online which led the duo to upload a second track, "Nowhere", followed by "Carpet".

In June 2016, the duo released "Capsize", a collaboration with American singer and songwriter Emily Warren, charting in multiple countries. The song also reached number one on Hype Machine, and has surpassed 505 million streams on Spotify. Their follow up single "1000 Nights" has over 45 million streams on Spotify to date, and continues to grow at Alternative Radio. Frenship released their debut EP, Truce, in September 2016 via Columbia Records.

Their debut album, Vacation, was released on 17 May 2019.

On September 10, 2021, the duo released the single "All My Friends". The song recounts their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sometimes you have to fall apart in order to find the most real version of yourself.

On the surface R&B and soul singer Alanna Royale appeared to be brimming with confidence. Yet the artist behind the internal earthquake "Trouble Is" insists that until this latest LP she felt fragmented. Only after the most unnerving time of her life did Royale finally feel at ease bringing her full artistic self to the table. "There is a lyric by one of my favorite rappers that goes "You gave me the tools but didn't show me how to hold them," she explains citing how everything finally congealed on this record. After a brutal period that ended with an emotional collapse, Royale produced her most hauntingly honest, poetic collection of songs yet. "I wanted to make something so intensely personal but now have to live with it," she partially jokes.

Laugh out loud funny and fearlessly outspoken, one doesn't have to wonder if Alanna Royale is in the room. Since storming the Nashville scene in 2013, Royale has repeatedly made her presence known from calling out politicians she can't stand to calling monopoly on her classically minded, R&B sound. In her first year alone, the artist landed headlining slots at Nashville Pride Fest and won "Road to Bonnaroo" with only an EP under her belt. After fine tuning her swagger fronting punk bands, it appeared Royale had found her perfect niche marrying soul and pop. Or so she thought.

"Trouble Is," produced by Kelly Finnigan of Monophonics, came on the heels of the singer scrapping an entire album and saying goodbye to some long-time bandmates. Already at an inflection point, the pandemic spurred Royale to make even greater leaps. Jumping at the opportunity to work with Finnigan, as a long-time fan, Royale drove cross-country to meet him in San Francisco. She had her dog as company and an entirely fresh perspective guiding her. Royale was ready to take chances and learn how to capture her emotions in a clearer, more articulate way when they began recording in early 2020. Whereas her previous EPs Achilles and So Bad You Can Taste It had been written for a big band style, songwriting now took precedence. "Kelly taught me how to write a song that could be played in any iteration because of its strength," she says.

As Finnigan pushed her to repeatedly go back to the drawing board, Royale had plenty of material to sift through. In between dealing with imposter syndrome ("Even as we would be in the studio, I would tell myself maybe he just feels sorry for you, which is still so ego-driven") she was also grappling with the fallout from EMDR therapy sessions. On top of that, her mother was in cancer treatment, three family deaths had just occurred, and Royale's brother had recently come out as transgender. With Tennessee botching every pandemic-related protocol, she leapt at the opportunity to sort through her feelings in a new setting. "After hanging on by a thread at the beginning of the pandemic, I decided to just exist for a while," she says.

She also realized that the songs she'd written pre-pandemic no longer resonated with her. Writing became about exploring what was happening at the moment and also respecting the fact that some things were too raw to reveal. "If something felt unprocessed then my means of self-protecting would be to save it for later," she says. Similar to her album artwork, which shows Royale's public and private selves merging, it took time to figure out her emotional comfort level. However, once she found that middle ground, Royale threw every ounce of herself into dissecting the many revelations she'd had throughout 2020. "Things that were previously jumbled up, I was now able to write about because they were figured out up here," she says tapping her head.

Like a well-written film, "Trouble Is" starts out with a crisis, hits a crescendo of turmoil, and lands on a softer note when some peace has been found. However, until optimism returns to Royale the listener can feel her trying to make sense of the pain by putting pen to paper. Whether it is reconciling with past abuse or dealing with career disappointments, the day-to-day is just too much sometimes. "The phrase 'trouble is' speaks to the caveat that always seemed to exist," Royale says. After a period where life was unrelenting, the repetition of the title phrase signifies how fed up she was. "It wasn't meditative but rather agitated," she says.

Playing off the theme of acceptance is "The Other Side" about the boundaries one needs to love someone who is self-destructive. Like anyone who has had experience with addicts, it speaks to keeping them at a distance to ensure disappointment stays at bay. "You have to be sure someone did the work before you can put yourself back out there again," she explains.

And yet the disease that was hardest for Royale to drop was her own thoughts. In "Imagination" she paints a picture of the mental unraveling that can follow long-repressed memories resurfacing. "Imagination" is her way of making the trauma loop that she was stuck in concrete, which she found impossible to communicate at the time. It also honors those who are brave enough to crack themselves open and heal whatever is holding them back. "I know how scary it is to be in such deep mental anguish where there is no set solution," she says.

Ambiguity also plays into Royale's view of romantic love, which she feels is too often explored at the onset or finale. On "Fall in Love Again" Royale addresses the in-between moments that can make or break a relationship. The song is about the almost impossible task that couples ask of one another which is to grow individually and in sync. The only solution, in Royale's eyes, is to repeatedly love the person in the room. "This is about the moment before a relationship fades to black when you ask yourself are we going to press on or call it quits?" she says. "Why Won't You Let Me Love You?" continues the conversation of how complex love can be. It speaks to being intertwined with another and yet not totally integrated. "This song is a plead to another person to believe they are worthy of love, no matter what has happened to them in the past," she says.

At heart Royale is an optimist which is best captured on "Run Around," a nod to the 90s summer jams that she cherishes. Like the best pop songs "Run Around" is hooky and hangs in the listener's head. It also captures the double-sided nature of love with a simple phrase; wanting to chase someone while also worrying they're wasting your time. "Despite what society, your own history, or friends say, if you have a gut feeling that something is good then you have to ignore those factors and go for it," Royale says.

"Waiting, Waiting, Waiting (For Sully") where Royale leaves us, signifies the hope she now feels on a visceral level. The reward she received after running towards her issues came in the form of a new addition to her family. Welcoming her brother's first child, Sully, to the unit symbolized new beginnings and discovering a new way forward by facing your demons. "This song is about basking in the light of surviving a very tough time and finally being able to do your job well because you have your head on straight," she says.

However, the biggest triumph for Royale is that "Trouble Is" avoids the dreaded genre trap. As someone who has always followed artists that bravely morph from one record to the next, she also aspires for that same level of investment from her audience. She'll keep boldly turning the wheel and have faith that they will follow along. "After giving myself permission to make the kind of record that felt good to me, I was finally able to show all of my parts rather than trying to fit into some kind of preconceived notion of what an artist is supposed to be," she says.

Herman began playing guitar as a child. He discovered David Bromberg & his Big Band while in ninth grade and says it was at that point he knew music was what he wanted to do with his life. He played his first professional gigs in the eleventh grade with local band Eddie and the Night Riders. Herman ended up at West Virginia University for college and began his music education as he played in a number of bands and learned from bluegrass legends like Melvin Wine, Mose Coffman, and J.P. Fraley and Dewey Balfa.

After college, Herman moved to Colorado and met future bandmate Drew Emmitt his first night in town. Over the next few years Emmitt continued to play with the Left Hand String Band, while Herman would form the Salmon Heads. The two would form Leftover Salmon a few years later when they combined Emmitt's newgrass inspired Left Hand String Band and Herman's Cajun-jugband Salmon Heads in 1989. Over the next 16 years Leftover Salmon toured extensively and was part of the jamband scene and played on a number of the influential H.O.R.D.E festivals. The band went on Hiaus in 2005. During the hiatus, Herman formed Great American Taxi, who released their debut album, Streets of Gold, in 2007. Great American Taxi toured extensively and would release two more albums, 2009's Reckless Habits and 2011's Paradise Lost. Herman played with Great American Taxi until 2013 when Leftover Salmon returned full-time.

In 2019 he formed the super-group High Hawks with keyboardist Chad Staehly (Hard Working Americans, Great American Taxi), guitarist Adam Greuel (Horseshoes & Handgrenades), bassist Brian Adams (Great American Taxi), drummer Will Trask (Great American Taxi), and fiddler Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth). The band released their self-titled debut in 2021.

Herman released his first solo album, Enjoy the Ride, in 2022.

With special guests
Thomas Edward Hunter
Ryan Fitzgerald
XENO
Scott Berendt
Craig Evans
Ken Johnson
Ben Barrels
Marcel Guyton
Deirdra Fellner
Linda Lee Schlitz