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

I first saw Jeff Austin walk on stage at the Abbey Pub in 1999. There must have been about 20 people in the audience and, oddly, it seemed like about half of them were related to the guy. He huddled around a single microphone with his cohorts in Yonder Mountain String Band and delivered a set of...

Steely Dan. Pink Floyd. "Leonard Skinnard". If you've never entered a record store or flipped on a radio, you could probably be forgiven for thinking these were names and not bands. Each one, of course, is legendary. Can the band name confusion strike again? The guys inHerbertWiser sure hope so, and are putting the effort...

Contributed by Mike Guzaski (@312mrg)Chicago experienced a typically loaded Spring weekend over the 4/20 "holiday". Highlights included Greyboy All Stars and Funky Meters holding court on Friday, and Jim James bringing his show to the Vic. But the clubs had some worthwhile shows as well, and Animal Liberation Orchestra gave Double Door denizens a little...

When a band has been continually on the road as much as New Orleans' Galactic, major cities become more than just stops on a tour, they become wrapped up in aspects of the band's narrative. After the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, Chicago became the temporary (to the tune of seven years!) home of Galactic's original...

If you're a Chicago music fan who just can't get enough of that sweet spot where rock meets jazz, Joe Marcinek is a name that comes up quite a bit. Not content to be just a double threat -- laying down both guitar and keys in the Indiana-based jazz-fusion quartet Fresh Hops -- he's branched...

The music of Leftover Salmon radiates its high country Colorado origins without overlooking its Appalachian roots-- yet there is something about it that feels at home in Chicago. LoS made the city a regular stop in the band's legendary first chapter, building up a loyal following over the course of a few dozen dates....

It's always fun to engage with Bonzo Terks' Danny Van Duerm. He uses carefully chosen words to explain his craft -- he is precise and pays attention to detail, yet overcome with an undeniable passion.That's the way the music of Quartet, the group's latest album, feels too. In an age where...

On paper, AfroZep appears to be a Frankenstein's monster of mismatched parts. Stripped from their heavy blues roots, it's hard to imagine Led Zeppelin's songs retaining their power. Layered with polyrhythms and funky horn blasts, they would seem to lose all semblance of what makes them such an important rite of passage for rock fans...