Band Spotlight

Hailing from Albany, New York, this hot-time trio plays rock and roll the way it was invented to be done. Mark Gamsjager is the lifeblood of the band and totes his Gretsch, the rockabilly guitar king, around the country with a live band ready to rock a joint like it should be done. Mark and […]

This St. Louis-based contemporary duo started out as a musical vehicle for songwriters Doug Byrkit (guitar, vocals) and Brian Zielie (drums) to express songs that had no outlet in their other music endeavors. Friends since studying music together in college, the intrepid musicians toured nationally and internationally with various other entities before settling in on […]

Roaring out of Knoxville, Tenn., in 2009, this award-winning, Americana-styled, country-flavored, sweet-rockin’ band hit the road hard, including shows at Bonnaroo, Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry and Four Corners Folk Festival. From the first record produced in his living room, founding member Cruz Contreras, the main songwriter and studio producer of the group, has kept […]

Based out of Waterloo in Monroe County, the Waterloo German Band began in 1939 then fell apart during the war for obvious reasons. By 1952, Waterloo resident and U.S. Marine Harry Wolf got the band going again with help from family and friends, and it’s never stopped. Ready for parades, parties, festivals and just about […]

Raised in Kentucky with side trips to Denmark and Montana, this one-woman band of gypsies landed in Cincinnati where she established herself as a potent force in the local kinda-country scene. Based out of Covington, Ky., she now travels across the Midwest and beyond, touring to let the world know about the world of wonky […]

Back in 2009 when Caleb Smith showed up at an open mic run by Bruce Williams and sang Queen songs, the two self-described “huge fans” of the supergroup decided to start a tribute band. They knew right away the band’s name would come from the song “March of the Black Queen” from Queen II released […]

Wilderness Alive An emo-indie-alternative rock band out of Nashville, Tenn., this quartet of Peyton Rodeffer (vocals, guitar), Sean Jensen (bass), Dagan Crews (drums, vocals) and Andy Pollitt (guitar) started as a solo project and ended up as a band out on the road. The adventures began when singer-songwriter Rodeffer went on a two-day songwriting binge […]

Since the inception of this harmony-driven, original music acoustic trio of Micah Walk, Elizabeth Eckert and Dave Littrell, the attraction between audience and act was obvious and powerful. Also members of other local groups, these three created a world together that brought success not found in other combinations. A possible explanation of the TDH phenomenon […]

From 2002-07, The Junior Varsity (Asa Dawson of Griggsville, Andy Wildrick of Jacksonville, Sergio Coronado of Danville, Nick Dodson of Jacksonville and Chris Birch of Edwardsville) joined forces as a “rock band in the alternative/progressive/emo touring circuit” to make quite a splash in the music world. Based out of a communally shared house on Clear […]

Known for decades as one of the premier rock guitarists of a generation, Pat Travers has done it all and just keeps doing it. Best known to the masses as the hit maker of “Boom Boom (Out Go The Lights)” and “Snortin’ Whiskey,” Travers made it big time in the early-to-mid 80s. He toured many […]

Calvin Johnson, who will perform this Wednesday as Selector Dub Narcotic, has had a lasting influence on independent and underground music that is hard to overestimate. Beginning way back in 1982, his Olympia-based label, K Records, provided an early template for indie rock, inspiring Kurt Cobain (who identified, tongue-in-cheek, as a “Calvinist”) along with helping […]

Rolling in from Chicagoland to promote their sophomore release, No, out this fall on No Trend Records, this “extreme pop power” trio stakes claim to playing “aggressive rock and roll with a precision and intensity not often heard outside of the metal genre” and makes good on said claim. On a Midwest run through Wisconsin, […]