No items found.
The Singer and The Song features three full sets of music for dancing, drinking and listening, with the exciting bonus of a new song from each band, written from a word prompt given in advance.
The artists also pay tribute to Chicago’s music roots by covering a song by another local artist, present or past.
At its heart, this series is a showcase for the incredible songwriting talent of the Chicago music scene, with an emphasis on Country, but including the broadest definitions of Americana.
The monthly event is often hosted by the show’s curators; Brandon Good, Lawrence Peters, and Matt Gandurski, each a key player in Chicago’s music community.
Wheelwright
Wheelwright brings a southwestern sound of pop and grunge from the sprawling desert city of Phoenix, AZ. None of his songs are idealistic. No light without darkness, no laughter without at least some suffering, no thoughtfulness without some recklessness. With devil may care spirit, and a message of hope, frustration, and love, Wheelwrights music contrasts between worlds of wandering existentialism, the strife of modern relationships, and the shreds of hope that can be found in darkest and most broken places of ourselves. Songs of acceptance, hard luck, and love without all the kumbaya bullshit, but rather the idea that we are all beautiful and flawed, stuck here together, whether we like it or not. His songs are self admitting and allow listeners to meet him where they truthfully are. It’s brash and it’s honest. In his words, “everybody has things about themselves that they don’t like, they have things that they would change about themselves, but they also have spirits, and hopes, and dreams and light inside of them despite the darkness that seems to hang over us as we march into the uncertainty of what’s next.”
Gerald Dowd
https://www.geralddowd.com/home.html
Gerald Dowd has been described as “the hardest working drummer in Chicago” (Richard Milne, WXRT), playing on over 150 albums, and averaging 200 live dates a year around the world. In recent years, he's been releasing solo albums of original material, starting with his 2012 release, Kingsize EP. In 2014, he was the recipient of an IAP arts grant from Chicago's Dept. Of Cultural Affairs/Special Events (DCASE), which led to his first full-length solo album, Home Now, produced by Grammy-nominated producer Liam Davis, and featuring, among others, Chicago legends Robbie Fulks and Casey McDonough (NRBQ). His most recent album, Father's Day, was engineered/co-produced by Steve Dawson (Dolly Varden, Funeral Bonsai Wedding, Walkin' On Sunshine), and features Robbie Gjersoe (Flatlanders, Jimmie Dale Gilmore), Nora O'Connor (The Decemberists, Neko Case, Iron And Wine) and pedal steel legend Lloyd Maines. After its release, the album spent many weeks on the Americana Radio Top 100™ charts.
Vivian Garcia
https://viviangarcia.bandcamp.com/
Vivian Garcia is a Chicago based singer-songwriter. Her musical journey has taken her from studying rumba flamenca rhythms in Granada, Spain to jamming with international folk musicians in Madrid as well as singing with various bands in Chicago.