Tag: uncommon ground on devon

on by

Screen Shot 2014-09-12 at 8.43.32 AMWe were lucky be on a bill with Christina Trulio and Nate Currin last night at Uncommon Ground. Everything clicked! Nick, Uncommon Ground’s sound-tech did a superb job, and the audience was attentive and supportive. It was just the perfect line-up, the perfect vibe. Christina and Nate are two very inspiring singer-songwriters. They are working in a great tradition steeped in well-constructed songs delivered with beauty, heart and soul. Christina was backed by a excellent band, Nate was all alone with his Gibson acoustic guitar.

We really felt part of a greater thing last night, welcomed by fellow musicians and by an enthusiastic audience that seemed to really listen. It’s a rare, good thing. Nate is in the midst of an on-going National tour, he’s living in a motor-home taking his music to towns all over the States. Pretty amazing. Nate is a great story-teller too, and he kept the audience engaged with his between song banter. The music from these two songwriters was just first-class.

We were the openers, continuing our never-ending Chicago tour, and we did our best in a stripped down mode, just guitar, percussion and vocals for us. It was a little bit intimidating to hear some of our songs in such a stark setting, but it all seemed to go over well, and the vocals really stood out, it was gratifying to hear afterwards that the lyrics really came across. We sold some CDs, made new friends. Got warms words of encouragement from some really cool people. Nothing better! – Jammer

 

 

on by

uncommon2

We’re not a Metal or Punk band, but in our never-ending city tour, we have played our share of dives; low-down, rats in the cellar, urinal the size of a terminal, stale beer and urine bars. We’ve also found ourselves in musty galleries, haunted old buildings, echoey, winding hallways. Or on the lakefront; wind whipping, big waves crashing over the rocks trying to steal our thunder. Or in the middle of a cornfield in rural Wisconsin; large, green cornstalks arrayed around us like silent, judging, other-worldly spectators.

It’s been an amazing journey.

Last Monday we played at a pretty classy joint called Uncommon Ground on Devon in Chicago. Excellent food and drinks. Nice, warm room. Lots of wood and brick. A small stage. Good sound. It was a treat for some of the fans who have followed us down other rabbit holes. We had two special guests for this show: Douglas Johnson on Clevinger Bass and Maria Storm on Violin.  It was a very big sound for an intimate room. Douglas is our secret weapon – he is a sonic alchemist; sometimes the sound he conjures is melodic, sometimes it’s spooky & noisy, it’s always something unexpected and cool. And Maria is a classically-trained violinist who brings energy & passion, a joyful fire, to our songs with beautiful and enchanting improvisations. It was our first show with Maria, what a great debut!

We closed our set with “Crow,” a rambling, wild-ride  type of monologue song.  It’s loose, experimental and weird. Carla put her heart and soul into it. It’s haunting and quiet, and loud, and raucous too. It seemed to get the attention of everyone in the room. You could see people putting their cellphones down to watch the song unfold. It was a great ending to a memorable Monday night show. Uncommon for sure! – Jammer