Tues, July 22 (ECLECTIC) Open Mike in the SideBar, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, July 23 (ROCK) Blue Diamond Revival, 8pm in the SideBar, free!
“To call Dan McGuinness a singer is an understatement. Dan’s voice harkens a listener’s memory back to a time when Blue Eyed Soul ruled the radio. Full and powerful, Dan’s voice can go from edgy and rough to soft and delicate in an instant. In constant demand not only as a singer, but as a voice over specialist, announcer and sports radio broadcaster, Dan is no longer Chicago’s best kept secret.”
bluediamondrevival.com (instant audio...)

Thurs, July 24 (ROCK) Spade Kitty Presents: The Miracle Whale, Righteous Roadrunners and the Broken-Winged Angels Choir, Roxy Swain, The Venom Lords, 8:30pm, $5
The Miracle Whale – R. Lyle Schipits anchors this singer-songwriter acoustic foray rife with unforgettable melodies and distinctive storytelling. • The Righteous Roadrunners and the Broken-Winged Angels Choir – Local gunslinger Jack Swain's brand spankin’ new honkeytonk outfit is a wonderful showcase for his notoriously infectious songwriting. • Roxy Swain – The newest Spade Kitty act makes their formal debut with their permanent 5-piece lineup drawing from the ranks of Trakan, the three Fifths and Loomis. • The Venom Lords – Loud distorted guitars and songs about zombies, need we say more?
spadekitty.com

Fri, July 25 (ROCK/ROOTS/FOLK) Church on Sunday, Robert McShane, Matthew Francis Andersen, Sarah Holtschlag; 9pm, $5
“Oak Park singer-songwriter Robert McShane returns to FitzGerald's offering his own special blend of American roots music and rock n' roll. Inspired by Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle, the Robert McShane Band is an ever-evolving musical entity where the one constant is McShane, who didn't pick up a guitar until he was 21. McShane, now 27, describes his style of playing as 'music that has crawled up from New Orleans and the Delta, and down from the Appalachians and met in an alley in Chicago to mix with broken glass and gasoline puddles and Chess Records Blues and Replacements rock n' roll and Westside Irish poetry.'” This will be his last show before he moves to Nashville.
myspace.com/robertmcshane (instant audio...)

Matthew Francis Andersen is happy being a writer. “I never really wanted to make my guitar scream or become popular. I have songs and I simply like sharing them. Some songs rock harder than others and some are slow ballads. But the fact that I've gotten positive responses to my songs is just icing on the cake.”
myspace.com/matthewfrancisandersen (instant audio...)

Sarah Holtschlag is a chicago folk artist: "I play a 26" stainless steel blade from ace hardware like I'm my own stage monkey. Sometimes I sing mopey girl folks songs on the guitar. And later on, I pluck murder ballads on my ukelele."
myspace.com/sarahholtschlag (instant audio...)

Sat, July 26 (R&B/FUNK/SOUL) Power Play Dance Party! 10pm, $8.
The songs, the look, the vibe. It’s official - PowerPlay has arrived and set a breakthrough course that leads directly to you.

PowerPlay has flexed its musical might energizing crowds at public and private venues alike. With 11 pieces on stage, PowerPlay is built for variety and energy, and is focused on taking every event to the next level. Radiating a polished professional image and a sound to match, PowerPlay features the songs you love to dance to with an artistic flare and signature punch.
grsentertainment.com

Sun, July 27 (JAZZ) Chicago Grandstand Big Band, 6pm, $10, 17 & under $5
The Chicago Grandstand Big Band has been an integral part of Chicago's entertainment community for over 25 years. This band has an extensive selection of arrangements that encompass everything from the Swing Era (Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, etc.) to Big Band Jazz (Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, etc.)
chicagograndstandbigband.com

FitzGerald’s “WDCB Sunday Big Band Jazz Party” is generously sponsored by 90.9FM WDCB – Public Radio from College of DuPage.

Mon, July 28 – Closed

Tues, July 29 (ECLECTIC) Open Mike in the SideBar, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, July 30 (FOLK) Andrew Calhoun and Campground CD Release: Bound to Go, 8pm, $10
Join us for Andrew Calhoun and Campground’s official CD Release concert for Bound to Go, a collection of 35 African American spirituals and secular folksongs.

“Calhoun is a master at story songs, finely crafted works that swiftly and economically capture a moment or express an emotion. Like the best novelists, he is able to assume different personas and see the world through other people's eyes.” – June Sawyers, Chicago Tribune
myspace.com/andrewcalhoun (instant audio...)

Thurs, July 31 (COUNTRY) A Country Night in Berwyn, 8pm, $5.
Tonight’s featured performers are the Hoyle Brothers, Lisa Derosia & Lush Budgett, and the Long Gone Lonesome Boys.

The Hoyle Brothers’ brand of genuine country music draws from the genre's deepest traditions – lyrics that speak universal truths, melody lines that melt your heart and two-step rhythms that make your boots scoot.
hoylebrothers.com

The first thing you notice about the Long Gone Lonesome Boys: tight, cutting vocals, spot-on harmonies and arrangements. The second thing: excellent songwriting. The third thing: It's eerie how much these 'brothers from different mothers' – Patrick Penney and John Milne – sound alike. Their voices mirror each other seamlessly, and not even the Everly Brothers could claim to have a better blend." – Marty Larkin, HankFest
longgonelonesomeboys.com

Reviewers have likened Lisa Derosia and Lush Budgett to everything from "vintage country gems" to "a countrified version of the throwing muses" to "twangy helium rock." Whatever it is, with Lisa Derosia's angelic voice, the band's solid musicianship and an emphasis on writing good songs, Lush Budgett avoids the country sub-genre flavor-of-the-month in favor of a lonesome and steady sound with catchy hooks and sensible lyrics.
lushbudgett.com

Fri, August 1 (BLUES) Ronnie Baker Brooks, 9:30pm, $12
In the Olympic tradition, when the torch gets passed on, the flame transfers from one sure hand to the next -- keeping it burning, while at the same time moving forward. It's a fitting image for young Chicago guitar hero Ronnie Baker Brooks on his aptly titled third release, The Torch. Not only does he sing with soulful fire and play with a white-hot intensity; he's also carrying the torch from the previous generation of soul and blues greats and moving the music into the future.
ronniebakerbrooks.com

Sat, August 2 (ROCK) Webb Wilder, Not Without; 9:30pm, $15 (TM/Club)
"With his obvious love of British rock and Southern roadhouse, Wilder could be a kind of Tom Petty for the trailer set." - San Francisco Chronicle.
For over 20 years, Webb Wilder has mined rock 'n' roll's most hallowed ground, but unlike so many others, he has approached it all with a rare irreverence and wit. His self-effacing persona – a tongue-in-cheek 1950s noir character, equal parts high school principal, tent preacher, and private detective – gives Wilder's music a sense of fun and imagination often lacking among his peers. Singer, guitarist, bandleader, filmmaker, humorist – Webb Wilder may be roots-rock's only true Renaissance man, and not to be missed.
www.webbwilder.com

Not Without is as diverse and eclectic in age as they are musically. Their music is a quirky blend of fusion and pop with classical, Cajun and rock overtones. Inventive and definitely electric! With the passionate and unique lead vocals of Quad Cities, Illinois native, Emily B. Cooper, the band is well on its way to defining a sound that is all their own. Chicago staple, Jim Kasiewicz, provides innovative, fiery guitar madness and is not “afraid” when it comes to writing catchy pop and rock hooks. Since being formed in October, Emily and Jim have already penned several finely crafted pop tunes. The entire band has brought their individual talents together to write several frenzied but memorable instrumentals as well. The band’s credo is “we can play whatever we want – we always make it sound like us.” The other members of Not Without include home grown drummer / percussionist, Ryan Shepherd, who engineered the band’s first CD sampler, bass player extraordinaire, Ian Martinek, and smokin' on violin, Rachel Baiman. Musical integrity and structured randomness - that’s Not Without!
myspace.com/notwithoutmusic (instant audio...)

Sun, August 3 – Stay tuned!

Mon, August 4 – Closed

Tues, August 5 (ECLECTIC) Open Mike in the SideBar, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, August 6 – Stay tuned!

Thurs, August 7 (FOLK/ROCK) South Austin Jug Band, The Band of Heathens; 8:30pm, $10.
Let’s just get it out of the way right now: There’s no jug-playing in the South Austin Jug Band. And the bluegrass connotation that name carries should be spilled down the drain along with any other moonshine-preconceived notions. Sure, there’s fiddle, mandolin, an upright bass … but there’s also drumming, occasional electric guitar and even digital looping. And Beck. The band’s latest album, Strange Invitation, gets its title from a lyric in Mr. Hansen’s 1997 charmer, “Jackass,” the only cover on this 11-song collection. Comparisons, if they must be made, might meander more toward a Jack Johnson vibe, only more melodic and even more laid-back, or a low-intensity Grateful Dead (which, it should be noted, started out as a real jug band). Lead singer/acoustic guitarist James Hyland, whose tenor redefines mellow, would be quite happy if you’d just go with “bitchin’ tunes.” “It’s the most accessible record we’ve made,” he says of the band’s third release, struggling somewhat to further clarify its style. “But it still has some of that whole acoustic – I’m not gonna use the word newgrass; throw that out the window – but that sort of progressive acoustic. …” He pauses, then finally admits, “It’s hard to come up with adjectives.”
southaustinjugband.com

The formation of The Band of Heathens is as natural and organic as the music they create. In early spring 2006, the three principle songwriters, Colin Brooks, Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist, were sharing the bill every Wednesday night at the venerable Austin club Momo's. Originally, it started as each songwriter performing his own set. But in a short time they started sharing the stage equally and collaborating on each other's songs, with bassist Seth Whitney as the anchor of the rhythm section.

A misprint in a local paper billed the act as "The Heathens." The moniker stuck and soon The Band of Heathens began to cultivate a loyal and growing legion of fans that immediately took to the expert musicianship, the finely-crafted songs and the band's distinct quality of having three front men, each one of whom sings, writes and plays lead guitar. In March 2007, drummer John Chipman joined the band and helped fortify their country-soul-rock-and-roll sound. With a new album released May 2008, they will continue to bring their unique brand of Texas twang and country soul to anyone who is curious, willing to listen and hungry for the American rock 'n' roll that The Band of Heathens deliver.
bandofheathens.com

Fri, August 8 – Stay tuned!

Sat, August 9 (BLUES) Grammy™ nominated Texas Legend Doyle Bramhall, Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues, 8:30pm, $20 (TM/Club).
Doyle Bramhall's Is It News is Grammy™ Nominated for “Best Contemporary Blues Album!”

It’s apropos that Doyle Bramhall’s new Yep Roc CD is titled Is It News because, although they’re absolutely true to his deep roots in the blues, its dozen original tunes mark a turning point that is both ambitious and the logical summation of his artistic evolution. The answer to the forward- thinking, envelope-pushing CDs title is a resounding yes – and the news is all good!

“I wanted to make an all-original record that was big, energetic, intimate, and unpredictable,” Doyle states. “We got a lot of the sounds by pushing everything to the limit and then pulling it back from there.” Fans already accustomed to Doyle’s high standards and willingness to chart new territory will nonetheless be pleased and surprised at just how high he raises the bar. This instant classic is the benchmark of Bramhall’s storied career – which is saying a lot! Continuing the tradition he started with the songs he co-wrote with Stevie Ray Vaughan, which struck a chord with the biggest audience the blues has ever enjoyed, he deftly expands the idiom’s vocabulary and texture.
myspace.com/doylebramhall1 (instant audio...)

Is it blues, is it classical? Walking the line between Beethoven and B.B. King, and armed with the creative genius and instrumental prowess that have defined his career for nearly four decades, Corky Siegel has pioneered an original, genre-busting Chamber blues - a fresh, innovative sound capturing the sparkling qualities of classical music merged with the emotional melodic style of blues, all within an intimate chamber setting.
chamberblues.com

Sun, August 10 (JAZZ) John Burnett Orchestra, 6pm, $10, 17 & under $5.
This “all-star” band has recorded with and performed with such legendary jazz icons as Buddy DeFranco, Louie Bellson, Byron Stripling and more. John Burnett can also be heard weekday mornings on WDCB, 90.9FM, classic radio show, “All Things Jazz.”
johnburnettorchestra.com

FitzGerald’s “WDCB Sunday Big Band Jazz Party” is generously sponsored by 90.9FM WDCB – Public Radio from College of DuPage.

Mon, August 11 – Closed

Tues, August 12 (ECLECTIC) Open Mike in the Club, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, August 13 (ECLECTIC) Chicago Singer Spotlight, 8pm, $8
Featuring Brooke Kosowski, La'Shaun McNicholas, The Shaker Sisters, Clarence Bernard Johnson, and host Becca Kaufman.

***Also on Wed, August 13 (SCOTTISH FOLK) Bodega, 8pm in the SideBar, $10, 12 & under $5.
Bodega is a young, five piece band from all over Scotland. The band was formed in March 2005 while all five members were attending The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music. Bodega were the winners of BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2005/06 and went on to release their self titled debut album with Greentrax Records, Bodega. Since then, the band have played at Cambridge Folk Festival, Heb Celt Festival and the Fairport Convention in Jan 2006. The band have also played in France in 2006, and have just ended 2007 with an extremely busy summer touring in Europe and the United States, including Kaustinen Festival (Finland), Folkest (Italy) and Celtic Classic (Pennsylvania, U.S) After a successful year the band are now working on new material for their next album which will be out before the summer of 2008.
myspace.com/musicbodega (instant audio...)

Thurs, August 14 (ROCKABILLY) James Intveld, Rosie Flores, 8:30pm, $15 (TM/Club).
Have Faith, only the third studio record from multi-talented singer songwriter James Intveld, may just as well be a metaphor for his life; a life that has been blessed with both the highs and the lows. Love and loss.

A native of Los Angeles, he started his career at an early age listening and singing along to his parents' recordings of Hank Williams, Sr., Dean Martin, Lefty Frizzell, and Elvis. By high school he was playing in cover bands and was soon a regular sitting in with the house band at the legendary Palomino Club.

Intveld wrote the Rosie Flores hit "Cryin' Over You" as well as all the material on his own first 1996 effort James Intveld. That was named the best studio recording project and the best country or roots CD of 1996 by California's Music Connection magazine. Intveld successfully produced, arranged, sang, and played all the parts on this magnificent release, dedicated to his brother and best friend, Ricky.
myspace.com/jamesintveld (instant audio...)

Born in San Antonio, TX and raised in Southern California, Rosie Flores' music blends the best of honky tonk, rockabilly, and jazz with the traditional sounds of her Tex-Mex heritage. Since the late '70s, she has been an important figure in the Los Angeles, Austin, TX and Nashville music scenes.

Rosie's reputation as a high-octane rockabilly star is well established. Critical raves from prestigious publications such as the Los Angeles Times and Guitar Player magazine leave no doubt about her talent for filling dance floors and lighting up rooms with her blazing guitar solos.
myspace.com/rockabillyfillyrosie (instant audio...)

Fri, August 15 – Stay tuned!

Sat, August 16 (ROCK) April Verch, 7pm, $15 (TM/Club).
When you see twenty-seven year old April Verch perform, the first thing that strikes you is the pure energy that infuses her fiddle playing and stepdancing. When you listen to Take Me Back, her third disc for Rounder Records, though, what draws you in are more subtle things – her confident, winsome singing, the finely detailed elegance of her fiddle phrasing, and the depth of a repertoire that ranges through material from Americana mainstays Buddy and Julie Miller, to simple country songs and rollicking tunes from her native Ottawa Valley, to sparkling original instrumentals. Like its predecessors, Take Me Back is rooted in a deep musical tradition, yet it also serves notice that April Verch has taken a bold step forward and stands on the threshold of a new and exciting stage of her career.
aprilverch.com

***Also on Sat, August 16 (ROOTS) Patrice Pike, 10pm, $10 (TM/Club)
Patrice Pike is a multi-dimensional artist who has dedicated her life to mastering authentic live performance and sincere studio recordings. Since her early roots playing guitar, percussion and singing lead in the band Sister Seven to her current melding of rock, pop and soul, she has brought together people from all different walks of life in her process. In the early years, barely out of high school, she traveled with Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler and Dave Matthews among others in the jam band scene because of her ability to not only craft solid songs, but because of her unique talent with vocal soloing and improvising. Through the years she also shard stages with Natalie Merchant, Soul Asylum, Cake, Stone Temple Pilots, The Neville Brothers, Ray Charles and so many more…
patricepike.com

Sun, August 17 – Stay tuned!

Mon, August 18 – Closed

Tues, August 19 (ECLECTIC) Open Mike in the SideBar, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, August 20 (JAZZ) Rob Parton’s JazzTech Big Band, 7:30pm, $10, 17 & under $5
The Chicago Tribune has called the JazzTech Big Band "one of the best big bands in the country". The Chicago Sun-Times characterizes the band with "hard hitting ensemble brightly crafted harmonies and expansive solos." Rob’s goal for the JazzTech Big Band is to promote and commission new arrangements of great jazz standards as well as original compositions by Chicago composers .
rparton.com

Thurs, August 21 – Stay tuned!

Fri, August 22 (ECLECTIC) 93 XRT and FitzGerald’ s present: Dog Days Jamboree! – Sonny Landreth, Iguanas, Del Castillo, Michelle Malone; $25 (TM/Club), time TBA.
On the Eve of the Roosevelt Road Roundup, FitzGerald's will have a mini Jamboree with four amazing acts!

When it comes to Sonny Landreth, even Eric Clapton is a fan. "He’s probably the most underestimated musician on the planet and also probably one of the most advanced," he says. Landreth performed this past July at Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago. Landreth also received another long overdue nod with a Grammy™ Award nomination for “Best Contemporary Blues Recording” for his seventh album, The Road We’re On, released on Sugar Hill Records.
sonnylandreth.com/

The Iguanas, New Orleans’ (and Chicago’s) favorite bar band, is back to offer up the best in Latin-tinged, roots rock. The '60s rock influences, the New Orleans R&B and the Tex-Mex flavorings make every song a favorite.
iguanas.com

Del Castillo has become a symbol of the cross-cultural power of music with their eclectic blend of Flamenco, Rock, Latin, Blues, and World music.
Brotherhood, the band’s third CD, was released in the Spring of 2006, and it was immediately acclaimed by the media across the board. Billboard Magazine said, “…Whether Del Castillo works in Spanish or English, it rocks righteously…They pull together Latin music’s romance and rock’s grit.” At SXSW 2007, Brotherhood won “Album of the Year” at the 2006/2007 Austin Music Awards. The band continues to tour throughout the country, thriving on performing live and building new audiences, and songwriting and recording are a priority during breaks in their tour schedule.
delcastillomusic.com

Armed with a bottleneck slide, blues harmonica, and her signature gut-wrenching vocals, Moanin' Michelle Malone is having so much fun these days that she can’t help but shake her sugarfoot.
Malone was born in the dirty south and grew up listening to her mother sing in the church choir every Sunday. When it came time to craft her own sound, she took those religious roots, blended in enough rock and soul to keep the devil satisfied, and came up with her 9th studio CD, Sugarfoot. It's a high-spirited stripped down blend of rootsy acoustic slide, gritty electric blues and explosive vocals - rock with just enough blues edge to get the medicine down. Sugarfoot sounds like the lost recordings of Bonnie Raitt and the Rolling Stones meeting up in Susan Tedeschi's garage for a late night jam session. And as is usually the case with Malone, the disc is an experience best enjoyed at high volume.
michellemalone.com/

Sat, August 23 (ECLECTIC) Roosevelt Road Roundup 1st Annual Street Fair! – C.J. Chenier, Chicago Catz, & More! 10am-6pm, donation of $3 requested. [note: links open in new window]
C.J. Chenier turned the music up a notch with his new Alligator release, Step It Up!, undoubtedly his most musically and lyrically ambitious album to date. Step It Up! was recorded at Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana, and produced by Chenier and Alligator Records president Bruce Iglauer. This is state-of-the-art zydeco from a masterful musician and performer. Chenier flavors The Red Hot Louisiana Band’s bayou beats with elements of funk, blues and ballads, as well as turning them loose on more traditional zydeco material. The resulting record is loaded with irresistible dance grooves and songs that stick in the memory long after the dancing is over. Chenier contributed eight originals and carefully chose the rest of the material. Regardless of what he’s playing, Chenier infuses every song with strong, soulful vocals and skillful accordion playing. From a cover of his father’s “Johnny Can’t Dance” to the original and autobiographical “Road Dog” to the tender “The Power Of Love” and “The Right To Walk Away,” Step It Up! boasts a modern, rollicking zydeco sound devoid of cliché, and loaded with soulful rhythms and deep feeling.
myspace.com/cjchenier (instant audio...)

The Chicago Catz are one of the Windy City's best-kept secrets and treasures. For more than 21 years, this group of professional musicians have performed at some of the most prestigious private parties and events in Chicago. "High society hors d'oeuvre music", you're thinking. To the contrary, The Chicago Catz serve up and dish out the hottest "get out of your seat and dance" music in town!
chicagocatz.com

***Also on Sat, August 23 (BLUEGRASS/ROOTS) Big Smith, 9pm in the SideBar Music Room, $8.
Hailing from the Missouri Ozarks, Big Smith is a family affair composed of five cousins, including two sets of brothers. Truly an exciting combination these five songwriters, five vocalists, five creative individuals are bound together by blood and harmony.
Long before the "O Brother" soundtrack, Big Smith was demonstrating to unsuspecting audiences what joy and liberation could be found in the unlikely combination of the energy of bluegrass, the soul of gospel harmonies, and the raw mojo of indigenous, authentic Ozarks culture. Since forming in 1996 they quickly earned a devoted national following thanks to playing raucous acoustic music that captured the spirit of their native Ozarks, equipped only with an acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass fiddle and washboard. In recent years they have branched out from Hillbilly music, but haven’t forgotten their roots as they explore instrumentation and sonic palate.
bigsmithband.com

Sun, August 24 (JAZZ) Bill O’Connel Chicago Skyliners Big Band, 6pm, $10, 17 & under $5
A house band at FitzGeralds since 1991, the Chicago Skyliners Big Band is one of the top big bands in Chicagoland. Besides original material by contemporary big band arrangers, the band also features the music of Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Count Basie, Stan Kenton, and Woody Herman. Blue Birdland recording artists, the band has recorded 7 CDs. Big band is alive and well. Celebrate this great art form most every Sunday at FitzGerald's. On your way there, check Bill’s big band radio show Sundays at 5pm on 90.9FM, WDCB.
chicagoskylinersbigband.com

FitzGerald’s “WDCB Sunday Big Band Jazz Party” is generously sponsored by 90.9FM WDCB – Public Radio from College of DuPage.

Mon, August 25 – Closed

Tues, August 26 (ECLECTIC) Open Mike in the SideBar, 8pm signup, 9pm showtime, 21+, no cover.

Wed, August 27 (ROCK/POP) Ladies of the Canyon Present an Evening Honoring the Music of Sheryl Crow, 7:30pm, $10.
Ladies of the Canyon - this moniker came from the album title by Joni Mitchell, the first artist this group of women, lead by vocalists Kim Frost and Ingrid Graudins chose to "tribute". It's funny how tributes used to be for people no longer living, but in this day and age it seems we're hungry to express gratitude to the artists we are inspired by, look up to, and adore today instead of later on. LOTC does this through performing the music of legendary female songwriters and singers, hopefully to bring awareness to those who may never experience these women in a live concert situation, or to turn new ears toward the music that shaped our own musical lives.
myspace.com/lotcchicago (instant audio...)

Thurs, August 28 – Stay tuned!

Fri, August 29 (BLUES) Anthony Gomes, 9pm, $12 advance, $14 at the door.
When he was a kid Anthony Gomes asked for a computer and got a guitar instead. He hasn’t put it down since, gaining a national reputation for his fire-hot shows. Anthony headed to the US from his native Canada in the late 1990s, first settling in Chicago and winning Buddy Guy's Legends 1998 "Best Unsigned Blues Band" competition. Like Lennon, Singer-guitarist Gomes believes that music really is the Medicine. As an artist he constantly challenges himself to expand his explorations of heart and sound. His latest release Music Is The Medicine raises the bar and reaches beyond it, taking all he's discovered in enduring American sounds and applying that knowledge and experience to create a vibrant, contemporary masterwork of blues-based rock, soul and R&B.
anthonygomes.com

Sat, August 30 (BLUES) Double-Fisted Night of Chicago Blues featuring Eddy “the Chief” Clearwater and Lonnie Brooks Blues Band, 9pm, $15 (TM/Club).
During the 1950s, Chicago’s West Side was a breeding ground for some of the world’s greatest bluesmen. Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Freddie King and others ruled the clubs. With his fierce guitar playing, soulful and emotive vocals and wild stage shows, Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater easily belongs on this list. A Chicago legend, Clearwater is an intense, flamboyant blues-rocking showman. He’s equally comfortable playing the deepest, most heartfelt blues or rocking, good-time party music. DownBeat magazine said, “Left-hander Eddy Clearwater is a forceful six-stringer...He lays down some gritty West Side shuffles and belly-grinding slow blues that highlight his raw chops, soulful vocals, and earthy, humorous lyrics.”
eddyclearwater.com

Even after 40 years away from his Louisiana home, Lonnie Brooks’ music is still instilled with the funky, swampy bayou rhythms of Opelousas and Lafayette, and his lyrics often speak of black cat bones and "Mojo Hands". But along the road from Louisiana to Chicago, he's combined the swing of Texas, the soul of Memphis and the pure power of Chicago blues into a musical gumbo that is all his own.
lonniebrooks.com

Sun, August 31 (JAZZ) Mulligan Mosaics, 6pm, $10, 17 & under $5.
The Mulligan Mosaics Big Band is a 13-piece jazz orchestra, founded and lead by Ted Hogarth, with the mission of preserving and performing the music of Gerry Mulligan, and those composers and arrangers whom he influenced.
mulliganmosaics.com

FitzGerald’s “WDCB Sunday Big Band Jazz Party” is generously sponsored by 90.9FM WDCB – Public Radio from College of DuPage.