Got questions about what the show will be like, what the rules will be, or what we’ll be wearing? Feel free to e-mail us at Michael.raspatello@gmail.com. Hopefully, however, here are some of the answers you were looking for….

SHOW SCHEDULE

*2 Stages, a Balcony, 18 Acts, and Costumed Marching Band “Environmental Encroachment” parading throughout the venue at impromptu times

MAIN STAGE
12:30-1:15pm – Donnie Biggins
1:15-1:30 – Tangleweed
1:30-2:15 - Dollar Store
2:15-2:45 – Tangleweed/Chicago Sketch Comedy Troupe “Cell Camp”
2:45-3:30 – Billy Childers
3:30-4:00 – Tangleweed/Chicago Sketch Comedy Troupe“Cell Camp”
4:00-4:45 – Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials
4:45-5:15 – Tangleweed/Chicago Sketch Comedy Troupe“Cell Camp”
5:15-6:15 – Majors Junction
6:15-6:45 – Tangleweed/Chicago Sketch Comedy Troupe“Cell Camp”
6:45-7:45 – Ha Ha Tonka
7:45-8:15 – The Giving Tree Band
8:15-9:45 - David Grisman Quintet
9:45-10:15 – The Giving Tree Band
10:15-However Long They Want – The Avett Brothers

Jambase.com’s 312 PAVILION STAGE
Noon-12:45 – Blue Room Hero
1:00-1:45 – Cobalt & the Hired Guns
2:00-2:45 - Lindsey O’Brien Band & Friends
3:00-3:45 - Mike Mangione
4:00-4:45 – Jessica Lee
5:00-5:45 – How Far to Austin
6:00-6:45 – Blue Mother Tupelo
7:00-8:00 – Blackdog

• This show is All Ages, runs from 11am-Midnight-ish, tickets are $31 until day-of, when it increases (if there are any left)

• Unlimited Re-Entry: Can come and go freely to and from the theater until 5pm.  AFTER 5PM YOU CAN STILL ARRIVE.  All this means is that once you’ve left the building after 5pm, you can’t come back in.  As in, if you leave at 4:59 you can still get stamped and come back any time throughout the night.  However a minute later that would not be an option. 

• Smoking lounge access without leaving the theater. Security is about as strong as a one-armed swimmer (as in “weak”)

• Sketch Comedy throughout the day from Chicago Sketch Comedy Group “Cell Camp”

• An open jam session and picking circle from the second the doors open. Musicians are all invited to bring their instruments and participate. There’ll be an “instrument check” along with the coat check so that you don’t have to lug your noisemaker around with you all day.

• Over 50 booths of artists, vendors, and charitable causes. Artists will be creating their art on-site and selling it while the Saving Tiny Hearts Society will be raffling off swag from the artists

• The theater is located at 2135 N. Milwaukee (just north of Armitage). There is street parking available all around the theater, as well as very cheap reserved parking by clicking here

• Traveling to the theater is easy via the CTA, as it is within two blocks of the Blue Line train stations at California (& Milwaukee) and Western (& Milwaukee) which operate twenty four hours a day. The theater is also served by the following bus routes: #52 Kedzie/Calfornia, #56 Milwaukee, #73 Armitage, #49 Western (www.transitchicago.com)

• The theater is also a quick walk or bus ride from the METRA train station at Clybourn & Ashland on the Union Pacific District Northwest line. Exit the station to the south to transfer to the #73 Armitage bus going west on Cortland Ave. to the theater.

• The “Official After-Party” will be held at Chicago’s #1 rock club The Elbo Room immediately following the show. Entry is free with your festival ticket. Check out more details at elboroomchicago.com

•A WARM FUZZY FEELING FOR MAKING THIS EVENT AMAZING AND HELPING PEOPLE AT THE SAME TIME!

By Michael Mering, cbbfestival.com Senior Correspondent, mikemering@gmail.com

Blue grass and blues. Chicago and Nashville. A grand stage and a hallway haven side stage. Husband and wife.

Our panel of writers here at Chicago Bluegrass & Blues couldn’t have imagined a more successful marital state of affairs for this year’s inaugural festival. Of course, we (the writers) met one another at a swingers’ conference for journalists. It’s quite a scene. One minute you’re discussing obscure documentaries, the next you are tossing your keys into a large bowl and being whisked away to the bondage room by an NPR executive. I guess our parameters for holy matrimony veer from the norm.

Let’s talk music…

Majors Junction and Blue Mother Tupelo… These two bands will help fuel the sonic landscape at the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass & Blues fest, and both feature a dynamic husband-and-wife duo.  Don’t scoff at the sentiment, as you’ll soon be scooped up by the love in the air.

Check the stats:

Blue Mother Tupelo (BMT)

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
They moved there in 2001 and have since earned rave reviews and gained momentum with their live shows.

Band Members: BMT is the husband/wife duo of Ricky and Micol Davis

Hollywood Moment: BMT’s video for “Head On My Shoulder” is featured on the DVD of the movie Daltry Calhoun (Miramax, 2005) starring Johnny Knoxville and Juliette Lewis.

Sounds Like: If Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty were actually married and decided to take over Dixie.

They describe their sound as: “Swampadelic Southern Soul Rock”

Majors Junction

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Band Members: The husband and wife tandem of Mike Mulcahy (guitar, vocals) and Heather O’Brien (vocals) front the band. Their harmonies are accompanied by Brian Wilkie (pedal steel), Matt Gandurski (guitar), John Hasbrouck (bass), and Colin Williams (drums).

Sounds Like: Everything you love about Johnny Cash and early Wilco.

Their sound has been described as: “Plush Lonesome Western Blues.”

Live show: Keep your eye on chicagoacoustic.net for a podcast with the legendary Michael Teach, and your ear on Hambone’s Blues Party every Thursday night at 10pm on WDCB 90.9FM.  They are scheduled to turn up on both in early November, when you’ll hear them ripthrough several numbers in a very intimate setting.

ABOUT THE CHICAGO BLUEGRASS & BLUES FESTIVAL:

On November 22nd, 2008, the Congress Theater will host the inaugural Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival (cbbfestival.com). While rooted in the foot-stomping influences of bluegrass and blues, the festival will transport the concertgoer through the genre-defying evolution of music today.  The one-day event will serve as a tribute to two schools of music that continue to shape and inspire contemporary rock, jamband, funk, folk, roots, Americana, and indie cultures, while allowing festivalgoers to save a heart.  A portion of each $31 ticket will be donated to the Saving tiny Hearts Society (www.savingtinyhearts.org), an non-profit organization that raises money for America’s #1 birth defect, congenital heart defects (CHD).

By Amy Schwartz, cbbfestival.com Senior Correspondent,

The Chicago Blue Grass & Blues Festival’s Pavilion Stage, to be placed atop the Congress Theater’s epic grand staircase, shouldn’t be overlooked this coming November at the fest’s inaugural gathering. Showcasing an eclectic mix of unique and newsworthy up-and-comers, the Pavilion Stage eight will host artists from around the corner and around the country, adding Nashville, Colorado, and Cleveland staples to a roster of Chicago’s local crowd pleasers.

Blackdog, sounding like something old made new, stays true to the roots of rock with an upbeat blues sound full of riffs that make you feel like a badass if you happen to be enjoying them while walking down the street. They are the type of band that rockers of many different colors can agree on.

Blue Mother Tupelo has a soulful richness that sometimes sounds as if literally created atop an Appalachian foothill or knee-deep in a bayou. This duo proclaims itself to be “swampadelic.” Micol Davis belts and soothes as she sings soft-yet-soulful and energetic ballads. Ricky Davis brings a southern twist to the vocals as the couple sings both together and apart on their tracks.

How Far to Austin is a Chicago-based rock band with a bright future. Poised to soon work with famed Elton John, Led Zeppelin and George Harrison producer Stuart Epps, HFTA boast the unique combination of Derrick Mitchell and Katie Troelstrup on vocals. Separating them even further from the typical rock act, Nick Ranucci’s injects an edgier incarnation of another Epps project; Fleetwood Mac.

Jessica Lee is an R&B entrepreneur with a taste for sultry jazz , gospel, and a hint of soul. Her passion for live music shows with every note she belts.

Mike Mangione is a Chicago-based folk rock band with strong ties to Milwaukee. They’ll calm your nerves with its uplifting and smooth sound made whole by the gracious flow of the cello, violin, vocals and guitars.

The Lindsey O’Brien Band & Friends returns to Chicago via Colorado, with a sound that’s frankly too hard to characterize. From a rich musical Chicago family, count on host of siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, and friends to join Lindsey on stage.

Cobalt & the Hired Guns is a young band with a folk-punk sound and a strong dose of energy. They mix it up as they remind us that the piano always has a place in rock ‘n’ roll, and never forget to add some horns as they sing about their hometown of Chicago. Lately, their carbon-neutral record production has brought this group of good people some added momentum.

Blackdog: Fans of Zeppelin? Probably.

Blue Room Hero is a former Madison band that carried their crowd with them to Chicago after college. They’ve built up a fanbase of folks that know their lyrics and remember them when, but never discourage a newcomer from joining the circus that is their live sets.

Check out each of these acts at their individual artist pages at cbbfestival.com.

Pavilion Stage Lineup:

Noon – 12:45 – Blue Room Hero
1 – 1:45 – Cobalt & the Hired Guns
2 – 2:45 – Lindsey OʼBrien Band & Friends
3- 3:45 – Mike Mangione
4 – 4:45 – Jessica Lee
5-5:45 – How Far to Austin
6 – 6:45 – Blue Mother Tupelo
7 – 7:45 – Blackdog