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 Josh Downs, Senior cbbfestival.com Correspondent, dtrain692@yahoo.com

From Left: Derrick Mitchell, a bunch of Oak Parkers

On November 22nd, Chicago’s Congress Theater will host the first annual Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival.  This all day festival will offer music fans a diverse range of acts, including bluegrass music pioneer David Grisman and red-hot American Recordings poster boys, the Avett Brothers.  For Oak Parkers, however, the festival offers a special treat as several native talents are featured on the bill, including How Far to Austin, Blue Room Hero, and contest winner Donnie Biggins.

Also included in the mix is festival director Mike Raspatello, a River Forest resident who graduated from OPRF in 1999.  “As expected, Oak Park had a lot of great talent to choose from in finding artists for this event.  I knew a lot of these guys in High School and have enjoyed watching their careers grow.”

Blue Room Hero is a three piece rock ensemble that formed at the University of Wisconsin when OPRF alumnus and current teacher Doug Hill brought his drums to Mike Neeb’s bass and Jason Napp’s guitar.  They built a large and loyal following in Madison as well as back home in Oak Park.  The festival represents not only their highest profile gig, but also their last performance together.

How Far to Austin features guitarist Tate Troelstrup, drummer Paul Obis, bassist Colin Fahey, and saxophonist Nick Ranucci, all alumni of Oak Park River Forest High School.  The band likes to think of themselves as “hot as a pistol rock ‘n roll laced with incredible lyrical depth; keen musicianship; and unforgettable vocal melodies that border on the addictive.”  Last year, they released their first LP, “The Moment has Arrived” and are now preparing to go back into the studio with legendary producer Stuart Epps, fresh off of recording an album for Oasis at the studio he co-owns in Wales with Jimmy Paige.

When asked about how growing up in Oak Park has influenced his musical stylings, Troelstrup said, “I went to Holmes school on the north side of town, great music program and I tried my hand at a new band instrument each year on top of piano.  Once I got my hands on a guitar I popped over to see Sal Salvato at Guitar Fun and started my rock ‘n roll journey.”

Donnie Biggins in the blazer, Doug Hill on the set

When Donnie Biggins entered the “Last Banjo Standing Contest” to determine the final act on the mainstage, he knew he had the support of an entire community behind him.  A truly grassroots voting effort propelled him to victory in the contest.  “When I won this contest, my Father sent me a text message that said “It takes a Village.” The support from Oak Park helped get me into the top 5 artists. It is because of the community’s belief in me that I was selected to play at the festival. I think there is a lot of young talent in Oak Park just waiting to be released into the world. We come from a community unlike any other. The environment we surround ourselves with, whether it is the schools, block parties, or backyard gatherings, sets us up to be successful.”

Both Troelstrup and Biggins credit some local Oak Park businesses with helping their musical development.  Biggins spoke glowingly about Val Camilletti, owner of Val’s Halla Records.  “I went to Val’s in August looking for advice on advancing my music publicly. We talked for about an hour about current music and the musical experiences she’s had in her lifetime. She told me to go to The Heartland Cafe in Rogers Park, Chicago. Conveniently I was moving to Rogers Park at the end of the month to begin my student teaching in the Chicago Public Schools and have been playing at The Heartland Cafe once a week. It will be nice to go back to Val’s with the CBGB Festival ad with my name on it and thank her for the advice.”

Troelstrup also spoke magnanimously when asked if any local music hotspots had an influence on him.  “Most definitely!  Guitar Fun is where I took my first guitar lessons, and where I turned to any time I had a gear question.  Val at Val’s Halla always special ordered whatever random record I absolutely had to have any given week.  I was always pretty loyal to Val’s, but Second Hand Tunes did have a great t-shirt selection and often times had newer records in a lot faster.  All three were important because my experiences at each was positive – really nice people very interested in music, and in the case of Sal at Guitar Fun, very supportive of t

Val of Val's Halla and her trusty friend and coworker

he endeavors of young musicians just cutting their teeth.”

Raspatello says “The idea of this festival was to give some up and coming artists a chance to share the bill with some big name acts, and help out the Saving Tiny Hearts Society while doing it.  I’m happy to be able to include some native Oak Parkers in what will be a wonderful celebration of art and music.”

Tickets are $31 and are on sale now on cbbfestival.com, ticketmaster.com, and frontgatetickets.com,   A portion of the sales will go to benefit the Saving Tiny Hearts Society (Savingtinyhearts.org)

About the 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