While Aetiology was pinned for the opening spot on the Congress Theater Main Stage, and Urbana’s Corn Desert Ramblers were chosen to close the Pavilion Stage with a classic hootenanny, it was quickly agreed upon by all involved that soloman Sean Shiel would sit-in with Corn Desert.

In case you’re wondering, the word “aetiology” is mainly used in medicine, where it is the science that deals with the causes or origin of disease, the factors which produce or predispose toward a certain disease or disorder. Don’t Google image search it.

Join CBB in welcoming the bunch, and grab 3-day passes (or 1 and 2-day passes) before they’re gone at clubtix.net/cbbfestival!

Out of over 30 band submissions, only two lucky acts will win a coveted spot at CBB Fest and $250.  But first, we need to whittle away the others in a CBB Last Banjo Standing play off contest this Saturday, November 13th at Kinetic Playground.

Voting is currently underway and everyone who wants to make a life- changing difference for some deserving artists is encouraged to vote once per day at through http://www.CBBFestival.com/contests11:59pm on November 12, 2010. Each e-mail address will be allotted one vote per day.

Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival organizers will choose 5 of the TOP 10 Vote-Getting artists to play a battle of the bands at the Kinetic Playground, at which we’ll choose our two winners.  The Last Banjo Standing Battle of the Bands is open to the public, and will be held at Kinetic Playground on Saturday, November 13th. Admission is $7, doors open at 8pm, music begins at 9pm, and this is a 21+ show.

“The Last Banjo Standing contest is a fantastic opportunity for local bands to join an amazing line up of national headliners for a set on a Chicago stage,” says Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival producer Michael Raspatello, “The Shams, Sexfist, and Great Divide, former LBS winners have all ben playing CBB fest ever since.”  Is your favorite band in first place? Vote for the finalists online to make sure your favorite band wins a spot in the Last Banjo Standing play-off at Kinetic Playground on 11/13, and a spot on the Congress Theater Stage on December 4th, 2010!

About CBB Fest

From December 3^rd-5^th, Chicago’s favorite independent producers and worthwhile charities will host an eclectic tribute to the genres that started it all.  From the cultish explosion of psych folkers Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros to the undeniable sexual energy of Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, the current derivations of roots music are alive and well.  Yet the link to Robert Johnson is also alive and well, literally.  95-year-old David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Johnson’s lifelong friend and witness to his mysterious death, joins the bill as the oldest remaining Delta blues musicians touring today.  Ending the weekend with a dub-infused dance party, Studio One legends The Skatalites help remind us how boogie-woogie became wobble wobble.

The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival will offer a musical reprieve from the merciless Chicago Winter by adapting elements of a summer music festival to the historic and intimate indoor setting. In addition to nearly 30 hours and 5 stages worth of nonstop music, the weekends activities will also include a pickin’ circle, a live-art exhibition and indoor gallery, charitable raffles, film screenings, and impromptu marching band performances.

Artist Submissions

Between now and November 1st upload 2 tracks that you think are the hottest. Hopefully the voters agree with your choice. If you can handle the process to submit your band to Lollapalooza’s“Last Band Standing” competition, you can handle this. Because frankly, our contest will work in much the same way.

Voting

Vote once per day, every day, if you want to make a life-changing difference for some deserving artists. The online voting period begins on November 2nd and concludes on November 13th. Each e-mail address will be allotted one vote per day, so encourage your supporters to vote early and often!

The Decision

As we approach November 13th the votes will be tallied and Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival organizers will choose 5 artists to play a battle of the bands at the Kinetic Playground, at which we’ll choose our two winners. He, Her, or They will be showered with praise and good fortune.  This battle will occur on Saturday, 11/13.

Real Time Voting Results

Is your favorite band in first place? If not, maybe you should spread the word a little better. But there’s still time, unless it’s past November 13th.

About CBB Fest

From December 3^rd-5^th, Chicago’s favorite independent producers and worthwhile charities will host an eclectic tribute to the genres that started it all.  From the cultish explosion of psych folkers Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros to the undeniable sexual energy of Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, the current derivations of roots music are alive and well.  Yet the link to Robert Johnson is also alive and well, literally.  95-year-old David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Johnson’s lifelong friend and witness to his mysterious death, joins the bill as the oldest remaining Delta blues musicians touring today.  Ending the weekend with a dub-infused dance party, Studio One legends The Skatalites help remind us how boogie-woogie became wobble wobble.

The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival will offer a musical reprieve from the merciless Chicago Winter by adapting elements of a summer music festival to the historic and intimate indoor setting. In addition to nearly 30 hours and 5 stages worth of nonstop music, the weekends activities will also include a pickin’ circle, a live-art exhibition and indoor gallery, charitable raffles, film screenings, and impromptu marching band performances.

The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival has grown.  Now in its third year, the festival has expanded to 35 bands across three nights at three of the city’s favorite venues.

From December 3^rd-5^th, Chicago’s favorite independent producers and worthwhile charities will host an eclectic tribute to the genres that started it all.  From the cultish explosion of psych folkers Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros to the undeniable sexual energy of Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, the current derivations of roots music are alive and well.  Yet the link to Robert Johnson is also alive and well, literally.  95-year-old David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Johnson’s lifelong friend and witness to his mysterious death, joins the bill as the oldest remaining Delta blues musicians touring today.  Ending the weekend with a dub-infused dance party, Studio One legends The Skatalites help remind us how boogie-woogie became wobble wobble.

The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival will offer a musical reprieve from the merciless Chicago Winter by adapting elements of a summer music festival to the historic and intimate indoor setting. In addition to nearly 30 hours and 5 stages worth of nonstop music, the weekends activities will also include a pickin’ circle, a live-art exhibition and indoor gallery, charitable raffles, film screenings, and impromptu marching band performances.

Single Day, 2-Day, and 3-Day ticket options are now available at cbbfestival.com or clubtix.com/cbbfestival and check our lineup below!

Day 1 – Friday, December 3, 2010 – Double Door – $12
Cory Chisel & the Wandering Sons * The Right Now * How Far to Austin * Great Divide * Midwest Hype * Jackson Bailey

Day 2– Saturday, December 4, 2010 – Congress Theater – $35
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros * Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
David “Honeyboy” Edwards * The Giving Tree Band * Van Ghost * Sexfist * Paleface * Chicago Farmer * The Shams Band * Jaik Willis * Alex Wilson Band * Majors Junction * Tangleweed * Derek Nelson & the Musicians * Ben Ripani Music Co. * Liberty Bluegrass Band * The Future Laureates * Environmental Encroachment * Goodbyehome* The Down Feathers * Cobalt & the Hired Guns * BandCalledCatch * “Last Banjo Standing” Contest Winners + more

Day 3 – Sunday, December 5, 2010 – Lincoln Hall – $15
The Skatalites * Daphne Willis * Go Long Mule * Mike Mangione & the Union * The O’My’s * Jamie Lono * Environmental Encroachment

Location: Congress Theater, Double Door, Lincoln Hall
Dates: Friday December 3^rd 7pm – 2am
Saturday December 4^th 1pm – Midnight
Sunday, December 5^th 5pm – 2am

D. Tello

Let me start his off by saying that my interest in the NBA in a post-Jordan world has been the same as that of college lacrosse: I’ll pay attention if NOTHING else is on, it is the finals, or a tragedy has occurred. Then, as LeBron started this narcissistic venture that made A-Rod and Tiger look self-aware, rational, and humble, I started to tell my friends 2 things: (1) I hope the Bulls do not get Bron-Bron so no attention is diverted from the Blackhawks, and (2) if he does not sign with the Bulls or Cavaliers, I will never watch the NBA again.

I now take the latter back.  I find myself more into the NBA now than I have since the first week of the Jordan-Wizards debacle.  Why? BECAUSE I F*CKING HATE LEBRON JAMES.  LeBron James just went from loved-superstar to villain faster than Kanye West at an award show.  Mark my words: LeBron’s self-raping of his image may end up the best thing that ever happened to the NBA.  Why?

Americans love to hate.  As much as we love our heros, we hate our villains more.

If LeBron lands in Cleveland on “Decision” night, I don’t end up watching the NBA until the next time Kobe’s in the Finals, taking 1 step closer to Jordan as I wipe away tears with my “Repeat the 3-peat” t-shirt.  With LeBron in Miami, I will now follow the Heat like a Tea-Party member follows Obama.

Obviously, this is a terrible thing for LeBron’s brand/marketing/image/children.  If you wear a LeBron jersey, and you do not live in Miami, you are an asshole.  And apparently not afraid of showing it.

On the contrary, here are the top 5 reasons I think this is great for the NBA:

5. LeBron’s suicide has made the NBA’s best player, Kobe, go from a hated, alleged-sexual-predator, to an adored superstar.  Kobe has to be loving this.  I, like many others (especially in Chicago), hated Kobe up until a couple weeks ago.  Now I find myself saying stuff like “Kobe cares about winning, LeBron only cares about image… and he is just as bad at managing his image as he is at winning (ah-oh).”  If Kobe was A-Rod pre-2010 Free Agency, he is now Jeter. He represents what we like from our superstars – caring more about winning than anything else.  So, NBA, rejoice.  Because when the Lakers go on to win their 6th NBA title this year, Kobe will be hailed a hero rather than someone people loathe having to compare to Jordan.

4. Chris Bosh somehow became a superstar without playing any games.  In the NBA, usually one had to win a Championship or at least an MVP to become a superstar. Chris Bosh has not come close to either.  This can only lead me to conclude that the people that surround Chris Bosh are geniuses.  I imagine his agent/publicist had this conversation with Bosh sometime in June, “Chris, when free agency comes along follow around D-Wade and LeBron like you are equals and no matter what sign on the same team as at least one of them.  If you do this, we can pull the Jedi-mind-trick on all of America and have them believe you are a superstar just like them.”  This plan totally worked.  Bosh’s “team” is the anti-Lebron’s “team.”  Seriously, who has actually seen Bosh play a game in the NBA? He was on the Raptors… in Canada.  This dude went from a guy who comes off the bench in an All-Star game to Tim Duncan circa-2005 without playing a game.  Impressive.  NBA, ESPN is still waiting for its gift-basket for manufacturing you a superstar.

3. NBA has tapped into a new fan-base; Reality-TV fans.  This entire process has teetered into that same world that Reality-TV does:  Reality mixed with editing and partial-scripts.  I just can’t wait for LeBron and Wade’s first drunk hook-up…

2. The Miami Heat have become the most hateable sports team in recent memory.  If you multiplied the hate that sports fans have for Duke, Notre Dame, and the Yankees all together, it would equal 1/2 the hate that all non-Miamians now have for the Heat (side note: I think Miami fans have every right and should be incredibly excited about their team).  The good news for the NBA is that hated teams get watched just as much by their loyal-haters as they do by their loyal-fans.  That is why NBC still carries all of Notre Dame’s home games, and ESPN carries more Duke and Yankees games than all other college basketball and MLB teams combined.  Additionally, LeBron has entered the exclusive level of hated superstar that was previously only occupied by Barry Bonds.  And he didn’t need ‘roids, cheating, perjury, or a chick’s voice to get there. Someone check to see if Pedro Gomez is booked to follow LeBron around next season.  (side note: Pedro Gomez is a clone of 2006 American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks).

1. The Cleveland Cavaliers have reached that level of underdog lovability that is normally reserved for Cinderella-story teams in the NCAA tournament.  Think Bryce Drew’s ’98 Valpo team, Stephon Curry’s ’08 Davidson team, Gonzaga at the turn of the century, and Butler and N. Iowa this past season.  The Cavs have sorta become the modern-day, professional-sports version of the “Hoosiers” from fictional Hickory, IN and the Cavs awesome owner, Dan Gilbert, is like our very own Gene Hackman (Coach Dale in “Hoosiers”).  Now if the Cavs could just find their very own Jimmy Chitwood, a drunk Dennis Hopper, and their own version of the “picket-fence” play to run against Miami next season…

Black Mountain brings to the table a sort of catchy, and at times funky, psychedelic rock n’ roll. And while they at times anchor their sound in the blues, unlike many other “traditional” psych bands, they gladly will replace that with a more funky and/or progressive sound. They seem to like the challenge, which they usually conquer, of morphing psych-rock playfully with other genres. And while they use development and evolution in their songs, they are usually progress leisurely, in what amounts to a deceptively natural manner.

On this night they played a fairly even mix of material from their first two albums, Black Mountain and In The Future, and unreleased material to was new to the audience. They were at their best sounding when they played powerful and direct, yet with a subtle overall sound. This reflects their philosophy well because they often mix and match their male and female vocalists, and always employ a lot of detailed sounds in their compositions. In fact, they have the ability to overlap their two opposite sexed vocalists most perfectly, creating a delightful new and singular voice. It really stood out in their live show. It was on such tracks such as “Queens Will Play” and “Druganaught” in which they exemplified these first-rate attributes and created for some of the best musical moments of this Thursday evening.

Yet, while they delivered a night filled with high level of musicianship and displayed that which has allowed them to create two solid albums, there was something about their performance on this evening that led me to think this band’s talent may lie more so in creating albums as opposed to playing live shows. At times the singing came off as preachy and at other times one found themselves being slightly fatigued by these songs, which isn’t what happens when listened from off their record. It was on such songs as, “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around”, a rich & building stompy rock song, which positively leaps off the record when played at home, but somehow was just slightly vapid live.

But that being said, their live show not living up to their albums is only a valid observation because their two released albums really are extraordinary. They are delicate, fun-loving, yet truly unyielding psychedelic rock expressions. And this being the first time this author has taken in their talents live, one has to give them a benefit of the doubt, anyone can have an off night. Either way though, I can’t wait until that new material I heard comes out in album form…

By Sean Brna

sean.brna@ourvinyl.com

The Sleepy Sun are a six-piece band that plays a very interesting style of psychedelic blues-rock. It is entirely, and unabashedly, based on the fundamentals of hallucinatory rock established in San Francisco in the 1960’s. And yet they are of today’s indie movement. It’s not easy to pinpoint down how-or-why that is, but this author finds that while their music is rooted wholly in the past – they way they move (and at time jump) through their music is entirely contemporary.

The Sleepy Sun commenced their show with Marina, off of their second – as well recently released – album, “Fever.” Immediately their male + female vocals stand out as a central, and powerful, live musical tool. By having a fierce, yet wispily angelic, female vocalist – in addition to the guitar wielding male lead-singer – is how this band creates “their sound.” Her microphone was laden with heavy & wide reverb, as well as being incredibly sensitive (this was evident between songs when any noise made near this mic would echoe out into the audience). So by altering how close she sang to the mic, or how on-axis her voice was to the front of the mic; she could control with great minutia how her “verby voice” sounded. It was marvelous to watch her swing her head, and change her distance from the microphone, and hear how it would change the sound of even sustained-echo-wails.

The Sleepy Sun also put on display their ability to present quite loud rock n’ roll that was utterly crisp and also so much an apparent product of honed teamwork. They employ a multitude of quick, at time sudden, transitions between energy, tempo and sometimes genre altogether. Even when these movements happen abruptly, they played through them so calmly and with such little notice, that you become numb to the musical talent being displayed in front of you. In fact the band members often had their eyes closed, or would stare off into nothing, needing not to eye each other whatsoever as they played through their elaborate psychedelic expressions.

The Sleepy Sun, while just having released a new LP, played a few new unreleased tracks. Yet they were best on this night on their 9 min song Sandstorm Woman, which they ended with. Simply put, they played this bewildering blues rock number – that consists of what feels like 4 distinct “movements” of sorts – absolutely sensationally. It’s how they end their album, “Fever” and it was a solid show ender as well.

They played only 9 songs, and while their songs are longer than the average, this author was left wanting much more music; a bittersweet feeling to leave an audience member with. More focus could have been given to the male lead singer, his vocals often being drowned out – which was the sole aspect of the performance that felt unbalanced. So while maybe one of those opening bands could have been sacrificed for more Sleepy Sun time, it was overall a thoroughly satisfying rock experience for all who attended. The Sleepy Sun have an latter-day haight-ashbury attitude, and channel it through potent & dominant blues-rock; and seeing them live assures you it’s a sincere and awesome amalgam from this San-Francisco band. Can’t wait to catch them again.

By Sean Brna