Chicago live music

Indie/Alternative Shows in Chicago

Live indie/alternative events across Chicago-area venues on RUE. Listings come from venue calendars — open a show for tickets and details.

Upcoming events

Martyrs'·North Center

The Local Honeys

Though many artists are defined by place, only a handful of artists come to define the places they're from. The Local Honeys are Kentucky and Kentucky runs through their veins like an unbridled racehorse. When a master songsmith like Tom T Hall calls an artist "a great credit to a wonderful Kentucky tradition" it's time to pull up a chair and pay attention. As it pertains to The Local Honeys he was right on the money. For almost a decade the duo (Montana Hobbs and Linda Jean Stokley) have been an integral part of the Kentucky musicscape. They've paid their dues, garnering countless accolades and accomplishments (tours with Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, praise from the New York Times) and have become the defining sound of real deal, honest-to-god Kentucky music.

Folk / RootsRock
Dec 18
8:00 PM
Martyrs'·North Center

The Local Honeys

Though many artists are defined by place, only a handful of artists come to define the places they're from. The Local Honeys are Kentucky and Kentucky runs through their veins like an unbridled racehorse. When a master songsmith like Tom T Hall calls an artist "a great credit to a wonderful Kentucky tradition" it's time to pull up a chair and pay attention. As it pertains to The Local Honeys he was right on the money. For almost a decade the duo (Montana Hobbs and Linda Jean Stokley) have been an integral part of the Kentucky musicscape. They've paid their dues, garnering countless accolades and accomplishments (tours with Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, praise from the New York Times) and have become the defining sound of real deal, honest-to-god Kentucky music.

Folk / RootsRock
Dec 18
8:00 PM
Beat Kitchen·Roscoe Village

The Dog & Everyone: A Very 2003 Holiday Show

TICKET EVENT INFORMATION: This event is ALL AGES All sales final, NO refunds or exchanges, events are rain or shine. Door times are subject to change without notice. Tickets purchased at box office will be inclusive of fees. Once you’ve purchased, you will receive an order confirmation email from See Tickets on behalf of ‘Beat Kitchen’ or 'Subterranean' with your eTicket(s) attached. We accept physical IDs or official digital IDs. Photos or screenshots of an ID are not accepted. *IMPORTANT: If you do not see your order confirmation in your inbox, make sure to check your junk/spam folder. If you still do not see your order confirmation or have any other technical ticketing-related issues with your order, click here to access the See Tickets help center. We take pride in creating a space where everyone feels welcome and safe, and we strive to provide accommodations for all guests to the best of our ability. While we commit to doing everything in our power to accommodate when given advanced notice, guests who require accessibility accommodations should contact us at info@subt.net or info@beatkitchen.com . Staff can provide assistance when possible. If you have tickets to an upcoming event and require special accommodations, or have questions, please contact info@subt.net or info@beatkitchen.com at least one week prior to the event.

RockPop
Dec 19
7:00 PM
Salt Shed·Bucktown

93XRT Winter Jam Presents - Ratboys w/ special guests Friko and Florry

Despite its title, Ratboys? new album Singin? to an Empty Chair is not defined by what?s missing. Rather, it?s the beginning of an important dialogue with a close loved one vocalist Julia Steiner finds herself estranged from. The music on the band?s sixth studio album ? its first for New West Records ? fills the space that person left behind with 11 songs showcasing Ratboys at the peak of their powers ? twangy, effervescent, as confident as they?ve ever been, and perhaps more emotionally interrogative than ever before. The four-piece Chicago band followed up 2023?s highly acclaimed The Window by reconvening with co-producer Chris Walla to begin tracking at a rural Wisconsin cabin before taking the songs to Steve Albini?s famed Electrical Audio studios in Chicago and later to Rosebud Studio in Evanston, Illinois.

Folk / RootsRockPop
Dec 19
7:30 PM
Price TBADetails →
SPACE·Evanston

Ben Kweller w. Case Oats

BK is back and he's not the same. Who could be after the heartbreak he's endured since the sudden passing of his 16-year old son. Instead of hiding away, the beloved indie-rocker is walking through the fire of grief with intention and purpose. This unimaginable journey has led him to his seventh album, Cover The Mirrors, and the accompanying tour which begins on April 15th. , "rdquo" -> Music has been my savior throughout my life but never before has it saved me as much as ithas this past year. My upcoming album, Cover The Mirrors, is a deep dive into my new reality. It's a collage of my good days and my bad days, my highest highs and my lowest of lows. It's the most personal, emotionally raw project I've ever worked on." Kweller has been an open book throughout his illustrious career. His songs hold a nostalgic quality that takes you to a time and a place, happy or sad. He's also one of the rare few who can translate his recordings into captivating concerts that keep his fans coming back again and again. If you've never seen BK live before, the Cover The Mirrors Tour is sure to be his most heartfelt and joyous live show yet. This is a chance for old and new fans to come together and witness one of the great songwriters at his creative peak.

FreePopRock
Dec 30
7:30 PM
SPACE·Evanston

Ben Kweller w. Case Oats - NYE Show

BK is back and he's not the same. Who could be after the heartbreak he's endured since the sudden passing of his 16-year old son. Instead of hiding away, the beloved indie-rocker is walking through the fire of grief with intention and purpose. This unimaginable journey has led him to his seventh album, Cover The Mirrors, and the accompanying tour which begins on April 15th. , "rdquo" -> Music has been my savior throughout my life but never before has it saved me as much as ithas this past year. My upcoming album, Cover The Mirrors, is a deep dive into my new reality. It's a collage of my good days and my bad days, my highest highs and my lowest of lows. It's the most personal, emotionally raw project I've ever worked on." Kweller has been an open book throughout his illustrious career. His songs hold a nostalgic quality that takes you to a time and a place, happy or sad. He's also one of the rare few who can translate his recordings into captivating concerts that keep his fans coming back again and again. If you've never seen BK live before, the Cover The Mirrors Tour is sure to be his most heartfelt and joyous live show yet. This is a chance for old and new fans to come together and witness one of the great songwriters at his creative peak.

FreePopRock
Dec 31
9:30 PM
SPACE·Evanston

Antje Duvekot and David Berkeley

Originally born in Germany and transplanted to the U.S. as a young teen, Antje Duvekot began honing her observational skills through a lens of biculturalism when she picked up a guitar in high school. Some years later, the confessional folk of Dar Williams and Ani DiFranco gave her license to share those observations, no matter how personal, in her first emerging songs. She has never let go of the tenet of vulnerability, building a celebrated career around songs that transform deeply personal experiences into something universal. Antje has released six studio albums, including her latest, No, produced by Seth Glier, as well as five previous albums produced by Mark Erelli, Seamus Egan of SOLAS, Richard Shindell, and Scott Petito. Her recordings feature support from Anaïs Mitchell, Dar Williams, Rose Cousins, Heather Maloney, John Gorka, Meg Hutchinson, Lucy Kaplansky, Sean Mullins, Liz Longley, and others. _________________ David Berkeley's gift as a songwriter and storyteller is that he sees the tragedy and comedy in life, writing songs capable of both breaking and healing the heart. Berkeley has been called a , "rdquo" -> musical poet," by the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times praises his , "rdquo" -> lustrous, melancholy voice with shades of Tim Buckley and Nick Drake." That voice and his gift with words is what first sets Berkeley apart from all other guitar-slinging songwriters. But it is his onstage charisma and unparalleled between-song repartee that truly puts him in a class by himself. Each show is completely unique, and David's humanity shines through every note he sings and every word he speaks. Berkeley has released seven studio albums, one live album, and authored two books, each of which pairs with one of his albums. He was a guest on This American Life,telling an outrageous story of a private serenade he was once hired to perform, and he has won many songwriting awards and honors including ASCAPs Johnny Mercer Songwriting Award. His 2017 release was a never-before tried concept: a novella comprising ten intertwining stories and an album of ten accompanying songs (one for each story). His latest release is Oh Quiet World, an album written during the lockdown. It's an intimate, uplifting collection that we all should hear.

FreeRockFolk / Roots
Jan 13
7:30 PM
Metro·Wrigleyville

Portugal. The Man: In the Mountain In The Cloud – 15 Year Anniversary Tour

Wednesday, January 13 Portugal. The Man: In the Mountain In The Cloud – 15 Year Anniversary Tour with Anthony Green $50 / 18+ / Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm $1 from every ticket sold goes to support Portugal . The Man’s community initiatives Pass The Mic and Frances Changed My Life . PORTUGAL. THE MAN are celebrating the 15-year anniversary of the album, IN THE MOUNTAIN IN THE CLOUD, with their new tour across cities in North America in 2027. They will be performing the album in its entirety, plus the album SHISH . Portugal. The Man ’s career has been a long series of surprises. They are, after all, the rare Alaskan rock band who became a mainland American institution. They are a hard-touring cult favorite who always seemed to make unapologetically idiosyncratic records, even on a major label. More than a decade deep into their discography, they had a massive pop hit with “Feel It Still,” a success they channeled not into making more music that sounded just like it but instead to make their two most diverse records ever, including this one. With SHISH , the 10th album from the band, Gourley uses Portugal. The Man to sing about the more righteous world he has witnessed at home and that he now envisions for the rest of us—taking only what we need, advocating for others at every turn, and sharing the best of what we’ve learned to give everyone a chance to be better still.

RockElectronicFolk / Roots
Jan 13
8:00 PM
Thalia Hall·Pilsen

Anna von Hausswolff presented by Thalia Hall and Empty Bottle

Anna von Hausswolff is a Swedish musician and composer whose work carves out space for the celestial and the transcendent to enter into the modern world. Following her breakthrough album, Ceremony (2012), von Hausswolffs subsequent releases quickly cemented her as an artist of unpredictable and vast creativity, always moving forward, always melding tradition with experimentation in unimaginable ways. Taking the pipe organ, with its ancient whirring character, as her instrument of choice, von Hausswolfs sound has long played with the ethereal qualities of breath: of taking in, holding, and releasing it. This sometimes takes the form of colossal, doom-laden rock songs, and at other times, as intimate organpieces. On ICONOCLASTS, her sound evolves again, bringing a poppier and more vibrant element to her moving songs. ICONOCLASTS is von Hausswolfs sixth LP, and her debut release on Swedish record label YEAR 0001. Produced by von Hausswolf and longtime collaborator Filip Leyman, it is an opus of stirring movement, anthemic ritualism, and maximalist composition, marking a new chapter in von Hausswolffs music and featuring appearances from Ethel Cain, Abul Mogard, Iggy Pop and Maria von Hausswolf.ICONOCLASTS begins with brass heralding out, beckoning listeners into the boundless story that is about to unfold. Before long, von Hausswolfs first beaming vocals ring out: I came to take you back to where you came from, but thats not what you want. From this, the groundwork is set for an album of blistering, mounting tension and hard-fought, euphoric release. Addressing themes of love, freedom, and autonomy, its title, ICONOCLASTS, hints at a shattering and reimagining of the sacred personal symbols that bubble under the surface of contemporary life: commitment, time, dependency, and belief.In this pursuit, von Hausswolff chooses Atlashe who carries the worlds weight upon his shouldersas a sympathetic character. How does one find the strength to prevent collapsing in these trying moments? For von Hausswolff, it is the pursuit of the divine. She finds inspiration in the fears and contradictions that arise when one is faced with monolithic power structures and concepts. The songs on ICONOCLASTS transform these uncertain feelings into kindling for the creation of sonic bonfires of immense scale. Von Hausswolff sows her songs in the borderlands between the gargantuan and the intimate, and it is the ashes of these demolished symbols that fertilise its grounds for new possibilities.Stripping back the metallic qualities that have characterised her sound, on ICONOCLASTS, von Hausswolff breaks open the gates into a warm sound world, rich in organic, gleaming potentials. Between echoing drums, murmuring organs, and reverberating guitars, von Hausswolff herself becomes one figure in this fluttering aural space. On ICONOCLASTS, her ensemble is expanded to include the virtuoso saxophonist Otis Sandsj, who brings his swirling saxophone trills to the core of the record. With a magnetic power, her voice pulls the listener closer, offering glimpses into an emotive world of secrets and madness, of heartbreak and desire, of beauty and life. Although pushing towards new sonic territory, ICONOCLASTS features all of the signature qualities of a von Hausswolff release: mammoth intensity, crystalline iridescence, and lustrous dynamism

PopRockFolk / Roots
Jan 15
8:00 PM
Empty Bottle·Ukrainian Village

*MOVED TO THALIA HALL* Anna von Hausswolff

Doors: 8PM / Show: 9PM / 21+ Anna von Hausswolff is a Swedish musician and composer whose work carves out space for the celestialand the transcendent to enter into the modern world. Following her breakthrough album,Ceremony(2012), von Hausswolffs subsequent releases quickly cemented her as an artist of unpredictable and vastcreativity, always moving forward, always melding tradition with experimentation in unimaginable ways.Taking the pipe organ, with its ancient whirringcharacter, as her instrument of choice, von Hausswolfssound has long played with the ethereal qualities of breath: of taking in, holding, and releasing it. Thissometimes takes the form of colossal, doom-laden rock songs, and at other times, as intimate organpieces. OnICONOCLASTS, her sound evolves again, bringing a poppier and more vibrant element to hermoving songs.ICONOCLASTSis von Hausswolfs sixth LP, and her debut release on Swedish recordlabel YEAR0001. Produced by von Hausswolf and longtime collaborator Filip Leyman, it is an opus ofstirring movement, anthemic ritualism, and maximalist composition, marking a new chapterin vonHausswolffs music and featuring appearances from Ethel Cain, Abul Mogard, Iggy Pop and Maria vonHausswolf.

PopRockFolk / Roots
Jan 15
9:00 PM
Price TBADetails →
Constellation·North Center

Scurvy Jazzby

8:30pm. $15 ADV / $20 DOS Lineup: Ausberto Acevedo (bass) Dan Bitney (drums, electronics, percussion) Jeb Bishop (trombone) Matthew Davis (tuba) Hunter Diamond (tenor saxophone) Dan Fliegel (drums and vocals) Casey Foubert (guitar) Nick Zoulek (alto and bass saxophones) Scurvy Jazzby started as Scurvy (1992-96) in Chicago, playing compositions by Dan Fliegel over several years with a rotating lineup at the old Bop Shop, the original Hot House, Lunar Cabaret, the Tao, and elsewhere. The group's only available recording is a collaboration of "Tell Me Once More" with Tortoise, recorded by John McEntire, and released as part of a Tortoise suite entitled "Cliff Dweller Society" on Stereolab's Duophonic label in 1995, featuring Josh Abrams, Jeb Bishop, Evan Coleman, Fliegel, Chris Lopes, Jeff Parker, and John Sandfort with Dan Bitney, Bundy K. Brown, John Herndon, and Doug McCombs of Tortoise. The recording is also included in the Tortoise box set, A Lazurus Taxon in 2006 from Thrill Jockey. The band stopped performing live around 1996. Scurvy became a catch-all name for Fliegel's solo and collaborative recordings through the next couple decades, including "Louise," recorded with McEntire at his Soma Studio in 2001, featuring many of the above musicians and others (forthcoming in 2027). The reborn project, now Scurvy Jazzby, released Solamente in February 2025 with Fliegel on vocals and drums recorded live without overdubs, in two sessions, in July 2013 (by Wayne Montana) and December 2024 (by Brooks Hannon). A second LP, Friendly Fire (forthcoming in 2027) was recorded and mixed by Hannon at West Town Magnetics during the summers of 2025 and 2026 and features Ausberto Acevedo (bass), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Dan Bitney (additional drums), Matthew Davis (tuba), Hunter Diamond (tenor saxophone), Fliegel (drums and vocals), Casey Foubert (guitar), Damon Locks (vocals), Matthew Lux (bass), Wayne Montana (bass), Takeru Satoh (alto saxophone), Mai Sugimoto (alto saxophone), Lea Tschilds (vocals), and Taylor Zorn (trombone).

Jazz / BluesElectronicRock
Jan 16
8:30 PM
Thalia Hall·Pilsen

Jess Williamson with Riley Downing

Endless prairies and ocean waves; long drives and highway expanse; dancing, smoke, sex, and physical desire -- the core images of Jess Williamson's new album Time Ain't Accidental revel in the earthly and the carnal. After a protracted breakup with a romantic partner and longtime musical collaborator who left Williamson and their home in Los Angeles at the start of the pandemic, the album's reckoning with loss, isolation, romance, and personal reclamation signals a tectonic shift for Williamson as a person and as an artist: from someone who once accommodated and made herself small to a woman emboldened by her power as an individual. A daringly personal but inevitable evolution for the Texas-born, Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Time Ain't Accidental is evocative of iconic Western landscapes, tear-in-beer anthems, and a wholly modern take on country music that is completely her own. Above everything, sonically and thematically, this album is about Williamson's voice, crystalline and acrobatic in its range, standing front and center. Think Linda Rondstadt turned minimalist, The Chicks gone indie or even Emmylou Harris' work with Daniel Lanois. Ringing boldly and unobscured, it's the sound of a woman running into her life and art head-on, unambiguously, and on her own terms for the first time. Last year, Williamson and Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee released I Walked With You A Ways under the name Plains; a critically acclaimed record filled to the whiskey-barreled brim with feminine confidence, camaraderie, and straight-up country bangers and ballads. After past records Cosmic Wink (2018) and Sorceress (2020), both released on Mexican Summer, Williamson felt primed to shift in a new direction. Revisiting what she loved growing up, simplifying her process, and making music with a friend proved to be the best step forward for Williamson. In early 2020, while getting used to the new estrangement and in quarantine with her thoughts, Williamson wrote and recorded the stripped-back standalone single , "rdquo" -> Pictures of Flowers" by herself at home. This experience became the foundation on which Time Ain't Accidental was built. The song's lyrical themes were terrestrial and plain-spoken, with Williamson's voice set against a drum machine and paired with textural guitar by her friend Meg Duffy (Hand Habits). Soon, Williamson realized that musically she was just as good---better, even---on her own. Tours with Weyes Blood, Kevin Morby and Hamilton Leithauser, and José González bolstered this newfound self-assurance, letting her voice ring out in rooms the size of which she hadn't played before. Amidst the uncertainty of the pandemic, Williamson began dating in Los Angeles and tracking demos centered on the realness of those experiences, filled with excitement, anxiety, and disappointment. The drum machine stuck around (this time in the form of an iPhone app), as did her determination to forge a new path as a truly solo singer and songwriter; as a woman finding the sound of herself without anyone else's input. It was a lonely, but revelatory, period.

RockFolk / Roots
Jan 21
8:00 PM
Uncommon Ground·Edgewater

bluefront and Matthew Morgan

Alan Zreczny's songs are narrative poems set to spirited melodies, which he performs on the guitar and piano, solo and with his band bluefront. Over the years Zreczny has created an imaginative and truly original body of work with lyrics that often put a new twist on age-old sayings giving them a fresh, surprising new meaning. Melding the vintage sound of Television, The Modern Lovers and early Talking Heads with the current but equally timeless approach of The War On Drugs, the Chicago outfit celebrate the sound of classic guitar-driven rock. bluefront is Alan Zreczny, Keith Herc and Scott Paeth.

Folk / RootsPopRock
Jan 23
8:00 PM
Price TBADetails →
SPACE·Evanston

S.G. Goodman Presents: Visiting Hours, An Evening of Songs and Stories

S.G. Goodman returns from the Western Kentucky bottomland with her latest full-length album, Planting by the Signs, Available June 20, 2025 on her very own Slough Water Records via Thirty Tigers. Composed of songs inspired by love, loss, reconciliation, and the aforementioned ancient practice. Eleven tracks highlighted by the critically-acclaimed and award-winning artist's singular voice and her penchant for juxtaposing vulnerable folk music with punchy rock 'n roll, replete with chiming guitars, ethereal atmospherics, and her DIY ethos. Goodman provides a timely reminder that the only way forward is together, and that we must always take into account humanity's dependence on and responsibility to the natural world. Back in the early hours of 2023, Goodman told her late friend Mike Harmon and his wife Therese that she wanted to base her next album around the concept of planting by the signs, which she had heard about growing up, and recently rediscovered while reading a volume of Foxfire. She remembered general points from her rural southern childhood - how planting a garden, or weaning a baby, or getting a haircut are best timed in accordance with the cycle of the moon. A concept diametrically opposed to the tech-obsessed, profit margin-driven mania swirling around her. Through exploring themes related to planting by the signs, Goodman hoped to help herself and others reconcile this jarring disconnect, as well to pass along the story of the practice to her nieces and nephews - the latter being a role she took very seriously. But it wasn't an easy path to writing Planting by the Signs or to the recording studio. 2023 saw the passing of her beloved dog, Howard, as well as the tragic death of Harmon, a father figure and mentor. Mike was mentioned in Goodman's song, , "rdquo" -> Red Bird Morning" on Old Time Feeling, her debut. Her band used to practice in the quonset hut behind his house. He would check on her house while she toured. Often, Goodman would call him for advice from the road. A few days before he died, he advised her about putting chains on her van during a snow storm. He once drove that same van from Boston to Chicago so the band could play a one-off in the middle of a tour. He was a rock for Goodman, and a rock star in his own right. Harmon's death led to Goodman reconciling with her longtime collaborator and guitarist, Matthew Rowan, who had become estranged from her following a year of grueling live shows in 2021. Rowan and Goodman had met in their early 20s while at college in the Murray, KY, indie rock scene, and eventually began playing music together. His idiosyncratic guitar work became an essential part of her production. He wrote most of the guitar parts on her first two records, and their creative relationship stretched for nearly 10 years. But life on the road isn't for all, one thing led to another, and Rowan decided to step away. After Harmon passed, Matt was one of the first people Goodman called. From there they began to mend their relationship, and eventually, once she started working on her new album, S.G. asked Rowan to be her co-producer. The album would not exist in its current form without their reconciliation.

Folk / RootsRock
Jan 23
8:00 PM
$113.37+Details →
Empty Bottle·Ukrainian Village

Willi Carlisle

Doors: 8PM / Show: 9PM / 21+ The Golden Dragon Buffet Tour With a heavy-duty catalog of new material for a career first double album, The Universal Bubba marks a half dozen releases for folksinger Willi Carlisle and reaches new heights with the added accelerant of first time producer Tyler Childers. In an all-time DIY effort, Childers and his band convened to a makeshift home studio nestled in the Bywater District of New Orleans for two weeks to cut 17 tracks that expand Carlisle's sonic scrapbook and capture the off-kilter characters living in his songs. , "rdquo" -> I think this one goes to outer space," says Carlisle. , "rdquo" -> I think this is the widest range of influences that I've ever had. It touches on funk, it touches on Americana, Cajun, oldtime, and experimental music." With Childers' band behind him, Carlisle embraced the freedom to wander across genres both familiar and new, testing out instrumentation and toying with the surreality of traditions being turned on their head. , "rdquo" -> It feels like getting drunk at the Civil War reenactment, or cruising at the cattle auction, or doing molly at the square dance," says Carlisle. , "rdquo" -> It's the first time I've ever used synthesizers and double electric guitars. There's also more fretless 19th century style banjo on it than any record I've ever made." Exploration aside, Carlisle's mission as a folksinger largely remains the same - documenting the stories and struggles of the people and balancing the humor and hope of existence. , "rdquo" -> I want to make a universal folk music. Songs for all kinds of weirdos," says Carlisle. , "rdquo" -> With the idea that there is nobody that doesn't have folk songs and everyone deserves folk songs. I want to write songs that prove the old weird America didn't go anywhere, that we are living and dying for it everyday. I believe there's noble work to do in that context. That if we feel despair, we don't need to because there's so much good work to do."

FreeFolk / RootsRock
Jan 23
9:00 PM
SPACE·Evanston

Alela Diane w. Shannon Lay

More than a decade into one of contemporary folk's most quietly extraordinary careers, Alela Diane returns with Who's Keeping Time? on May 22 via Fluff & Gravy / Loose Music. The Portland songwriter's seventh full-length came as the consequence of intuition, coincidence, and community. , "rdquo" -> I came to the end of a season last year," Alela shares. , "rdquo" -> My daughters had grown a bit. I no longer had babies waking me in the middle of the night. I could hear myself think again." More and more, those thoughts circled music. The ultimate spark for Alela's return to her music community came in April of last year with the death of her close friend and mentor Michael Hurley --- folk legend and indispensable presence in the Portland music scene. Tracked live in the attic of her 1892 Victorian home, Who's Keeping Time? was produced by Sam Weber (Madison Cunningham, Anna Tivel) and brought to life with staples from the local music orbit, including members of the bands Lucius and Blind Pilot and fellow singer-songwriters Anna Tivel and AC Sapphire. Over the years, Alela's lustrous discography has gathered major critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, NPR Music, The Guardian, and plenty more. UNCUT counted her work in their ambitious , "rdquo" -> 50 best singer-songwriter albums" of all time roundup---a canon comprising John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Paul Simon---with Consequence echoing that significance, declaring, , "rdquo" -> Hers is a timeless sound, that of a wayfaring troubadour, which only seems to come a few times a generation."

FreeFolk / RootsRock
Jan 25
7:00 PM
SPACE·Evanston

Matt the Electrician and Tim Easton

Matt the Electrician is Matthew Sever, a quirky, sincere folk/pop singer songwriter based in Austin, TX. He has self-released 11 studio albums, 2 live albums and 7 vinyl 45's since 1998. Matt moved to Austin, TX from the West Coast in 1996 to pursue music full time. He regularly tours all over the world, specifically The US, Canada, Western Europe and Japan. His songs have been featured on Network TV shows, in feature length movies, and in TV commercials. He regularly plays festivals, theaters, nightclubs, and house concerts, and will continue to do so until he cannot. ---------------- Tim Easton is a consummate troubadour who knows his way around stages, stories, and songs. He is the youngest of seven children, born in Upstate NY, raised in Tokyo, Japan and also Akron, OH, by his Canadian Mother and American Father. Influenced by a combination of songwriting legends and folk masters from his older brother's and sister's vinyl collections, Easton found himself busking the streets of Europe on and off for seven years after graduating from The Ohio State University with an English degree specializing in poetry, returning to the USA to record his first solo album in Nashville. His songwriting and storytelling abilities earned him a deal with EMI Publishing in 1999. He relocated to Los Angeles, performed at songwriter hubs like Largo, and signed a recording contract with New West Records. His first release for the label was 2001's The Truth About Us, featuring three members of WILCO as the backing band, after which he toured with his heroes John Hiatt and Lucinda Williams. Next came , "rdquo" -> Break Your Mother's Heart," garnering 4 stars in the print version of Rolling Stone and heralding his songwriting as having a , "rdquo" -> novelist's sense of humanity."

FreeRockFolk / Roots
Jan 26
7:30 PM
Metro·Wrigleyville

feeble little horse

RESCHEDULED FROM 10.9.26 // ALL TICKETS HONORED Wednesday, January 27 feeble little horse * Snuggle $26 Adv. / $30 Day of / All Ages / Doors: 6:30pm / Show: 7:30pm feeble little horse is naturally delighted to present their third full-length LP, bitknot . The album was written, arranged, produced, and recorded by Sebastian Kinsler, Lydia Slocum, and Jake Kelley across their respective homes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A spirited investigation into the unnatural space created between human nature and a culture of convenience, a synthesis of dirt and digital, bitknot by feeble little horse creates a language wherein one can re-imbue a sanctity of interdependence away from consumptive “self-sufficiency” and materialism. “The album art is based on the coincidental core memory matrix, which was used in old computers to store memory / access information using 0s and 1s. Each core, or ‘bit,’ is accessed through the grid of wires, like a knot that stores secret details and memories.” bitknot asks that we find new modes of being through this grid, entrusting one another with the collaborative construction of these knots. This negotiation with an ever-developing hybrid reality is expertly exemplified in the album’s production – the buoyancy of Kinsler’s arrangements provide a perfectly balanced surface tension for the weight of Slocum’s meandering introspection as they playfully harmonize against saccharine hooks, walls of noise, a supercharged car battery’s worth of synths and samples dropped in the ocean of their guitar-driven songwriting framework, and some of Kelley’s most laser-focused drums to date to create a sonic chimera that is as likely to be found nascently developing in the early aughts as some unknown, chromatic future.

RockPopElectronic
Jan 27
7:30 PM
Metro·Wrigleyville

Clarion

Thursday, January 28 Tomorrow Never Knows Festival 2027… Clarion * Cheerleader Roadkill * This House is Creaking $22.50 Adv. / $25 Day of / All Ages / Doors: 5:30pm / Show: 6:30pm

RockMetal
Jan 28
6:30 PM
Thalia Hall·Pilsen

Ibeyi

'I don't make spells anymore; now I make offerings.' What does it mean to let go and return to yourself? This is what Offering asks, the latest album from Ibeyi. Coming four years after their third album, Spell31, the French-Cuban twins bring you on a journey of rediscovery, an evolution of sound and self. Offering is an invitation to release. Now, 12 years after their breakthrough EP Oya, Ibeyi are less interested in seeking validation; they are robust in their convictions and their art. Offering also marks Ibeyi's first project since going independent, working with a number of new producers, with Naomi Diaz and Lisa-Kiandé Diaz also handing over the reins of percussion and piano to a host of talented musicians. The Ibeyi stamp is still present, building on their previous EP and three albums that gained them global recognition, singing in English, French, Spanish and Yoruba alongside their enchanting vocals. And now, in Offering, we traverse through a kaleidoscope of thumping percussion and heavy bases, to subtle incantations and delicate harmonies. Through their visuals, Ibeyi invites audiences into a part of their world they have never shared before: Cuba. All shot on location in Havana, and working with local artists, musicians and their community, Offering's visuals are the manifestation of their homecoming. Grounded in the future, their latest project is a hopeful revolution of self, representing a vulnerability that can only come with growing older, accepting failure and passing through it. - Niellah Arboine

ElectronicPopRock
Feb 2
8:00 PM