Listen Live and Local is a Chicago-based webzine covering the Chicago music scene. We focus on highlighting local acts through live reviews, band profiles, features and Q&As.
Staff:
Jessica Braun Gervais (Founder)- Jessica Braun was born and raised in the town of Paris, Wisconsin. To escape the inevitable boredom that comes with small towns, she began studying a few instruments including cello, guitar, piano and vocals. In the summer of 2010 she traveled to Boston to study music business and jazz performance at Berklee College of Music. In 2012, after deciding against a career as a performing artist, Jessica Braun moved to Chicago to study journalism and music management at Columbia College Chicago, where she graduated in December 2014. While in college, Jessica Braun was an intern at The Working Wardrobe and a regular contributor to Puluche.com and ChicagoTalks.org. In November 2014, Jessica Braun traveled to Iceland to cover the Iceland Airwaves and was part of a team creating a radio documentary on Icelandic culture for WCRX 88.1FM. Today, Jessica Braun works as an assistant publicist to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and is a regular volunteer at the Old Town School of Folk Music. jbgervais@listenliveandlocal.com
Past Contributors:
Tom Moran- Tom Moran grew up just outside Chicago and first got started in media in 2007 at his high school radio station, WLTL-LaGrange. He hosted weekly music and news programs and continued his radio career at the University of Kansas and Columbia College Chicago, where he graduated with a degree in journalism. He also spent two years during college producing news at Rivet Radio. In regards to music, Tom is a renowned Bob Dylan fanatic and John Lennon hater. He also primarily listens to live recordings of jam bands. So if you ever let him pick the music at a party, don’t expect any song to be shorter than five minutes.
“I want to hear another guitar solo.” -Tom Moran
Megan Caruso- Megan Caruso hails from the metro-area of Detroit, Rock City. After growing up a concert junkie, Megan decided to pursue journalism at Columbia College Chicago to dig her way into the music industry through written word. Megan also traveled to Iceland alongside Jess and Tom to international music festival Iceland Airwaves 2014 to cover music from all over the globe as well as help to create an hour long cultural documentary that aired on 88.1 WCRX Chicago. She’s been published in Arrow Newspaper, Echo Magazine and ChicagoTalks.org, as well as several other blogs scattered across the Midwest. When she’s not at a show, Megan works full time for Crain’s Ad Age, curates new artists for record labels and festival lineups with ReverbNation and also holds a spot on the Alternative Press Chicago team. Megan can often be found trotting the globe from country to country, drinking margaritas and yelling profanities in Italian.