Q&A: Zoofunkyou

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Jessica Braun Gervais in Music, Q&As and tagged Andy Boyd, Austin, Bottom Lounge, Bowling Green, Bryan Scheinkopf, Captain Coopersmith, Cassidy Kapson, Chicago, Chicago music, Chop Shop, Cleveland, Derek Dare, DJ Soul Candy, funk, Funk Vendetta, House of Blues, Iowa City, Island #36, jam bands, Kung Fu, Les Claypool, listen live and local, live music, live show, Lush, Marshal Towsky, Matt Mitchell, Michigan, Midwest, Milwaukee, MOE Chuck and Vinnie, Mungion, New Orleans, No Keeper, North Coast, Peach Fest, q&a, Snoop Dogg, south, Starkville, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Sublime, Tesheva, The Main Squeeze, The Peach Festival, Toast of the Coast, tour, Tupac, Wanyama, Willy Waldman Project, Zoofunkyou.

The new year has only just begun, but Zoofunkyou has already entered 2018 in full swing. On January 19th, the Chicago-based jam band will be embarking on their first extended tour starting with a hometown show at Chop Shop. The tour covers most of the Midwest and a number of funk-infused cities across the south and follows their first 2018 release; a live album recorded during their October 27th show at Bottom Lounge.

Vocalist and guitarist Derek Dare, guitarist Bryan Scheinkopf, bass guitarist Matthew Coglianese & the band’s manager Andy Boyd gathered in their practice space at Kildare Studios to share their tour details and to discuss the rest of their plans for 2018.

Live Review: Golden Boys/ Genome/ Bifunkal (8/3) @ Emporium Arcade Bar

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Jessica Braun Gervais in Live Reviews, Music, Reviews and tagged Bifunkal, Chicago, Chicago artists, Chicago bands, Chicago music, Emporium, funk, funk music, Genome, Golden Boys, listen live and local, live and local, live music, live review, local bands, local music, lreview, Wicker Park.

Wander the streets of Chicago on any given night and it’s never hard to find inspiring live music, especially sounds falling along the spectrum of funk, jazz and blues. This past Wednesday, August 3rd was no exception as three Chicago-based bands took the stage for an exhilarating night of funk at Emporium Arcade Bar in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.

The night’s festivities opened with Bifunkal, a two-piece group made up of drummer Hershyl Edwards and guitarist/vocalist Jesse Cryderman. The two played a solid mix of lyrical and instrumental tunes. While the vocals were decent, it was Cryderman’s catchy guitar riffs along with the impressive vox bass lines from Edwards that stole the set. For only two musicians, the band was able to project a full sound which was later emphasized by accompanying brass during a handful of tunes.

Show Preview: Dunn Dunn Fest (2/18-2/20)

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Jessica Braun Gervais in Music, Show Previews and tagged American Grizzly, Beat Kitchen, BoneLang, Calliope Musicals, Chicago music, Dunn Dunn Fest 2016, Falcor Friends, funk, Harmonica Dunn, jam bands, jazz, Lincoln Hall, listen live and local, live music, local music, Low Spark, music, OBY, Schubas, show preview, Sidewalk Chalk, soul, Spare Parts, Strange Americans, Subterranean, The Hideout, Tonic Room, Woo Park.

This week Chicago promoter Harmonica Dunn will be hosting Dunn Dunn Fest; a three night, six venue showcase featuring a number of local (and non local) bands. The fest will run from Thursday, February 18th to Saturday, February 20th with performances at Beat Kitchen, Subterranean, Tonic Room, Lincoln Hall, Schubas and The Hideout.

With so many great local bands at some of Chicago’s top venues, you really can’t go wrong with any show. Nonetheless, here’s who we’re excited to see:

Live Review: Nasty Snacks (12/17) @ Martyrs’

Posted on December 18, 2015 by in Live Reviews, Music, Reviews and tagged Chicago, Chicago music, earth wind & fire, funk, funk music, live review, live reviews, Martyrs', music, Nasty Snacks.

Funk is just fun, plain and simple. It’s got to be one of the most universally appreciated genres of music. Even the most reserved people seem to struggle resisting the urge to get down and dance when the funk is hot, and some of the hottest funk Chicago has to offer is from Nasty Snacks.

The nine-piece group opened up In The Loop Productions’ Perse as Funk showcase Thursday, December 17th at Martyrs’ with a high-energy set of original music and soul covers of groups like Earth, Wind and Fire and Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. Christmas lights and decorations lined Martyrs’ spacious interior, and Nasty Snacks played a perfect song for the occasion. Christmas songs can be sort of sappy, but the band did a rendition of Vulfpeck’s “Christmas in L.A.” that spread holiday cheer without breaking the upbeat mold cast by the rest of the set.