2016 was a year that much of the country would like to do over. Between deaths, elections and Kanye West, it was year of unremarkable lows. However, for Chicago, IL, 2016 was granted a hassle-free All Access Pass when the Chicago Cubs, the beloved baseball team from the North Side, broke a 108-year drought and won the World Series.

Up and coming electronic duo, Phantoms, brought the party (and the Jameson) to the San Francisco Bay Area.

On what was a rather warm evening, and I mean really quite warm for 9 o’clock on a day in mid-November, Phantoms returned to the city of San Francisco with their ever-so-catchy electronic synth beats and dark pop melodies.

Keller Williams is a genre-fusing multi-instrumentalist and vocalist best known for his eclectic one-man-band performances. Williams’ live shows are delightful showcases of musicianship, as Keller employs loop pedals and multiple instruments to provide the audience with an experience not unlike the interplay of a full band. This approach has made Williams a perfect fit for collaboration with an impressive variety of artists from different genres, including The String Cheese Incident and Yonder Mountain String Band.

Shelter Live Tour returns to northern California for one more night of pure bliss!

Porter Robinson and Madeon make their way back up California to touch ground in Sacramento. Halfway through the North American leg of the Shelter Live Tour, an additional date was added in northern California to the surprise and delight of thousands of fans that were unsuccessful in their attempts to get tickets to the two sold out shows in San Francisco.

Everybody’s past has a soundtrack. It’s an often-random selection of music that has accompanied, and in some cases, defined stages of our lives. As we grow older, tastes change and more is added to the soundtrack. Songs and artists are archived in our memory, assigned specific events or entire periods of our lives.

Until listening to this album, I had no clue the extent to which Iration is the soundtrack of my young adulthood.

Continuing a highly successful run through 2016, Stick Figure rang in the New Year with a pair of sold out shows at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver.  Colorado has been kind to the band the past year, and in return they’ve delivered a number of shows across the state. No resolution should change that.

In a time where the music industry is topsy-turvy, we need artists like Karl Denson more than ever. The multifarious Denson fares innately in different genres, as bandleader or sideman, and paid his dues as a touring musician that came into his own. The San Diego based saxophonist first gained recognition as a member of Lenny Kravitz and quickly soon after broke through in the A-list jazz circuit. His ambitious bop-oriented Chunky Pecan Pie (1994) featured an impressive supporting lineup of Jack DeJohnette & Dave Holland.

On December 7, 2016, a Wednesday evening, A Tribe Called Red sold out Chicago’s Lincoln Hall.  Hailing from Ottawa, Canada, ATCR is turning up the beat on the human tribe’s dance party.  With globalized attention on the water protectors at Standing Rock ND, the time is ripe for ATCR to bring their indigenous music to the masses.

With my belly full of turkey from the day before, I waddled my way out to the wintery streets of Indianapolis to The Vogue Theatre to catch my very first Turkuaz show. And, oh what a show it was! On November 26th, Turkuaz and The New Mastersounds, came to shake the dance floors of Indianapolis. It was a night of firsts for me.

Theo Katzman, best known for his work with the ever-funky Vulfpeck, has released three energetic tracks from his forthcoming solo-album, Heartbreak Hits. Katzman is a talented multi-instrumentalist, and his previous solo endeavor, Romance Without Finance, received well-deserved acclaim. His eclectic tastes are evident on the tracks we’ve heard so far, which blend classic and pop rock instrumentals with some rather funky licks.