Article Contributed by Ducky
Published on November 5, 2025
Chicago’s own Henhouse Prowlers hosted a hometown Halloween throwdown at Martyrs over three unforgettable nights — October 30th, 31st, and November 1st, 2025. The weekend marked a celebration of community, musicianship, and pure bluegrass joy, proving once again why the Prowlers remain one of the most dynamic and enduring acts in the scene today.
The people packed in, and we had ourselves a ball of a three-day hometown Halloween throwdown with our hosts, the Henhouse Prowlers. The Chicago-based bluegrass band returned to Chicago this past weekend at Martyrs, and they did not disappoint.
The fans were one of the most attentive crowds I’ve seen, and as I pushed further inward the scene wrapped into a motley constellation of starry-eyed and smiling faces. It was auspicious. There was dancing, people cried, people drank, and they smoked. It was a high time on Lincoln. Energy en masse! Something in the air or the water.
There’s an unspeakable charm in the high and lonesome sound. A welcome pain. It’s a hard place to find, sonically. The sadness and pain from whence the music came is somehow transmuted into joy between mouth and mic — between mic and speaker. The pain has oxidized and now, in the crowd, it looks like joy. It is joy. By a chemical reaction of exposure to the air, the pain has become joy. The Prowlers have cracked the code.
Particularly in the harmonies of Chris Dollar (guitar, vocals) and Jake Howard (mandolin, vocals). They possess in their voice the raw and high-pitched nature that defines the sound.
With their new album Unravel — released earlier in the summer of 2025 — the Prowlers opened their three-day run as they took the stage after a captivating opening set by Chicago-based five-piece Full Spectrum Bluegrass.
The stage had two couches and a vintage television with Nintendo games flashing across the screen, in line with the theme of the night — the Living Room Sessions. They invited fans to come onto the stage and sit on the couches. The mellow was palpable, and the band were in noticeably cheerful moods.
The energy of the set flowed naturally, from amusing to disconsolate to downright incendiary. It was a truly glorious affair. Their cover of the late great John Prine’s “The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” was a particular moment of supreme and solemn beauty I won’t ever forget — just guitar, mandolin, and four voices in harmony.
Night two featured special guest Jason Carter of Del McCoury Band and Traveling McCourys fame on fiddle for three more sets of extraordinary bluegrass. The band all donned costumes, of course — it was a Halloween party after all.
The audience, all also in costume, were as spirited as ever. No reason not to be. The beginning of night two of a three-day run is an exceptional place to be. And the band picked up exactly where they left off the night before with surgical precision — with unrestrained energy.
There were several noteworthy jams throughout the night, but the real star of the show was an absolutely burning hot “EMD > Locomotive Breath.” It seemed to go on for an hour, escalating to truly shocking heights. It also impeccably characterizes their distinctive blend of traditional bluegrass charts with imaginative renditions of non-bluegrass songs.
The third and final night was opened by award-winning banjo player and songwriter Jonas Friddle. It was an intimate occasion. It was also an elegant one. The theme of the night was Hen’s Wearhouse, and the band and audience alike spent Saturday night in their Sunday best.
The ties were tight, but the spirit was loose, and much fun was had. And as I said, it was intimate — the band even spent a portion of the show performing from the floor in front of the stage, closing the short but eternal gap between us and them.
It felt like a family function, a kickback, or a get-together of friends. Once again, the band were firing on all cylinders. Their two decades of picking has developed into one of the best-sounding bluegrass bands in the world.
If the Prowlers come to town, do whatever you have to do to get into the show.
