Dear friend Ted Wulfers was here in February to play a show at Schuba's in support of his brilliant new CD and vinyl album "Lucky No. 7". Ted came in to the CAU studio with with fellow Californian and stellar drummer, Tripp Beam. It was acold and windy Chicago day, but it was plenty hot in the studio with these two.

Hailing from Croatia, Dunja Ercegovic released her first songs to public in late 2012. under the Lovely Quinces name. "Wrong house" started a huge buzz in Croatia in February 2013., and many shows soon followed. Lovely Quinces played around 20 shows in Croatia in spring/summer 2013. Debut EP "No room for us" was released on September 20th 2013. to rave reviews, includes 5 songs and is available digitally worldwide.

THE USUAL MISTAKES formed in January of 2005 with the meeting of charismatic frontman/rhythm guitarist Phillip and killer lead guitarist Bob aka 'Slaphead'. The two began honing their craft in venues across Illinois as they searched for the pieces to complete their sound. Their search was completed when Myron, a rockin' groovin' bassist, and drummer/vocalist extraordinaire Billy joined the band in 2007 and 2010. The band has seen several lineup changes since then, but found its soul in 2013 with the addition of extraordinary guitar player Kevin.

"Andy Metz" is the stage name for the Seattle-born and Chicago-based musician, Andy Metz. Andy grew up in the historic neighborhood of West Seattle, where he began his interest in music at a young age with forced piano lessons. He later gained an appreciation for said piano lessons, which helped him learn to play the guitar with all the grace of a baby falling down a flight of stairs.

Humphrey-McKeown started off on a summer day in 2006 when singer/songwriter/producer Tom McKeown asked a group of musician friends if any had an interest in creating original music together. In the crowd that day was singer/songwriter/poet Heather Humphrey who saw this as an opportunity to take her fledgling songwriting to a new level. The two set out at once in combining Heather's words with Tom's music; to create something neither had done in the past. It was a fusion of some very dissimilar styles…yet it worked.

Luna Blu… Is an eclectic collection of influences: Nan Mosinski's folk-rock, singer-songwriter style, when combined with bassist Jeff Ashcraft's classical training and goth-metal tastes, Paul Bata's solid, polished, and intricate rhythms, guitarist and backing vocalist John Bouris' complex, progressive rock leanings, guitarist Jeff Howatt's expressive classic rock blues riffs, you get a sound that is uniquely its own and can only be described as....

Matt Gandurski of Northside Southpaws, Majors Junction, and CAU Alumni got in touch with me back in January and told me about a new project that he started called Grit The Doubleknit.

EMILY EARLE (OF THE VOICE) W/ TOM WHALL After leaving an indelible mark during a successful run on season three of NBC's The Voice, and earning high praise from the likes of CeeLo Green and Blake Shelton along the way, the rest of America now knows what her fans learned long ago-Emily Earle is one of the most uniquely talented and genuine singer/songwriters to come along in quite awhile. And she has only just begun.

Dann Morr is a Chicago-based songwriter and musician. Since the 1990s he has been a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist in the folk-rock group Wells-next-the-Sea, indie-rock/power-pop outfits The Carlisles, Analog Radio, and High Energy Physics, as well as bassist and backing vocalist for a number of other Windy City artists including The Cheetles, Mooner, Kerosene Stars, Kevin Lee, Phil Angotti, Eric Howell, and Tom Daily.

It's safe to assume a band named the Please, Please Me leans toward the unusual. But a trio whose instrumentation consists of guitar, cello, drums and glockenspiel? That's downright curious. Odd, even.