So how does the name "Mongolian Death Wyrm" symbolize J Alan Balmer's vision for his progressive blues/rock/funk trio? "It doesn't symbolize it so much as it begs the question: Who are we? And what kind of music do we play?" said Balmer.

The indie-rock band Dawes plays the Castle Theater in Bloomington on July 31. Occasional GLT Music Critic Taylor Bauer considers the California born and bred quartet to be one of the most exciting bands of the past five years.

Downers Grove native Scott Marek is an aspiring country singer/songwriter/bandleader ready to up his game. "It's so much fun to get up on stage and sing," said Marek. "Hopefully everyone is listening, and as long as that continues to climb as it has been, I don't see why I should turn back."

Listening to Jesse W. Johnson's latest album certainly begs a comparison to Bob Mould's Husker Du and Sugar incarnations of the 1980s and 90s. But a hint of the early to mid 70s sounds of Love, Fleetwood Mac, and John Stewart can also be discerned.

Joel Da Silva came to blues in the Chicago bars he worked in as a teenage bar-back. That’s where he bumped into legends including Junior Wells, Magic Slim, A.C. Reed and Rod Piazza. Well, he didn’t just “bump” into the them; he would pick them up at the airport and deliver them to their hotel. “Or I would get them barbeque or whatever they wanted,” said Da Silva.

Matthew Curry is in a groove. Oh he was in a groove three years ago opening for legendary names including The Doobie Brothers, Steve Miller, and Peter Frampton. It's just that that sort of exposure isn't supposed to happen right out of high school. "It almost happened a bit backwards," said Curry, referring to his career path. "I think most people start with the club circuit and build and build and then hope to be on some of the tours we had the honor to be on."

A woman in her early 30's embracing honky-tonk? A music genre that peaked decades ago? Sarah Shook has answered the query many times. "I had a very strange upbringing as far a music goes," explained Shook via phone from her North Carolina home. "I was certainly not exposed to a lot of the pop music that was popular in my age group, then and now."

The Chicago based bluegrass quartet Henhouse Prowlers is now a teenager. Founding member and banjo player Ben Wright said despite the title of their latest album, he's not surprised the group is "Still On That Ride" 13 years later. "When you start something like a band," said Wright. "You don't think too much about the future, because so many bands come and go."

Occasionally I like to drop in on local record stores to hear what's playing on the turntable while customers browse the bins. This week I stopped by Waiting Room Records in uptown Normal, where owner Jared Alcorn was playing an album a little out of left field for the a store named after a Fugazzi album.

An injured shoulder derailed country-rocker Joe Stamm from his dream of playing college football. A star quarterback at Metamora High School in the mid 2000's, Stamm signed with Northern Illinois University after initially committing to Illinois State University during the Denver Johnson era.