A writer/publicist/media hired hand from Chicago, Il who came up writing for the Chicago Sun Times where he helped break artists like Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Kids These Days and many more. Since then Jake has written for the likes of XXL, Complex, Noisey, New City, Billboard, DJBooth and many others while staying up to date on all things Chicago music and beyond.
Talk to Malcolm London for a moment and his words will resonate.
The 19-year-old poet seems wiser than his years, perhaps part of the reason he has garnered such success.
He wrote his first poem in the aftermath of Derrion Albert’s murder in 2009.
“After [I performed] that poem at a high school, some of the women cried. The mothers told me how powerful my words were,” said London. “For me, it made me realize the impact I can have with my words.”
London wants to make an impact in deeds as well, and does so by working with Chicago youth through Young Chicago Authors, which offers workshops on poetry and writing and does work in CPS schools.
Through work in the community with his involvement in Young Chicago Authors and beyond, London is definitely a young person to keep an eye on.
“Writing about the things that I saw made me want to do something about the things that I saw,” said London. “The ability to get in front of people and talk and get them to think critically, even if it’s only a few minutes, is what I want from my poetry.”
There may not be enough hours in the day for Jamila Woods. The do-everything 23-year-old is a sort of modern-day Renaissance woman. With all that she does, it’s a wonder she can find time to do anything at all. “I really find that I can’t really do just one thing,” said Woods. “I get a lot of energy from that balance of other things, and I think my craft benefits from doing all of it.”
Woods sings as part of the Chicago duo Milo and Otis, who opened for Chance The Rapper at The Metro last October, and play the Hard Rock Cafe on March 1. Her poetry has won her two Louder Than A Bomb College slam poetry titles (2009 and 2011). “Being onstage for poetry has helped me so much because if I have a nervous feeling now, it’s more of a familiar feeling,” said Woods. She has also produced two plays and has a book of poetry, “The Truth About Dolls” (New School Poetics Press). Woods also spends her down time helping at Young Chicago Authors.
“Working with students, they don’t care what I do in my free time. It’s humbling because I have to come in and convince them that poetry is worth their time, which, at the same time pushes me to do the kind of poetry that I’m writing.”
Peter Wilkins isn’t hard to find at a concert — just look for the large, sauntering afro with bunny ears perched on top. The 21-year-old better known as Peter CottonTale has burst onto Chicago’s music scene over the past year through collaborations with local talents Lili K and Chance the Rapper, among others. CottonTale has been listed as one of Chicago’s “Producers to Watch” by RubyHornet and has a wide range of musical ability, working with artists and bands from rock and jazz to R&B and hip-hop. “My goal is to actually create something, arrange it in a way that is unique and makes sense musically,” said CottonTale. Along with his production credits, you can find Peter behind the keyboard with the Chicago-based band Mathien. Often on tour and in the studio on late sessions, Mr. CottonTale has one steady appointment that he keeps in his calendar. “No matter where I am the day before, out late, coming back from a gig, whatever, I make sure to get myself up and play keys at the local churches,” said CottonTale. The young musician has seen a steady rise over the past year with the popularity of Chance the Rapper’s “Brain Cells” and Lili K’s project Metal Petals, vaulting him to the forefront of the Chicago scene. Whoever said slow and steady wins the race never met Peter CottonTale.
If ShowYouSuck’s recent release, One Man Pizza Party Three: Rest In Pizza, ends up as a flop, it won’t be the end of the world for the Chicago MC.
While he may not have to worry about bad reception, Clinton Sandifer, better known as ShowYouSuck, has plenty of options if the music world was suddenly not an option.
At 27, Sandifer finds himself of the older guard in a city where it seems as though the average MC’s age hovers somewhere between a driver’s license and a first legal drink.
With age comes wisdom and Show has seen it all, becoming a sort of twenty-first century Renaissance man in the process.
A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg, Sandifer helped establish an art gallery, Artpentry, in Pilsen and is involved with Code of Conduct tattoo parlor along with his clothing line Slurpcult, and yeah, he sometimes finds time to rap too.
Fresh off the Slumerican Tour with Yelawolf, ShowYouSuck credits his creative personality to his success.
“If this shit fucked up tomorrow I could go right back to working at a skate shop or to the art gallery or tattoo shop,” said ShowYouSuck. “It allows me to make my music freely. Music isn’t my last resort.”
The Bridgeview native doesn’t necessarily evoke the stereotype of a rapper. You can often find him around town in a cut-off jean jacket and tie-dye shirt. His style is more punk than hip-hop, an ode to his first true love in music.
“I’d rather embody the spirit (of rock) than rapping over guitars and shit,” said ShowYouSuck. “There’s definitely been rappers before me who have shown influence from rock but I feel like a lot of it comes off cheesy. I just want to make rap music.”
The rock influences are easily evident in his work.
“Girlfriend” from his 2012 Stefan Ponce-produced mixtape Girls, Girls, Girls features a heavy guitar riff and “The Return of the Headbanger’s Ball” on OMPP3 evoked feelings and fond memories of the 80s MTV rock show.
He admits his stage name is somewhat modeled after bands he knew growing up.
“It was sort of an ode to me playing with a lot of bands when I started doing shows, especially in the ‘burbs and hardcore scene,” said ShowYouSuck. “A lot of them had names that were statements. People seeing it might think I’m a band at first.”
OMPP3: Rest In Pizza is the end of a saga for the Treated Crew member, the third installment of a trilogy that came about because “America loves threes and who doesn’t love pizza?”
To be sure, the growth in each chapter is evident as his deep, gruff tone rhymes about everyday topics over uptempo beats from an assortment of producers including Chicago’s own Mike Jaxx with some help from Ponce.
Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Auggie The 9th, Hollywood Holt and Grade A Plus also lend a hand with well-placed features.
The mosh-pit party vibe that was a theme on the first two One installments of the Man Pizza Party trilogy is still there in the third chapter, but blends itself with a grittier, trappier sound.
“I get the same feeling from trap music that I did when I first discovered punk,” said ShowYouSuck. “OMPP3 is basically a kind of cleansing, kind of a bass-heavy trap sound. There’s definitely inklings of what we have coming in the future on there.”
As someone who has been around the game in Chicago for awhile, Show has seen the growth in the scene around the city.
With the rise of a steady, nationally-recognized hip-hop scene one would assume competition and beef would be at an all-time high; he feels the contrary is true.
“I’m kind of like the new old guy,” said ShowYouSuck. “I was rapping on the Chicago scene before the internet age. At that time? Four years ago? That was cut-throat. Right now it’s not cut-throat; everyone’s working together.”
The collaboration of artists in the Windy City is obvious by looking at any release to hit the internet from the area in the past year. With more freedom for everyone to pursue their own lane, the competition has given way to a sort of collective.
With the project out for the public, ShowYouSuck continues to carve his own very distinct niche and will turn his sights to 2013 of which South By Southwest in Austin, Texas March 12-17 is the first priority.
ShowYouSuck was chosen by RedBull and Fake Shore Drive as one of three contestants for the SoundSelect competition between Sasha Go Hard, Tree and himself for a spot at RedBull’s SXSW showcase, fans can vote for their favorite artist of the three here.
If his performance at the kickoff event February 7 at the Bottom Lounge was any indication, ShowYouSuck means business. Sandwiched between the other two acts, Show’s punk-inspired live show left the crowd in a frenzy.
“The SoundSelect show was hands down my best show yet,” said ShowYouSuck. “The crowd was amazing and the vibe was perfect. I was stoked to be playing for people that were ready to party, I felt right at home!”
While he may be prepared to pursue other endeavors at some point, it looks like hip-hop will remain priority No. 1 for the do-everything MC. The strong, well-thought Rest in Pizza finale is the perfect end to one chapter and beginning of another for ShowYouSuck.
“At this point I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel,” said ShowYouSuck. “I just wanna keep doin rad shit and keep connecting with like minded people. Life is good.”
Any band has its growing pains, but for Chicago funk-fusion band whysowhite, there have been more than a few.
Its show and coinciding debut album release Friday at Martyrs mark a milestone for the eight-piece band, which started recording the project in 2011.
After a period of setbacks, the band is playing its first gig together in more than a year and a half. “It has seemed like every year is a set-up year for the next one, which is why I think we’ve been successful,” said rhythm guitarist Charlie “Uncle Funk” Dwyer. “We’re excited to get things rolling finally.”
The band started as the brainchild of eclectic front man Nick McMillan, who began his stage career as an actor before slowly drifting toward music. Over time each member seemed to fall into place.
“Even since our last show at Martyrs, our numbers have grown,” McMillan said. “Davis [Haines, vocals and percussion] dropped out of school and came back to Chicago to play with us and start recording our album.”
In July 2011, just after the band began work on its self-titled debut album, Haines was run over by a semi while he was on his bike. The accident left Haines with a shattered pelvis, broken femur, fibula, ribs and two collapsed lungs, and quite near death. “I pulled through, but we weren’t sure really how the whole thing would affect the band,” said Davis, whose twin brother, Charles, also provides the band’s lead vocals.
The Davis twins retreated to their home Birmingham, Ala., to recover physically and mentally, leaving whysowhite in a state of hiatus for about six months.
“We were in a whole different world, there was no time, and day to day, business was just ambiguous. We felt like the band was a passing fancy we would tell our kids about,” Charles said. “We weren’t sure how to be in a band after our world had just shifted.”
After their bandmates took a road trip to visit the twins in late 2011, there was renewed faith in the group. With Davis on the mend, whysowhite enlisted help from newcomers Hannah Shefsky, a Northwestern grad, on keyboards and supporting vocals, and DePaul graduates Dave Sumberg on bass and Andrew Ambromawitz on percussion.
The steadily growing band began playing again, with shows at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas; Martyrs and Abbey Pub. But the show Friday at Martyr’s represents the first time the full band has performed together since Davis’ accident.
As they jam in their practice space, a converted fire-house on the North Side, it is easily evident that the close friends put heart and soul into their work. The sound is a mix of funk and rock with a hint of hip-hop flavor, lent by Charles Haines and McMillan.
“We spend 10 hours practicing every week, but probably like 40 hours together just hanging out,” said lead guitarist and in-house engineer Chris Miller. “The reason for our sound is because we said maybe to everything and didn’t say no to anything.”
With the album finally out, the band isn’t certain what the future holds, but it plans to charge fully into whatever it is.
“We’ve had every reason not to stay together, and we’ve been through tough times, which makes hanging out that much more important. This music is what we make when we hang out,” Charles Haines said. As for the future, “We have no idea; there’s no precedent for that in life.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a locally based free-lance writer. Follow him on Twitter: @jakekrez
At age 15, Dikembe Caston, better known as Kembe X, decided to drop out of high school and pursue hip-hop.
After an argument with his father, the former De La Salle student shifted his focus to rhymes, with an understanding that time and concentration breeds success.
“I knew that if I focused on [rap], the way stuff works, if you work at it, you’ll get good at it,” said Kembe X, 18, a native of South Holland. “I figured if I worked at it then and took the four or five years necessary to develop , and I’ll be like 19 or 20 when it comes to fruition.” .
It was a chance for sure.
That chance began to pay off in 2011 when his debut mixtape, “Self Rule,” landed on the Forbes.com list of top free music for the year, placing above the likes of Frank Ocean and The Weeknd.
Since then, Kembe X has released a project with sometime partner Alex Wiley, “Can I Borrow a Dollar?” He was quiet in 2012, save for lending his voice to some local records.
While that success was well-deserved, it did put added pressure on the teen artist. “The pressure actually was like immediately after I dropped ‘Self Rule,’ and it was more so [about] people’s expectations,” he said. “The pressure was making me apprehensive with my writing. It just wore off because I wanted to make music.”
The product of his renewed efforts is the follow-up mixtape, “Soundtrack II Armageddon.” The project, released Monday, is a departure from the dark, interpersonal theme of his debut, and is the first in a multi-part series that will be released throughout 2013.
“This project, for me, is even more personal as far as the way that I think,” he said. “The way that I think has changed, I’m not in the same dark place. It’s the same subject but the view is just different.”
“Soundtrack II Armageddon” demonstrates the sort of growth one would hope to see from an artist his age, with lyrics that show a knack for subtle detail.
To help celebrate the release, Kembe X will join his good friend Alex Wiley for an all-ages “Club Wiley Appreciation Show” starting at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 at Reggie’. The show will be the second visit to Reggie’s in three weeks for Wiley, who impressed as the opening act for Action Bronson on Jan. 27.
If nothing else, the leap of faith seems to be working out.
“Last year, we wanted things to be big, but we knew it was kind of a set-up year,” he said. “This year is going to be really big, though, with everything we have coming out. I’m excited.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a local free-lance writer. Follow him on Twitter @jakekrez
January 29, 2013 8:20PM
Words By Jake Krzeczowski
Photo: Allen Daniel
Video: Bryan Lamb
More and more hip-hop artists have made the jump recently from Chicago to the national scene, with Lil’ Durk and Lil’ Reese signing major-label deals and Chief Keef releasing his debut album.
That trend doesn’t seem like it will ease up anytime soon, either.
For instance, local artist Rockie Fresh, who signed to Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group last July, will join talented up-and-comer Chance the Rapper for an all-ages show Saturday at the Bottom Lounge to celebrate Rockie Fresh’s “Electric Highway” release, his first on a major label.
“The main difference with this project was that I had the resources to craft it the way I wanted to,” Rockie Fresh said. “It’s always real important for me to do stuff here in Chicago because this is where my true fans and true friends and family are, so I’m always glad to be back.”
Returning after shows in New York and Colorado, Rockie Fresh tapped 19-year-old wunderkind Chance the Rapper to join him onstage at the Bottom Lounge.
These two artists are increasingly becoming the face of the local hip-hop movement. Both recently played sold-out shows at Metro.
“I think me being considered at the forefront of all of this kind of makes sense,” Rockie Fresh said. “We all need different outlooks on different parts of the city, which makes Chicago so great because you have myself, Chance and Chief Keef all talking about the same city from different lights.”
The two artists’ styles differ from what has become the “norm” for Chicago hip-hop; they incorporate creative instrumentation and samples with thoughtful and sometimes poetic lyrics.
“Me and Rockie have known each other for a [while],” said Chance, whose “10 Day” debut mixtape was picked as one of the top 10 free music releases of 2012 by the site forbes.com. “Just to be in a class of artists that are young, mostly black, successful kids is dope to be a part of — there’s really a big fan base right now.”
All proceeds from the show will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to help fund research on Type 1 diabetes.
“When we heard about the benefit side of the show, we were really excited because we haven’t played any benefits yet this year,” Chance said. “I have a cousin that suffers from juvenile diabetes and a lot of older relatives that have Type 2 or Type 1. It’s just always dope to give back in any situation.”
The Bottom Lounge show is shaping up to be a glimpse of what’s to come from the Windy City.
“Right now, me and Chance are both buzzing both in and out of the city and getting a lot of attention,” Rockie Fresh said. “I think it’s important for the unity of the city for us to do something together like this.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a locally based free-lance writer. Follow him on Twitter @jakekrez.
Arian Asllani knows a quality product when he sees one.
The rap artist, better known as Action Bronson, learned to keep a keen eye on quality control while working as a flame-gourmet chef in New York City.
The Flushing, Queens, MC arrives in Chicago on Sunday at Reggie’s for a 21-and-up show at Reggie’s — a make-up
date for a show late last month that was postponed.
“I had to cancel my previous show at Reggie’s because I had so many shows prior that I totally lost my voice,” Bronson said. “I wanted to make sure I gave Chicago the best performance because I actually love coming to Chicago.”
That love has manifested itself in much of Bronson’s work, which features collaboration with the city’s own Chance the Rapper, ProbCause, Macie Stewart and Rockie Fresh, to name a few.
Having grown up in Queens, “Bronsolini” feels a connection to the Windy City, drawing parallels to his own neck of the woods.
“Chicago has a real pride and blue-collar feel,” said Bronson, 29. “That’s the kind of guy I am, and I was brought up that way.”
Pulling from what he knows, Action Bronson’s music is a cacophony of subjects, from food to women, that he discusses with the ease of a man enjoying a lazy conversation.
That relatable nature has vaulted him into rarefied air in the three years he’s been solely focusing on hip-hop.
At the beginning of 2012, Bronson released the critically acclaimed “Blue Chips” with producer Party Supplies and followed that with his year-end mixtape “Rare Chandeliers,” produced by the Alchemist.
This year should see at least one new project from the Warner Bros./VICE signee.
“It’s all about timing right now and making sure each thing gets its proper light,” said Bronson. “The album right now is the most important and it needs the most amount of light, but the fans will dictate what I do next.”
Of course, as a connoisseur of fine dining, the rapper/chef is eager to hit many of Chicago’s famed restaurants and lists the Blackbird Diner as a favorite spot. Bronson also weighed in on the great pizza debate — thin crust or deep dish?
“They’re both great things,” said Bronson. “New York-style pizza is built for the way we live, thin and easy to eat, whereas Chicago-style pizza is that hearty, stick-to-your-ribs kind of Midwestern food. They can’t really be compared.”
Regardless of what he’s eating, Bronson has his voice and seems poised to produce a top-notch experience for those in attendance at Reggie’s.
“My foot is gently in the pool and I want to be diving perfectly with no splashes into the water from 30 feet up,” he said. “Right now my toes are just twinkling in the water. I haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a locally based free-lance writer.
It’s hard to miss James King when he enters a room. When I first met him he was wearing green fatigue pants tightly tucked into black combat boots and topped off by a patchwork bomber jacket. King, better known as The GTW (Greater Than Wealth), explains that his dress reflects his art, taking from many different scenes and cultures around Chicago and abroad to create a sound and attitude that is wholly his own. The sound he dubs “Chigerian” is a nod to the Nigerian heritage his immigrant parents bestowed on him since he was an infant.
The rapper/singer/producer embodies the collage of influences in everything he does, calling it a “random” mix of everything from art to music and life. His music is a sort of new-age 90′s R&B with tribal twinges and a mix of down-tempo house with carefully crafted electronic undertones. His most recent project, 4814 with producer Beng Feng showed a flexibility to adapt and assimilate his tone and sound to a different production, something the 22-year old artist prides himself on. The GTW is a big Manchester United fan and has a keen eye on the european electronic scene and 4814 garnered him a write-up in the UK newspaperThe Guardian before he had much of any press here at home. With a video for his song “Cravings” on the way and upcoming projects with Beng Feng and others in the works, expect to see plenty more headlines on The GTW in 2013. I was able to catch up with the multi-talented artist just before his show January 25 at The Temple Head Gallery in Humboldt Park.
The GTW’s parents grew up in Nigeria
RubyHornet: Tell me about the various influences you employ in your music and what is Chigerian?
GTW: It’s good to build up other people. First you have to start off making the music that you like, but it’s cool to build other people up. Being into other cultures, not just the music but what actually makes the pain, what makes them sing the way they do, what makes them make the types of beats they make and that’s why I’m into so many different cultures. I really like Brazillian jazz music, I’m into house music, I’m into trap and soul and to understand all of these different influences you have to understand the cultures. Just reading a lot or watching documentaries, and I know I have a little bit of every culture with me but more specifically with Chigerian, just being born in Chicago and having parents that are actually from Nigeria and having gone there it actually shaped my mindset. So the whole Chigerian thing is not only Chicago, it’s pretty much anyone who lives in the city with a world influence.
RubyHornet: How many times have you been to Nigeria?
GTW: I’ve been to Nigeria once. It was cool, kind of a culture shock because as soon as I got there I’m hot and sweating and the airport wasn’t really up to par so as soon as I walk in when I’m 10 years old I see a rat running around and I was used to everything being super clean. I was really prissy, really spoiled as a kid so when people were running for our bags to help us I was like ‘whoa, what’s going on?’ Just the culture too, the culture there is really go out and get it as opposed to having something handed to you. It’s really like go out and get it and very forceful and that’s kind of what I really learned. I lived there for six months and I came out a man, being 10 years old. It was a good experience and I’d really like to go back.
RubyHornet: What affect did that have on your life or your music?
GTW: It really did change my life at that time because I learned to appreciate everything a little bit more. Years later, ten years later, I can’t say it affected me as much so because I was only there for six months, but I still remember what I learned. Maybe if I stayed there a little longer now it would have a bigger impact and I would make better decision (laughs).
RubyHornet: Do you feel as though your experiences or interests in other cultures sets you apart?
GTW: I feel everybody has their own culture, everyone. I’m not any more cultured than anyone else is. It’s cool just to live in Chicago and have parents from Nigeria. It helps me look at things differently and allows me a different outlook on life. There was that whole Nigerian culture that was going on not only in Nigeria but around the world. I’m not only wrapped up in Nigerian politics, I like to look around and see what’s going on in like the Middle East and other places. I like hearing good news, I like hearing bad news around the world. It helps me find inspiration elsewhere.I can be from a country in the middle of the diaspora and be inspired by a country on the southern tip of South America. Here I’m inspired by Texas, Houston and whatever little scenes they have going on down there. Musically I can get inspired by really anything, including local culture.
Whether it be clothes, music or everyday actions, The GTW embodies his music
RubyHornet: Tell me about your style, it is very eclectic both musically and day to day.
GTW: I’m just like, really random. I believe that with music I’m inspired aesthetically first so that when I look at a picture I’ll tend to write off of that image and I feel if you make a certain type of music you don’t need to ask me what kind of music I make. You can tell, it’s easy to say ‘I make this.’ Everyone’s left lane, everyone’s doing their own thing. If I look at you, can I really tell that you’re making the kind of art you believe in? It doesn’t have to be wild or crazy.
I’m not really into fashion at all, I’m just really random with it. I feel like aesthetically I like to connect with my audio, my music. When I go out I just grab random stuff like pants I like. My whole sound I’m working on now, like tribal bass, is really inspired by a lot of tropical bass music, shit like that, mixing it in with Hip Hop, sinking soul music. That’s kind of like my style, it’s really traditional and still I’m wrapped up in the internet. You’ll see a lot of visual influence with anything I do, not just style but aesthetic or design work, anything I do.
RubyHornet: As someone who does everything from producing to singing and rapping, how important is it to you to be well-versed in many different aspects?
GTW: It’s important, but it’s fun doing anything because I don’t have all the money in the world to pay people to do this and that and don’t really have anything to offer anyone, so all I have is time and I can learn to do what other people do and create my own vision and have my hand in everything, it’s fun. It’s hard but like, what’re you doing it for? Experimenting is fun with me. I’m not the best at everything. Like, I may not out sing some people but I may know how to say a couple catchy notes. Or maybe I can’t out-rap anyone but I can say some simple, everyday things that may connect to someone.
RubyHornet: How grateful are you to be a part of this rising music scene in Chicago?
GTW: It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of. I’m really grateful because I’ve gotten to work with cats in the soul scene, artists in the Hip Hop scene and artists from all different scenes and every scene is progressing in their own lane. I may not know it but there will be soul artists you’ve never heard of touring or an experimental artist touring or a Hip Hop artist on the street; all kinds of people you wouldn’t really know what they’re doing unless you’re connected to it. As far as music, it’s really beneficial and inspires me to make the best music I can make. I can make the kind of music I want to make here in Chicago and succeed with it internationally. It’s really given me hope that this is a great city to be from and you don’t really have to worry about rent.
RubyHornet: What is your motivation with music, what gets you out of bed and working everyday?
GTW: The fact that I just want to live better of course. I just really want have fun right now making music and I just want people to hear it because there will be down times I’ll have in my life, I wouldn’t say suicidal, but I’ll be down and listen to certain songs and I just want to be that artist that people are like “Oh, I love this artist because I was down and listened to his music.” I want to connect to people. I feel like now that’s how you solidify yourself. There’s a lot of artists so if you don’t connect people are looking for the next thing. I want to come with what I have to offer and have fun but at the same time I want to connect with people.
In an age when a kid in a YouTube video can become a star overnight, Trampled by Turtles’ steady climb to popularity is a refreshing reminder of the days when artists were judged on the quality of their music.
In today’s music world, “making it” has become relative as the Internet and conglomeration of digital music have made it harder than ever to gauge the path for success.
If ticket sales still count, the folk/bluegrass band Trampled by Turtles, who play a sold out show Thursday at the Vic, may have found a measuring stick.
Trampled By Turtles has steadily risen up the charts
The band’s steady rise has been as much a surprise to the members as anyone else.
“So far. the tour has gone way past our expectation,” said Ryan Young, who plays the fiddle and lends back-up vocals. “Just about every show we’ve played has been sold out and some are selling out in advance, which is incredible. So far, so good.”
So good, indeed. The Duluth, Minn., band got its unusual name from a collaborative brainstorming session in which band members chose a moniker “they didn’t totally hate.”
That was in 2003. Since then, slow and steady has won the race for Trampled by Turtles by remaining consistent and knowing what fits the band’s sound.
The band really burst onto the national landscape with its 2010 release, “Palomino.”
“We just did the same thing, or didn’t do anything particularly different when ‘Palomino’ came out,” Young said. “That one did better than our previous work and we didn’t change much with our latest release, ‘Stars and Satellites,’ but that did even better than ‘Palomino.’ ”
With 2012 in the rearview, the band has no plans to stop any time soon, with festival dates peppering its schedule, with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado on June 20-23 circled in particular.
If nothing else, Trampled by Turtles won’t be caught off-guard in front of the sold out crowd at the Vic.
“There’s a lot of good acoustic music acts out there that don’t get as much recognition as we do and I can’t really say why,” Young said. “I think it’s something in our songs that really resonates with people; we’re definitely excited to bring that to our fans in Chicago.”
Jake Krzeczowski is a free-lance writer. Follow him on Twitter: @jakekrez.
![[Interview] RH First Look: The GTW](https://jakekrzeczowski.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/gtwinterview2.jpg?w=672&h=372&crop=1)
Jake Krzeczowski 