Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Nico Carney is a Brooklyn-based stand-up, writer, and actor. His standup covers his experiences as a trans man growing up in Savannah, Georgia and whatever else he finds silly and interesting. In 2024, Nico made his late night debut on LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS and was named a 2024 Comic You Should And Will Know by Vulture. He was selected as a JFL New Face in 2023 and was part of the inaugural Netflix & “Introducing...” Showcase at the 2022 Netflix Is a Joke festival. He and his comedy partner Conor Janda also co-host the podcast and live show, BOYS CLUB. Nico can be seen starring in indie film SHE’S THE HE, which premiered at SXSW this year.

Doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm

Ever feel like your life’s a funhouse mirror? Like your “name-brand” SSRI is working wonders until you realize it’s generic? Or you proudly have been carrying a rare Chanel bag and then it turns out it’s…fake? Has a Gen Z tried to help you? Life is weird. Fresh! Hot! New! is here to analyze some of those moments.

ABOUT GRETA: Greta is a comedian, actress, and writer known for her breakout role as ‘Ambassador Gibbons’ on both seasons of HBO’s hit series LOS ESPOOKYS. Greta stars in season 5 of HBO Max’s SEARCH PARTY. Greta stars opposite Tilda Swinton in the feature film, PROBLEMISTA for A24 – directed by Julio Torres. Greta has memorable roles in the Hulu series SHRILL, S3 of AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS, and the independent feature TOGETHER TOGETHER. She can next be seen as a recurring character in the Julio Torres HBO Series, FANTASMAS. She was named one of Comedy Central’s “Up Next” performers and was the host of the hit Headgum podcast, SENIOR SUPERLATIVES WITH GRETA TITELMAN. You can see Greta performing at clubs and theaters around Los Angeles, New York and London. Her hour-long show, EXQUISITE LIES, ran at Edinburgh Fringe Fest Summer 2023 which received 4 and 5 star reviews from The Skinny, The Comic’s Comic, The Wee Review, and Why Now.

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Halloween stand-up comedy show with Olivia Carter (Just for Laughs, Fallon) New York comic who got their start in Chicago performing with her two friends Rachel Coster (Boy Room) and Kylie Vincent (Comedy Central).

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

With charisma as warm as the Kentucky sun, The Kentucky Gentlemen are not just making their mark on the country music scene - they are redefining it. The dynamic twin brother country music duo have been captivating audiences with a sound that is a reflection of their roots - the country sounds they grew up with and the modern R&B and pop influences they've absorbed over the years. They’ve been featured in Rolling Stone, Billboard, BET, and CMT. They're recent singles 'Leave Right Now', 'Beg Your Parton' and 'Neon Cowboy' have racked up almost a million streams. GLAAD has recognized them as "new voices on the rise in country music"

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Tony Rolando is the founder of Make Noise synthesizer company and a recording artist for Important Records and Ceremony of Seasons. He performs on the synthesizers he designed with the Make Noise team. The music has been described as experimental, cosmic and meditative. He also provides the sounds for the Experimental Meditation Club gatherings, facilitating the guided meditations led by his lifelong partner Kel.

Doors at 8:30pm, show at 9:00pm

The cult-hit Cosmic Country Showcase arrives straight from the depths of Hell and brings Nashville's devilled damsel India Ramey with them. Andrew Sa & Mary Williamson host this psychedelic country revue with a slew of great rotating talent, comedy, and drag all backed by the house band, The Flying Objects.

Featured guests: India Ramey, Dandy Freling (Milwaukee), Ric Salazar (Los Gallos), and Derry Queen!

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Jessica Risker is a musician and visual artist based in Chicago, IL. From 2011 to 2018, Risker performed and released albums under the name Deadbeat. In 2018, Risker signed with Western Vinyl, who released the critically-acclaimed full-length album I See You Among The Stars, and began performing as Jessica Risker. Risker will release Calendar Year, her first record in seven years, with Island House Recordings on August 1, 2025.

Calendar Year keeps one foot in the introspective folk songcraft of I See You Among The Stars while stretching ever further into rich layers of cosmic psychedelia and modern warmth. The result is a stunning and transportative album, which notes our all-too-human tendencies while holding a place for the world’s greater beauty.

At its core, Calendar Year is a wistful, melancholic meditation on the importance of human connection.

Raybody (fka Katy Rea) writes “classic singer-songwriter shit that gets weird.” Her singular vocal is intense, melodic, and endlessly dynamic. Paired with a band that deeply understands her songwriting, Raybody capture’s audiences in her current home of Brooklyn, and across the US; past bills with: Little Wings, Babehoven, Allegra Krieger, Sadurn, Florry, and more.

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Young Man in a Hurry blends cinematic guitar rock with a lo-fi Chicago aesthetic that nods to a varied indie music past. Their lyrics are deadpan yet celebratory, weaving introspection with playful, emotionally expansive energy. With each new release, YMIAH ventures further into experimental territory, crafting sounds that evoke a postmodern millennial séance.

This show celebrates the release of their new record, PAPA DOUBLE ALBUM, a dual-sided project featuring both raw demos and reimagined electronic remixes of their March 2025 release, PAY ATTENTION PAY ATTENTION.

Doors at 8:30pm, show at 9:00pm

Standing beside the emerging songwriting voices of the Pacific Northwest and of the New Orleans americana scene, Mr. Sam has carved his own corner of the genre. His writing focuses on the joys and virtues of living and loving, but not without recognizing the endurance and patience that is required to find it in an unforgiving world. On his sophomore album “Again! Again!,” Mr. Sam plays freely with this duality and what paths lie between – a shoulder to cry on, a cannonball on a hot summer day, the unknown warmth of a stranger.

special Album Release event

Doors at 8:00pm, show at 8:30pm

Hannah Frances (b. 1997) is a vocalist, guitarist, composer, and poet that NPR’s Ann Powers calls “a stunning vocalist and songwriter, making monumental and mythic music,” and was awarded Pitchfork’s Best New Music for her critically acclaimed 2024 album Keeper of the Shepherd. Frances will release her forthcoming album Nested in Tangles on October 10 with Fire Talk Records. With this distinctive body of work, Frances solidifies herself as an artist of insurgent emotional clarity, committed to personal truth and self-actualization. On this album, she narrates complex stories of familial estrangement, emotional trauma, and a deepening of her own sense of trust, through a collection of intricate, dizzying, and large-scale compositions. Nested in Tangles spans the realms of progressive rock, avant-folk, and jazz, but remains anchored throughout with Frances’ signature vocal leaps and percussive, polyrhythmic fingerpicking. Whether performing as a solo act or with her full ensemble, her mythology spellbinds with an insistent gravity. 

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

The Sidepieces is a country band with a rotating cast of Chicago singers and players revisiting a range of mostly sad songs, some recent/some old, some familiar/some hidden gems, some traditional/some unorthodox. Led by Jordan Martins on pedal steel, The Sidepieces plays these songs in order to listen to eachother, improvise, find the form, invite surprises, and stretch the sounds that inhabit the song. Current members include Angela James, Sam Cantor, Ryan Norris, Kelsey Wild, Raul Cotaquispe, Nolan Chin, Gus Martini, and Chris Salveter (Judson Claiborne) among others

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

A raunchy, chaotic, roller coaster ride, Garrett Williams & The Bad Boys guide you on a comedy journey that will melt your face off. Featuring the music stylings of the Bad Boys, frontman Garrett Williams is joined by some of his favorite comedians for extravagant evening of musical comedy. Featuring songs like “The Dumb Song” and “The Boat Song” and other chart topping hits (we aren’t sure we can technically use), Garrett & The Bad Boys promises to be the night of your life.

Garrett & The Bad Boys formed in 2024, and quickly became a mainstay at Club Cumming in New York City. Their sold out shows immediately garnered an eager fanbase, and the band ended the year with a sold out show at the 2024 New York Comedy Festival. In 2025, the band plans to build off of this momentum with tour stops across the United States.

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

**Lessons start at 8:30pm, Dancing begins at 9pm!

Local Universe presents the two-step night that's taken the city by storm with our new HOUSE BAND featuring Sarah Weddle (Cosmic Country Showcase), Mary Halm, John Cicora (Fly Honey Show), Scott Daniel (Flower Problem), and Kiley Moore (Wild Earp & The Free For Alls). Now lessons are included in the ticket price!

Hosting this month is Hot Potato Hearts!

Pull out that vintage cowboy hat, shine up that bespoke bolo, and come pardner-up to dance with someone new and hang with fellow country-queers. There's a grand prize for the best dressed, and even a little something for the runner up! Channel Dolly and Orville and come dressed to impress.

If you need a bit of liquid courage, Judson & Moore's house distilled spirits and handmade cocktails will be available from the bar. If you don't know the steps, sign up for lessons before the night gets going from Billingsley & Earp. Think you have two left feet? The live band and the encouraging crowd will get you swaying in no time!

ABOUT THE LESSONS

The Texas two-step is a fun partner dance that is easy to learn, even if you have two left boots. By the end of the group class with instructors Wild Earp & Michelle Billingsley, you'll be armed with the basics of leading/following, two-step footwork, and an easy turn or two; everything you need to feel comfortable two-steppin'. After the lesson, the dance floor will open with the house band!

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Soda Pop is an alt-comedy tour de force from Chicago comedian Parker Callahan. Fresh off a successful run at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Soda Pop combines standup and original music in a multimedia, stream-of-consciousness ride through the mind of a slightly deranged gay man. One moment he’s singing about thrift-store underwear and in the next he’s calling the cops on you and all your friends. Absolutely NO trauma is explored. It’s just dumb, delightful fun led by an idiot in a Speedo. As one Scottish reviewer put it, “If there is a queer performance spectrum, Soda Pop breaks it, sets it on fire, and inhales a bottle of poppers through the glittery smoke.”

Parker was recognized at 2023 Just For Laughs Festival New Face of comedy, has toured the world as a Second City touring player, and his stupid little videos have gone viral online despite their gay overtones. As Paul F. Tompkins says, "Parker Callahan has a cheerfully demented energy that instantly draws you in and keeps you there and you like it. You like that this is happening to you." You can follow him on all platforms at @parkthelark

Doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm | AA

Curated by: Sully Davis [Local Universe, Cosmic Country Showcase]

There's a rumbling beneath the soil and we're tapping our famous friends and industry heads to dig up the next crop of ripe Chicago talent.

Powered by Live Music Society's Music in Action grant, GREEN showcases emerging artists every month hand-picked by industry leaders and veterans of the scene.

Sessions @ 33 from WCRX FM will capture the action, broadcasting performance highlights and intimate artist interviews live from Color Club.

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Led by Anishinaabe musician Tashiina Buswa, Ribbon Skirt are a band from Montreal. With a captivating live show, they have played festivals across Canada and the US including SXSW, New Colossus, Sled Island, Sappyfest, Flourish and Pop Montreal, and shared stages with Dehd, Ombiigizi, Packs, Chad VanGaalen and Enumclaw. Their debut album Bite Down brings a darker and more introspective sound, dealing with themes of memory, grief and Buswa’s connection to her Indigenous identity and cultural practices. Produced by Scott ‘Monty’ Munro (Preoccupations) and Marlaena Moore, and with endless experimentation in the studio the band emerged with a confident debut album mixing drum machines and synths to compliment the energy of the live band. Continuing in this spirit of pushing their sound into a new direction, the band chose to work with legendary experimental drummer and composer Greg Saunier (Deerhoof) on mixing, and mastering was done by Mikey Young (Total Control).

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

In a genre full of tall tales and marketable lies, Chris Acker crafts candid songs – weaving his wit and woes into a body of work that exposes the stale plight of the American Songster to the honest, and sometimes hilarious, light of day.

Since leaving his childhood home of Seattle, Washington, Chris Acker has called the haggard decadence of the New Orleans Americana world his purlieu. In the tradition of Guthrie and Prine, Chris lends a quavering voice to the half-rotten romance of the unremarkable and unrefined. Regardless if you’re sitting by a backyard fire on a muggy Louisiana night or standing stage-side in some far flung town, when you hear Chris Acker playing, you’re hearing the end result of countless hours of observing the masters of the craft…and the end result of repeating their mistakes.

Some hard-times don’t happen behind plows, they happen behind dish-pits and cash registers. Some ramblers don’t feel the hot breath of freedom, just the smell of car exhaust and a couch for a bed. From the folk revival through the golden age of country music, deafened by punk shows and brass bands alike, Chris’s songwriting is a nod to the absurd yet muted brilliance that inhabits the molded corners of the bars he patrons and cratered street he treads, paired with a pained honesty that merits a long second look.

Lessons at 8:30pm, dancing at 9:00pm

Fridays are live partner dances at Judson & Moore and now you can Swing your way into the weekend with free lessons from Ava Brennan & Harsh Singh.

We have a world class house band featuring Abigail Riccards (vocals), Jeff Stitely (percussion) Stephen Kuhn (guitar) and Arlo Wohlgenant (bass).

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

On Horses, the highly anticipated follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut, Tobacco City, USA, the band takes listeners on a nostalgic journey through the haze of youth, where time feels suspended and plans are nonexistent. The album’s lyrics conjure vivid images of small-town life—smoking schwag behind the grocery store, drinking cream from a gas station with your first love—capturing that carefree, uncertain time when the future felt distant. The music channels the spirit of ’70s country with influences from legends like Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, bringing a timeless, uplifting energy to each track. At the same time, the lyrics intersect with modern-day themes, blending the beauty and innocence of youth with the harsh realities of life. Horses feels like a contemporary take on classic country, merging a nostalgic past with the complex world of today, all while remaining undeniably authentic and heartfelt. This follow-up to Tobacco City, USA—which received high praise from NPR and Rolling Stone—cements the band’s place at the forefront of a new wave of country-tinged Americana

In the midst of the thick New Orleans summer of 2017, Chris Lyons of garage punks Bottomfeeders found himself sitting on a small batch of songs that didn’t quite fit the fuzzed-out pileups of that band. The new songs were more chiming, driving but relaxed, full of little corners begging to be filled with classic pop harmonies and wayward country licks. He called in his trusted confidants: Bottomfeeders drummer and longtime musical partner Lucas Bogner—the two started playing music together at the tender age of 15—plus bassist Pete Campanelli, and Kunal Prakash (Jeff The Brotherhood) dug the songs and signed on, and the quartet started playing in earnest, hunkering down in the practice space. By the time the band played its first gig in late 2018 at the opening of Nola’s ManRay Records, the songs had multiplied and the members of the newly christened Silver Synthetic had become genuine rock & roll craftsmen.

Grace Rogers is a musician & writer based out of Louisville, Kentucky originally from Owingsville, Ky having just released her debut full length album Mad Dogs (Sophomore Lounge, 2025). With accompaniment from a band of Louisville friends (Ian Gordon, Fiona Palensky, Chris Cupp, & Scott Boice), the Grace Rogers outfit blends rock, country, and traditional influences into tunes that, in the words of Leigh Viner, "hum like hymns and drive like rain." Stereogum writes “Rogers has the kind of talent and irrepressible personality that makes a singer-songwriter stand out in a crowded field.”

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Ada Lea is the musical project of Montreal-based artist Alexandra Levy.

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

A sense of place has been essential to the music of Brokeback since guitarist/bassist Douglas McCombs first launched the project in 1995. Initially conceived as a solo outlet, the Chicago group has taken on new dimensions over the past two decades, morphing from the lean, pastoral ambience of the first album, Field Recordings from the Cook County Water Table, to the more muscular, taut arrangements and dynamic swells of the last release, Brokeback and the Black Rock, for which McCombs assembled a new quartet lineup. Each album develops with exacting detail, revealing McCombs’s gift for dialing in the essence of a mood, feeling, or distant locale with a handful of reverb-laden guitar tones, elegant and sustained, strategically placed and sparingly deployed. The instrumental landscapes he creates on Illinois River Valley Blues are utterly transportive, evoking familiar open-frontier soundtracks and charting out new sonic territory.

Doors at 8:00pm, Show at 9:00pm

Hailing from the historically rich city of Charleston, South Carolina, Americana music artist Hunter Park is defining what it means to not only live in the modern south, but to be a trans woman and artist within this landscape. Combining folk-infused vocal melodies and evocative lyrics that capture the unfiltered human experience, She Returns From War is taking her seat in the Americana music world with grace, strength, and passion. In 2023, the project shows no signs of slowing down. From opening for Bernie Sanders at his presidential rally in Charleston, to performing at national festivals like Stagecoach and High Water Festival and with artists such as Pat Benatar, Band of Horses, and Nikki Lane, She Returns From War is sharing with the world what the modern south should look and feel like: inclusive, compassionate, unfiltered, and loving.

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Jake McKelvie has traveled the DIY touring circuit in the US and UK for over a decade, carving out a niche for himself as a songwriter and performer. Known for his off-kilter and whimsical "stream of self-consciousness" lyricism and charming stage demeanor, he keeps audiences engaged both as a solo performer or with his newly minted backing band, “the New Old Band". He released his latest LP "A New Kind of Hat" in 2024 and has been touring in support of that since.

Advance Base is the melancholic soft rock recording project of Chicago, IL singer/songwriter Owen Ashworth (formerly of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone). Using a two-handed arsenal of electric piano, Omnichord, samplers, effect pedals & drum machines, Ashworth builds minimalist, heavy-hearted, & nostalgia-obsessed ballads around his conversational baritone. The warm, electronic sound of Advance Base has been described as "lo-fi," "depressed" & "weirdly uplifting."

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Matt Ulery with Katie Ernst, Matt Gold & Jim Tashjian Chicago based bassist/composer and bandleader, Matt Ulery, has produced and released 16 critically acclaimed albums of all original music under his name. In 2014, he performed with his quintet, Loom, on the NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series and was featured in Vanity Fair Magazine in a “rising jazz stars” feature article. Known for his sweeping lyricism, unconventional phrase structures, expressionistic emotionalism, Ulery’s music, from small, diverse chamber ensembles to full orchestras, is informed by the entire spectrum of jazz, classical, rock, pop, and folk– specifically American, South American, Balkan, and other European folk styles.

Sydnorigami w/ Matt Ulery & Jeremy Cunningham Curt Sydnor is a musician living in Richmond, VA. He has released six albums as a bandleader and toured/recorded with artists such as Mirah, Janka Nabay, Luke Temple, Cassandra Jenkins, and Peni Candra Rini, with whom he performed at 2025's Big Ears Festival. In 2022 he received a recording grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts to complete his most recent album, Air Ride Equipped. With Deerhoof's Greg Saunier, Curt is currently preparing a series of canons by JS Bach arranged for synthesizers and drums

Angela James with Sarah Clausen Angela James' voice elicits comparisons to classic country artists Patsy Cline and Hazel Dickens, while her emotionally forthright songwriting and penchant for experimentation place her directly in the present. Over the span of 4 records and a 10 year career, her work speaks to horizons in progressive Americana in a way that feels both indebted to and freed from the strictures of time. Her music has been called “smoldering and gorgeous” by the Chicago Reader and featured in the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and Tiny Mix Tapes (RIP), among others. Her latest project is a cycle of conceptual songs imagining the lives of her matrilineal ancestors of the Eastern TN foothills.

come dressed “adorkably” for $50 grand prize!

Doors at 8:00pm, show at 8:30pm

Derry Queen, Lily Reed, Dylan Bragassa and a rotating cast of performers are here to feed you down at THE TROUGH, a new comedy-drag experience that asks the question: what if a girl and 2 gay guys made a variety show?

Featuring:
Sonal Aggarwal, Courtney Tua, Brigid Broderick, Silchele, and Modern Nun

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Shannon Lay’s music is shored by radical empathy. After 15 years of writing, recording and performing her singularly gentle songs in venues around the world, the self-taught singer-songwriter is most concerned with how her music may help people in emotional and spiritual need. In a world of persistent change, Lay’s goal is to have concentrations of love and energy in her work that double as a helping hand or a voice whispering “everything is going to be ok.” The singer’s abiding belief is that immense change also means invaluable transformation and permanent relief. Intention is her North Star. Hailed by publications such as Pitchfork, The Guardian, SPIN and Uncut magazine, Lay’s solo albums, including “Geist,” “August”, “Living Water,” and “All this life goin’ down” are noted for their thoughtful and entirely tender reflections on life’s big questions. Her seraphic voice has drawn comparisons to British folk icons Anne Briggs, Sandy Denny and Vashti Bunyan. Though an old soul, Lay aims to meet her listeners in the present. For her, creating a song, a recording or a live performance that is relatable and communal is of the utmost importance for we are constantly in flux and those unknowns, met with compassion, can be beautiful.

Meernaa is the musical project of Carly Bond, a Bay Area native known for her introspective and genre-bending music. Her sound blends Americana, indie-pop, and classic R&B, often exploring themes of self-examination, addiction, and loss. Bond's emotive vocals and elastic melodies, paired with lush arrangements, create a distinctive sound that has been praised for its depth and accessibility.

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

In a musical landscape of period-correct reproduction, “outlaw” internet posturing, and flavor-of-the-month variants on country, JP Harris Is A Trash Fire burns as bright as a dumpster ablaze in a Walmart parking lot on a moonless night; some will fear it, some will gravitate to its acrid warmth, and most will have no idea what to make of the situation.

Even within the rapidly growing world of “underground” country music, Harris still considers himself an outsider, content to inhabit a gray area where punk rock ethos, folk art aesthetic, and the workingman’s ballad mingle. Check out any of his prior releases, his brilliant 2017 EP of duets Why Don’t We Duet In The Road featuring Nikki Lane, Kelsey Waldon and Leigh Nash or flip the page to yet another exceptional project Dreadful Wind and Rain – a string duo collaboration with Chance McCoy (Old Crow Medicine Show) that is an astute sampling of authentic old-time hillbilly mountain music.

Harris has been steadily elbowing the definitive boundaries of “country music” wider with every album, both sonically and lyrically, and his latest piece of self-described “Avant-Country” is no exception. Produced by longtime friend and collaborator JD McPherson, the highly anticipated next chapter JP Harris Is A Trash Fire comes out September 2024 on Bloodshot Records.

Doors at 7:30pm, show at 8:00pm

Just as the marbled salamanders emerge from under damp logs and leaves, the mushrooms—smooth, pearlescent ones and spongy morels—turn on like night lights glowing in the dark, and the long-horned beetles and regal moths begin buzzing. The fiddlehead ferns and trout lilies curl inward, a copperhead slowly swerves, and a fox steps into the moonlight looking for prey. It is here, in that restless middle of the night, under cover of darkness, where Caleb Caudle’s sixth studio LP Sweet Critters is nestled.

Through sometimes shadowy arrangements that creep and lurk, Caudle continues to mine both the brightest and murkiest corners of his imagination, finding that purest of points where tenderness and grit collide, inspired by musical heroes like Buddy Miller and Guy Clark, and mentors like Elizabeth Cook and John Paul White. It was White who Caudle tapped to produce Sweet Critters, along with Ben Tanner, at the duo’s Florence, Alabama studio Sun Drop Sound. "I was very excited to work with Caleb on this record. Iʼve been a fan for years and count him as a friend,” White says of working with Caudle. “Heʼs a stellar songwriter, so I knew heʼd bring the goods. And he did.”

These songs are a showcase of Caudle’s singular command of language. He sees the world through a hyperreal lens wholly unique to him, one that renders dank humidity “horsefly heat,” a moody sky “cast iron skillet” dark, or a loved one’s “wind chime of a smile.” For Caudle, details are the last frontier in a world where thousands of new songs are created every day. As such, he weaves his intricate tales of redemption, sacrifice, forgiveness, and loss with the colorful threads of living, breathing characters and all the rich idiosyncrasies and ephemera that fill out their worlds.