JOHN BALLANTYNE'S CRAZY HEART w/ JOE RIAN & THE A.M DRINKERS 9pm $7 JOHN BALLANTYNE'S CRAZY HEART Fast becoming recognized as one of Chicago’s premier country singers and songwriters, Ballantyne was born and raised in Scotland, though you’d never know it from his earthy vocal delivery and immaculate lead guitar. Both resonate with the twang and raunch of classic honky-tonk country, also known these days as Americana. A frequent presence on the Chicago club circuit, John and his band Crazy Heart will take their musical exploits to a whole new level this year, building on a recent hugely successful tour of Scotland , the highlight of which was two mainstage appearances at the prestigious Tiree Music Festival. Ballantyne’s highly unusual saga commenced in southwest Scotland. “Music was a big part of local culture. I grew up in a small mining community. What would typically happen is, on weekends, people would socialize in bars, having a few beers, then taking turns to sing with the band,” John says. “Bars at that time closed at 10 p.m., and then they would make their way to each others’ houses to continue with the party. So that was the backdrop to my childhood.

JOE RIAN & The Drinkers Trio Joe Rian (pronounced Ryan) was adopted as an infant and raised in Rock Falls Illinois. He flunked out of college, moved out of the Midwest and scraped by like most 20 year olds working multiple -minimum wage jobs. The main gig was sweating away at gold and silver refinery on the west side of Phoenix AZ. Other jobs included telemarketing, working concrete, putting up and then chasing hot air balloons, selling buying club memberships, moving appliances and a very short stint collecting outstanding debts for characters you might find on a once popular TV series. This was 1989 Arizona. That's when he won a American Stratocaster on a radio contest signed by Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Then, pure chance found him at the last ever SRV concert. Weirder yet is that he ended up working the door at Buddy Guy's Legends. Summers would find him busking the streets of Chicago...where the real action was ...on the city streets. Mid 90’s blues revival indeed was certainly a thing Heavy Blues... Street Blues really. That was never the only thing. Joe is certainly not a Bluesman, but a songwriter that likes to stir the sounds of Roots, Country and Folk styles into a nice pot of soup. As one listener called it..."Really Good Music....Saturday Night Music".