DAVID ZOLLO If you're a follower of the midwestern indie music world (or of American roots music generally) you might be forgiven for thinking David Zollo has been around forever. The truth is, it just seems that way. Since bursting on the scene as a baby-faced 21-year-old with Iowa City's white-hot, road-chewing pub-rockers, High and Lonesome in 1992, Zollo has done just about everything you can do in the rock and roll business. Whether as a singer/songwriter/keyboardist with his own bands; as a sideman for an incredible array of roots music talent (Todd Snider, William Elliott Whitmore, Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey, The Pines); as founder/owner/ operator of legendary underground label,Trailer Records; or producer to up-and comers (The Pines, Brother Trucker) Zollo always maintained a ridiculously frenetic schedule, logging thousands of miles and 200+ gigs a year, doing all of these things at an incredibly high level. He has paid dues that any bluesman or honkey-tonker (both titles apply to Zollo) would envy. High and Lonesome's meteoric rise was halted in late-1994 by the discovery of pre-cancerous tumors in his vocal cords; reconstructive surgery followed. While waiting impatiently for his singing voice to recover, Zollo started and established Trailer Records, then joined the band of critically-acclaimed country-folk rocker Todd Snider in 1996, moving to Nashville. After Snider downsized his band in 1997, Zollo followed his heart back to the midwest and his hometown of Iowa City. There he rejoined mentors Bo Ramsey and Greg Brown, further growing Trailer Records and creating an atmosphere of music-as-family, that saw the entire label roster playing on stage together; on record; and, judging by the sounds of things, in each other's living rooms. It was around this time that demand started growing for Zollo's services as a producer. Throughout it all, Zollo continued to write music that consistently won critical and popular support for its power, honesty, and intelligence. By 2002 he had produced six records of his own material; Alackaday (1992); Livefromgabes (1994); and For Sale or Rent with High and Lonesome, and The Morning is a Long Way From Home (1995); Uneasy Street (1999); and The Big Night (2002) under his own name. Of the many things that David Zollo does and does well, it is on stage that he seems most comfortable and happy. Long known as an exuberant, passionate performer, it is clear that at present, Zollo is relishing the opportunity to do what he does best: make music. If you haven't had the pleasure, try to catch him while you can; solo, or with his band The Body Electric. Either way, you'll get a chance to experience the timeless power of a voice that seems to have been with us forever.

TERRY WHITE I grew up in Oak Park, IL just outside of Chicago. I began teaching myself guitar in 1973 when I was in seventh grade. My older brother bought a Bob Dylan song book and I learned damn near every tune in it. By the time I graduated from St. Ignatius High School, my band The Restless Youth, was playing talent shows, school dances and unsupervised house parties.

I moved to Carbondale, IL to attend SIU and after graduation formed a band with Phil Bayer, Kevin James and Chris Obren. We called ourselves the Modern Day Saints and spent the next five or six years driving around the country in a converted school bus playing corner dives, road houses, nightclubs, colleges and the occasional theatre. It was our only source of income. The four of us had very different rock ‘n’ roll tastes but we merged at Neil Young, the Who and the Stones.

We recorded a slew of original music and in 1989 moved to Los Angeles to sell it all to the highest bidder. We lost Obren to fatherhood and gained Rob Pierce on drums. We enjoyed a rabid LA following as regulars on the Sunset Strip but the bidders weren’t high enough. After a long residency at the Whisky-a-Go-Go we broke up in 1992.

In 1994 I moved back to Chicago and reconnected with James and Pierce to form the roots rock group, the Yellowhammers. In 1996 we released our debut LP, Suffer Fools Gladly, followed in 2000 with All the People Some of the Time, 2005 with Satellite and 2009 our eponymous album Yellowhammers, all on our own label.

In 2007 I released my first solo offering, Our Separate Ways. I had been writing songs for Modern Day Saints and Yellowhammers and in most cases those songs were sung by my very capable partners Phil Bayer and Rob Pierce respectively. On Our Separate Ways I gave my songs my own voice.

The band Cannonball came together by accident more or less. Andon Davis and I began playing a residency at FitzGerald’s Nightclub in Berwyn IL with some friends in 2009. The intent was to enjoy playing away from our respective regular bands and enjoy collaboration with other musicians. Over time our lineup became solidified with Tom Kneesel (pedal steel), Mike Kraniak (bass) and Paul Bivans (drums). Our residency is now in its fourth year.

Cannonball Fodder is my latest collection of songs. Just as the Yellowhammers were finishing our 2009 release I began work on a bunch of roots Americana songs I had written. Cannonball had been playing some of the new songs live, hence the album title. The record is produced by Jon Langford (Mekons, Waco Bros, Skull Orchard) and is our second project together. The music I find myself returning to over and over again is Hank Williams, Dylan and the Band, Neil Young’s Harvest era, Stone’s Let It Bleed era. This album shares those roots sounds and structures.