A JOURNEY OF AWESOME! Built like a string bean and precocious as all get out, Kara began her musical journey at the early age of seven. The family farm in Southeast Iowa was where Kara's mom Pam taught her the basics on their garage sale piano. Piano lessons were quickly in order.

Her commitment to sensitive and serious study ushered Kara off of the farm. She focused on vocal music in college, majoring in classical voice as well as singing with jazz and show choir ensembles at the University of Iowa. Yet all the while she maintained her love affair with the piano, performing both classical and pop keys at every opportunity. Nearing the end of school her tastes matured as she discovered great jazz vocalists like Carmen McCrae and Abbey Lincoln. This period of burgeoning passions also saw Kara collaborate with prolific classical, jazz, and rock bassist Patrick Williams.

Kara and Patrick blossomed among the eclectic community of musicians in their chosen home base of metropolitan Chicago. Saying goodbye to what felt like a much slower lifestyle in Iowa, Kara eagerly threw herself into many genres of music in the theater improv, jazz, and pop scene.

As Chicago boasts what is arguably one of America’s greatest creative theatre scenes, Kara extended her talents to musicals. She appeared in Tony & Tina’s Wedding, Flanagan’s Wake, and travelled with the hilarious educational theatre troupe Wavelength.

20 years of touring with Wavelength brought such joy to teachers, administrators and staff. In those years, Kara composed and accompanied the one woman Wavelength show Faculty Lounge, co-wrote the cabaret Musical Staff with Brendan Kelly and toured around the country well as Guam and Singapore performing for educators.

Most notably, Kara understudied and played keyboards in Broadway in Chicago’s long-running production of the Tony award-winning smash hit Jersey Boys. She was part of the Tour 2 Broadway Jersey Boys show for three seasons and still holds those musical experiences as a highlight of her career, touring the United States, Canada and Japan.

On the Chicago theater scene, she has played in the pit of Broadway tours such as Waitress, A Bronx Tale and Grinch.

Kara had the opportunity to join the Chicago Shakespeare theater pit at Navy Pier on the iconic and critically acclaimed production of Wizard of Oz. Kara made her debut at Marriott Lincolnshire theater in 2020 on Princess and the Pea.

Kara was thrilled to have the Music Director credit on the new work written by Debra Barsha & Hollye Levin, "A Taste of Things to Come" at Chicago Broadway Playhouse playing keys and conducting an all female cast and band.

Kara's vocal arrangements can be heard with America’s hottest vocal group Under the Streetlamp. The feel-good quartet captured the hearts of audiences across the nation with their breakout concert special on PBS. Catch Streetlamp rocking your favorite hits from the American Radio Songbook on tour in a city near you or on your local PBS station. Kara has fond memories of touring with their concert series.

Kara's discography of professional recordings include, If I Should Lose You, a jazz album featuring some of Chicago’s finest players, and singing in a quirky band called Whipstitch. She collaborated with guitarist Scott Anderson as the Brazilian and world music the duo formed Nova Bossa, whose CD Sonho Meu came out in limited release.

The Grandma Project was a traditional country gospel album tribute dedicated to her grandmother Helen Kesselring.

Children's album Callin' All Kids was a collaboration with Laurie Empen. Kara spent years as a member of Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music teaching piano, voice, vocal jazz, and a very special class called Wiggleworms, which cultivates musical discovery in toddlers.

After logging some years and plenty of miles along her musical journey, Kara found herself longing for the simplicity of her roots. She turned her songwriting inward to reflect the effortless and idiosyncratic mystique of musical heroes like Lyle Lovett, John Prine, Paul Thorn, and Joni Mitchell. The calling to resurrect her heritage compelled Kara to form the homespun country/folk group Sugarcreek Road. Sugarcreek Road blends a modern potpourri of folk, country, bluegrass, and gospel to create a sound that is as raw and compelling as America itself. Catch their authentic approach to Americana throughout the Chicago music scene at venues such as Martyr’s, Mayne Stage, Uncommon Ground, Chicago Folk & Roots Festival, and more.

Kara released her original debut album in 2016 called Hurry Up and Relax comprised of story songs of country, folk, Americana music with her original band, Sugarcreek Road. The CD release concert was held at Old Town School of Folk Music and Metropolis Theater in Arlington Heights.

Music education has been a strength of Kara's as she has continued to teach private piano, flute and voice from her Brookfield home, as well as Old Town School of Folk Music, York High School in Elmhurst, IL and Joan's Studio for the Performing Arts in Hyde Park over the past 20 years.

Kara has accompanied choirs and musicals at York High School, Riverside Brookfield High School, Morton West High School, Morton East High School. She feels strongly about arts in the public schools and continues use her talents to help.

Kara found a great fit in the celebrated society band The Standing Room Only Orchestra in which she is the CEO of the successful company. She manages and band leads the hottest dance band in Chicago, playing keys, singing, and emceeing for weddings and corporate events. Standing Room Only has been nationally ranked in Modern Bride Magazine’s “150 Hottest Bands”, Best of Bands with The Knot & Wedding Wire for years in a row.

You can follow all Kara’s past adventures in mus

RICH KRUEGER "Rich Krueger is a great storyteller. His songs shine a vivid, biting, surprising, sometime hilarious, and always insightful light on the misery and beauty of being alive. I've been a fan of Rich since sharing a stage with him at Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap in the late 80s in Chicago. With NOWThen, Rich adds to an already powerful body of work I've been lucky to enjoy all these years."-Greg Kotis, author of “Urinetown The Musical “So good I wanna punch him in the nose. See him. You have no excuse. You must see him.”- Jeremy Kareken, author of the play “Lifespan of a Fact” “Razor sharp observation...his words spill out - almost a screenplay in miniature...an incredibly talented maverick”- Paul Kerr, Blabber ‘n’ Smoke (Glasgow) "I'm loving Rich Krueger's new CD, NowThen. He is so deserving of all the success he has been receiving! Way forward Rich!" - Melanie (Safka), singer-songwriter and legend "Homeric" - Mary Gauthier, singer-songwriter "Krueger reaches way down and creates his own musical paths, song after song. Paths which suck you into an altered universe in which you get lost in other peoples problems and successes for a change. So damn good. ...maybe perfect music for the moment. Rich Krueger, where have you been hiding?" - Frank Gutch, No Depression The Journal of Roots Music

THE MENARDS Band namesake Tim Menard is a Chicago veteran. Tim’s hand-picked a coterie of his favorite players — his wonderful, fiddle-playing bride, Cathie Van Wert Menard, veteran bass ace Michael Krayniak, pedal steel guru Gabriel Stutz and drum legend Paul Bivans. Featuring Tim’s indelible original tunes mixed with some carefully curated covers, the Menards spin aspects of folk, rock and country into a rich web of Americana.

Come join in on our new unplugged patio OPEN MIC!!! Every Thursday----ALL WELCOME!!! Singers, performers, poets, readers, etc. etc. Open at 5pm. Music 6-9pm!!!

Designate the time and space to create!!! Everyone welcome--artists, writers, performers come chill, chat, communicate, create in an inspiring space!!! EVery Tuesday. Some supplies for art and writing provided or bring your own.

BLUEGRASS 'N' BLOODIES w/ THE MOUNTAINAIRES every 2nd SUNDAY!!!

Come enjoy one of Chicagoland's best old country/bluegrass duos: The Mountainaires!!!! Come out for live music, beer, cocktails ans bloodies!!! We are no longer offering the Bloody Mary bar but we will kicking out Bloodies. It will be outisde on patio til further notice.

The Mountainaires are a country harmony duo from Chicago, Illinois. Jon Williams plays the guitar and sings. Kenneth Rainey plays the mandolin and sings. Their second EP, Shame on Me, is out now. Their eight-song debut EP is available as a CD, download, or on major streaming sites.

BARB CLIFFORD Born and bred in Chicago, she is a 4ft, 11inch singer performing rockin' blues, rockabilly, & soul around Chicago with the help of "The Shakin' Tailfeathers". For the majority of her adult life, she's been singing all kinds of styles, but her passion has always been Roots-Americana music. Most notable for being 1/2 vocals in THE HONEYBEES, she decided to pursue a solo career. Her first solo album "Introducing Barbara Clifford" is made up of mostly original songs. It was recorded on Blue Lake Records (Switzerland) with the band The Rhythm Storms. Since then, she's performed worldwide and stateside. Buy the CD here, iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music or CD Baby. Available for download everywhere! DONNA HERULA Donna Herula is a Chicago-born blues singer, songwriter and acoustic slide guitarist that has a passion for playing traditional country blues, Delta Blues, early Chicago Blues, folk, roots, and Americana in addition to contemporary and original songs. Her sound combines her love for music of the Deep South and Chicago with her love of blues guitar improvisation.

Acoustic Guitar Magazine named Donna one of the “top 10 up and coming resonator guitar players” and featured her in an article, “Down and Dirty: 10 contemporary resonator players talk about their love for that nasty sound.” In October 2016, Donna was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.

Peter Joly and Naomi Ashley are Great songwriters; truly local gems accompanied by phenomenal players.

Seating inside and out. Social distancing in full effect. 6pm doors/7pm music

Come join in on our new unplugged patio OPEN MIC!!! Every Thursday----ALL WELCOME!!! Singers, performers, poets, readers, etc. etc. Open at 5pm. Music 6-9pm!!!

Designate the time and space to create!!! Everyone welcome--artists, writers, performers come chill, chat, communicate, create in an inspiring space!!! EVery Tuesday. Some supplies for art and writing provided or bring your own.

The long awaited return of two Outta Space favorites-- The New Heartaches and Los Gallos. An afternoon of high energy honky tonkin' music with The New Heartaches and full dose of Tex Mex flavor from Los Gallos!!!! 4pm-7pm Free Social distancing in full effect!

MATTHEW FRANCIS ANDERSEN When Matthew Francis Andersen won the 2012 American Songwriter Lyric Contest the prize of co-writing with Hayes Carll may have seemed – at least at the time – a dream come true. Now, closing in on a decade later, he is releasing his album Pine River – that features tracks with Gurf Morlix – and has been opening for folks like Jim Lauderdale, Kevin Gordon, and Lily Hiatt.

The title track of the album follows much of the same pattern of Andersen tunes, in that it doesn’t have to mean something for him to write it.

“I didn’t write this song for any particular reason,” he said. “Things just come. I jot them down. Eventually I take all these scraps and it’s like playing with Legos; I see what fits together. Sooner or later the song reveals itself.

“I seldom write from some impetus, such as politics, or gun control, or ‘I still love my ex.’ Indeed, songs may end up being about those things, but there is seldom a Why. For this song Pine River, it started out with the first line. Then, for some reason Patterson Hood’s voice came to mind. In fact, today I can still hear him singing this song!

“So what began as a fun way to imitate Patterson, turned into a song with simple snapshots or images. I don’t know what the song means. But it seems perhaps a bittersweet homecoming song from someone left behind to the one returning home.”

‘Pine River’ will the third release for Andersen since winning the lyric contest. He has also put out ‘Blue Line’ and ‘Slow, The Summer Burned.

This album is a 10-track offering is one that Andersen said is more of effort to take the listener to a place that they recognize versus simply share an experience of the writer.

“It’s not very linear. There’s no right or wrong. There is a subtle indication that a relationship between two people once occurred. But maybe not,” he said. “Hopefully folks will take the images and then be led to their own feelings. What I know for sure is that the best songs don’t express the writer’s feelings to the listener. Rather, the listener’s feelings emerge because of the song. It’s the old “show, don’t tell” writing rule.”

What Andersen does do, is fill his songs with a “where-I’m-from” appeal that helps him bring both a Northern gruffness to his otherwise softer side.

He was born and raised in Chicago and worked as a walleye and musky fishing guide as far as northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

It is often those moments of isolation where Andersen’s writing takes you: from the local taverns and street lights, to the boat landings and rivers deep within the northwoods.

It is also a mental place that Andersen says helps him put his best ideas to paper.

“I write my best when I have filled up the tank with words and lyrics from writers such as Cormac McCarthy, Jim Harrison, Greg Brown, James Wright, and Chris Smither,” he said. “The whole input vs. output axiom is very true for me. I need to be moved by other works in order to write at my best.”

RYAN JOSEPH ANDERSON Ryan Joseph Anderson’s solo career began in April 2014 with the release of his debut album, The Weaver’s Broom. The album, engineered and co-produced by Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hooray for the Riff Raff), was hailed as one of the best Americana records of the year. Songs from The Weaver’s Broom made "best of" lists for Daytrotter and Songpickr and were featured in Paste and Magnet. American Songwriter said that Anderson "evokes the open-tunings of Nick Drake as well as the barroom howl of Tom Waits." Before going solo, Anderson was known as the bandleader and songwriter for the beloved Chicago roots outfit Go Long Mule, as a guitar slinger for garage-rockers Rambos, and as a producer, sessions man and sideman for numerous artists. His influences range from country blues to psychedelic rock and are on prominent display in his masterful guitar playing and songwriting. Anderson’s sophomore release, City of Vines was released in the summer of 2017 to critical acclaim. He toured extensively in support of the record and has shared the stage with such acts as Robert Earl Keene, Honey Honey, Robbie Fulks, Charlie Parr, and Amy Helm.

Great local ROCK N ROLL!!!

Seating inside and out. Social distancing in full effect. 6pm doors/7pm music

Come join in on our new unplugged patio OPEN MIC!!! Every Thursday----ALL WELCOME!!! Singers, performers, poets, readers, etc. etc. Open at 5pm. Music 6-9pm!!!

Designate the time and space to create!!! Everyone welcome--artists, writers, performers come chill, chat, communicate, create in an inspiring space!!! EVery Tuesday. Some supplies for art and writing provided or bring your own.

Born in the swamp land of Chicago, IL, Dan began pluckin’ a guitar at the tender age of 6 minutes and thus sealed his destiny as a struggling, penniless artist. Although, along the way he did make many a friend and occasionally enjoyed a few moments of hope and glory.

For those of you interested, you can find Dan performing in saloons, hole-in-the-wall dives, honky-tonks, juke joints and parking lots all over the world as well as the occasional rock tour and Broadway show.

Dan has recorded two albums & tours with his roots-rock, power trio The West Side Winders (original music available on iTunes & Amazon – http://www.westsidewinders.com,) performs weekly solo acoustic shows and also plays festival, theater & club dates with Chicago Tribute Anthology.

In 2014/15, Dan starred & played lead guitar in the debut of (Twisted Sister frontman) “Dee Snider’s Rock N Roll Christmas Tale” at The Broadway Playhouse in Chicago, IL. From 2012 to 2014, he was a semi regular performer on lead guitar in the long running Broadway musical Rock of Ages (with additional productions in Ft Worth, TX 2017, Chicago, IL 2017 & Pittsburgh, PA 2019.) In Spring of 2019 in Chicago, Dan played lead guitar in the Drury Lane Theater production of Mamma Mia. In 2013, Dan worked/performed on the development of the “EMO” project, a new rock musical with Blue Man Group Productions in NYC. He was the original guitarist for classical/rock fusion PBS touring project Rocktopia. He also records for video game companies Zynga and Incredible Technologies. His guitar can be heard all over the popular arcade game Golden Tee. Finally, Dan is a busy guitar instructor and produces demos for up and coming singer/songwriters.

His other credits include work with: Kristin Chenoweth, Under The Streetlamp, The Company Men, The Chicago Bulls (performance of Star Spangled Banner & O Canada w/Dee Snider,) Post Modern Jukebox vocalist Michael Cunio, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Joe Piscopo, the touring production of Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues, Wicked on Broadway, Jools Holland, Otis Rush, Steppenwolf Theatre Co., The Chicago Children’s Choir, The Rock Tenor, Broadway Rox.

For a further glimpse into the demented psyche of Dan, check out his blog. It is updated on a weekly basis. Or at least when he’s feeling coherent.

Maybe someday you too can hire the A-Team (I mean Dan) if you can find him…

Donna Herula is a Chicago-born blues singer, songwriter and acoustic slide guitarist that has a passion for playing traditional country blues, Delta Blues, early Chicago Blues, folk, roots, and Americana in addition to contemporary and original songs. Her sound combines her love for music of the Deep South and Chicago with her love of blues guitar improvisation.

Acoustic Guitar Magazine named Donna one of the “top 10 up and coming resonator guitar players” and featured her in an article, “Down and Dirty: 10 contemporary resonator players talk about their love for that nasty sound.” In October 2016, Donna was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.

Donna is a regular performer at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago and has opened for Buddy Guy multiple times. She is also a teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago where she teaches Acoustic Slide Guitar, Blues and Americana Fingerstyle and Electric Slide Guitar group and individual lessons.

Donna was the headliner of the 2014 Durban International Blues Festival in South Africa and has performed at the Chicago Blues Festival three times and King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas twice, including solo tributes to Robert Nighthawk, Sister Rosetta Tharp and Johnny Shines. She was also the co-winner of the 2010 and 2011 Chicago Blues Challenge, solo-duo category.

Donna has provided numerous educational blues programs at libraries and has also performed at many music festivals, art festivals and concert series. She plays as a soloist, in a duet or band depending on the venue.

Donna has been inspired by blues singers, guitarists and songwriters, including Son House, Rory Block, Lucinda Williams, Johnny Winter and Lyle Lovett.

Come enjoy Live Music in safe socail distanced environment with the ever so talented Allegra Malone! Allegra Malone is a songstress, writer and instrumentalist with stories to tell. The Revival, her band of musical A-listers, bring the velocity of full throttle rock and roll, soul stirring blues and epic ballad’s to heights that signal a new moment in country music. The songs are a lyrical collage of love struck vulnerability, intimate peril and beaming transcendence. Old country and gospel folklore effortlessly reinvent Allegra’s Muscle Shoals (Al) roots, while pop undertones make her a cross genre artist with influences that range from Little Feat to Chris Stapleton. Her songwriting has been compared to Joni Mitchell, Susan Tedeschi and such notable country icons as Loretta Lynn, for her punchy upbeat songs like Ripe on the Vine (2020). Friday night favorites such as Sweet Virginia, are instrumentally driven with such scorching momentum that by the end, it feels like the song is on the verge of exploding. Allegra’s voice is unbridled and passionate; she emotes an unmasked strength and femininity that has garnered her attention from fellow artists and audiences alike. SOCIAL DISTANCING in full effect!

Come join in on our new unplugged patio OPEN MIC!!! Every Thursday----ALL WELCOME!!! Singers, performers, poets, readers, etc. etc. Open at 5pm. Music 6-9pm!!!

Designate the time and space to create!!! Everyone welcome--artists, writers, performers come chill, chat, communicate, create in an inspiring space!!! EVery Tuesday. Some supplies for art and writing provided or bring your own.