Radio One Chicago

This week we have our monthly hip hop cypher, and then Athena, artist and burlesque dancer.

Fire Hot Opera, Ilana Held & Joe Ward of DNAinfo

Fire Hot Opera, Ilana Held & Joe Ward of DNAinfo

Fire Hot Opera, Ilana Held & Joe Ward of DNAinfo

This month starts off with a whole lot of hip hop!

This month starts off with a whole lot of hip hop!

This month starts off with a whole lot of hip hop!

Hawley is a three-piece, Chicago-based, post-punk band fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Hawley Shoffner. Shoffner’s deep and growling vocals mingle with heavy guitar riffs, melodic bass lines à la Young Marble Giants, and driving drumbeats to create a sound clearly influenced by Dead Moon, Sonic Youth, and The Slits. Olivia Grace is as a pleasurable break from the norm. Whether she’s writing about candy hearts and white picket fences or cheap thrills and motels, the quirky indie pop singer-songwriter tells tales with a playful approach to the madness. VICTOR is the latest incarnation of Chicago based musician Matthew Kerstein. Largely a studio creation, VICTOR was dreamt up out of the home demos made over the summer of 2014 and the added production work of producer Bill Skibbee (producer of the Kills, Wilde Belle and Protomartyr). The songs became a blend of live home recordings and electronic studio production forming into something unexpected. The music maintains the grit and low fi energy of early

Olivia Grace is as a pleasurable break from the norm. Whether she’s writing about candy hearts and white picket fences or cheap thrills and motels, the quirky indie pop singer-songwriter tells tales with a playful approach to the madness.

Hawley is a three-piece, Chicago-based, post-punk band fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Hawley Shoffner. Shoffner’s deep and growling vocals mingle with heavy guitar riffs, melodic bass lines à la Young Marble Giants, and driving drumbeats to create a sound clearly influenced by Dead Moon, Sonic Youth, and The Slits. Olivia Grace is as a pleasurable break from the norm. Whether she’s writing about candy hearts and white picket fences or cheap thrills and motels, the quirky indie pop singer-songwriter tells tales with a playful approach to the madness. VICTOR is the latest incarnation of Chicago based musician Matthew Kerstein. Largely a studio creation, VICTOR was dreamt up out of the home demos made over the summer of 2014 and the added production work of producer Bill Skibbee (producer of the Kills, Wilde Belle and Protomartyr). The songs became a blend of live home recordings and electronic studio production forming into something unexpected. The music maintains the grit and low fi energy of early

Vaya is a three-piece. Their sound has been described as “Afro-pop played at 45RPM” and “math rock meets excellent songwriting”. The band merges a wide range of influences and sensibilities with the rhythms and technical agility of Midwestern math rock. Having released a single and an EP, the trio’s first full-length will be released in March 2014. On Record Store Day 2015, James Rawson played a 12-hour concert that spanned three record stores. Why? This day long performance pushed his Record Store Day pre-release of Tristan & Isolde. “Instead of a regular Kickstarter, I wanted to give my fans something more special. So I went from record store to record store playing for them and spending time with them,” says Rawson. Each pre-release sale went to getting Tristan & Isolde on vinyl. Described as “jazzier blues stuck in the Wild West” and “a force to be reckoned with” (Musical Chairs Podcast), Burnside & Hooker is a true Americana band. Hailing from Chicago, the band incorporates elements of blues, rock, pop

Vaya is a three-piece. Their sound has been described as “Afro-pop played at 45RPM” and “math rock meets excellent songwriting”. The band merges a wide range of influences and sensibilities with the rhythms and technical agility of Midwestern math rock. Having released a single and an EP, the trio’s first full-length will be released in March 2014. On Record Store Day 2015, James Rawson played a 12-hour concert that spanned three record stores. Why? This day long performance pushed his Record Store Day pre-release of Tristan & Isolde. “Instead of a regular Kickstarter, I wanted to give my fans something more special. So I went from record store to record store playing for them and spending time with them,” says Rawson. Each pre-release sale went to getting Tristan & Isolde on vinyl. Described as “jazzier blues stuck in the Wild West” and “a force to be reckoned with” (Musical Chairs Podcast), Burnside & Hooker is a true Americana band. Hailing from Chicago, the band incorporates elements of blues, rock, pop

The songs of Brad Cole address the ups and downs of the human condition with both wit and raw insight. His passionate and distinctive delivery of roots-based folk music, woven with the grit and groove of old school bossa and rhythm & blues moves the listener’s soul in a direction that is unexpected, yet perfectly familiar. This is all evident on Brad Cole’s latest release, Lay It Down.

Streets And Soul is a Hip Hop concert series that is dedicated to providing a platform where emerging talent can perform, network, and cultivate a sense of community with and among diverse music scenes.

Armed with diverse production and layered lyricism filled with personal narratives, Kastaway is welcomed addition to the already vibrant sound of Chicago Hip Hop. Using his life story as inspiration, Kastaway created 2 mixtapes (The Free Fix 1 and 2) and his first full length album My Life In Music (2013). Shortly after the release of My Life and Music, Kastaway had a succumbed to a year long illness only to use it as inspiration to create his brand new project Who I Am. Continuing with a musically diverse sound, Kastaway tells a story of physical, spiritual and musical strength in Who I Am which features some of his most revealing lyricism to date.

Vaya is a three-piece. Their sound has been described as “Afro-pop played at 45RPM” and “math rock meets excellent songwriting”. The band merges a wide range of influences and sensibilities with the rhythms and technical agility of Midwestern math rock. Having released a single and an EP, the trio’s first full-length will be released in March 2014.

Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist Phil Circle is not your ordinary songster picking away quietly on his acoustic guitar in the same old folksy idiom as so many others of this genre. Phil manages to blend elements of jazz, blues, alternative, and even classical, to seamlessly create a style truly his own. Add to this his energetic live performance, and he lands far away from what most people think of when you say "Singer/Songwriter."

Bluesy-rock collective, Winkler Mill, blends soulful bass lines, energetic guitar riffs and spot on beats, creating a welcome addition to the Chicago music scene. The band pairs clever lyrics with engaging arrangements that keep music fans on their feet. Grounded in rock and blues, Winkler Mill, delivers energetic live performances with songs that span from intricate ballads to dance-floor anthems.

Vamplifier, the brainchild of Scott Shehan, has seen many line-ups and iterations over the years, but the trio of Shehan (guitar, vocals), Jane Hanna (bass, keys, vocals), and Chris Negrete (drums, vocals) have been the core of the band for almost a decade. They are a close-knit family – literally: Shehan and Hanna are married, and Negrete was their only wedding guest! – and their deep friendship and respect for one another comes through in their democratic songwriting, and unique style which blends their individual influences into a hard-to-pin-down sound.

It's that time again where we bring out some of the best and the newest MCs from across Chicago. This week we have Rizzy and GG are in the studio while Jason Maek who cyphers via PHONE!!! Slot-A of The Hip Hop Project helps us out on the decks.