Jeremy Peruski writesAudiences, Kellen and Me and the Soil & the Sun @ the Hideout 03/30/13

(above, the Soil & the Sun)

Audiotree presented Audiences, Kellen and Me, and the Soil & the Sun, to a sold-out show at the Hideout on Saturday, March 30th, 2013. To preface this article, Audiotree is a Chicago-based hodge-podge of band management, concert promoters and most notably, their live video/audio in-studio sessions with supreme, unaltered audio quality. All three of these bands have recorded sessions with Audiotree and can be found at Audiotree.tv.

Chicago-based, more specifically, Lakeview-based band, the genre-bending Audiences opened the show. The guitar riffs can go from feeling jazzy to full-out rock in the same track. The crowd really responded to, “Missouri,” a pop-rock gem with an unforgettable guitar riff that rang though out the Hideout that at one point turned to almost metal.

Next on the bill is Chicago-based solo artist, Kellen and Me. Kellen, is every musician’s wet dream with all his peddles, altering his sound by the flick of one of his many peddles. He has a very indie, lo-fi, folk, rock sound to his songs with sometimes witty lyrics and awesome guitar riffs. A saw a few people singing and getting into the song, “Ancient Drum,” off of his new album set to be released in May.

Headlining this evening’s performance was the Michigan-based, eight-piece experimental spiritual-folk band, the Soil & the Sun. You could just feel the audience’s excitement anticipating the bands entrance on stage. The band nailed song after song with each track showcasing an insane amount of layers. All eight members would play at one hundred percent, then pause and sing in harmony. The part that blows my mind is the band’s ability, musicians that can accurately identify when to build and when to stop (or create a lull) that creates a certain atmospheric feel to their soundscape. The band is on tour to promote their 2012 album, What Wonder is this Universe!

Check out the full set or photos on CHIRP’s Flickr page or for a more organized view check out the set of photos on my Flickr page.