Jarvis Square Music + Arts Festival
Music Artist Listings
Music Stage Schedule
Bands and musicians are listed in alphabetical order by performer name.
Miss Aimee Leigh
SATURDAY 12:00 – 12:45 – CHICAGO STAGE
Miss Aimee Leigh has been sharing music, fun, and laughter with families for nearly one thousand years! Or since 1999 when she got her first music lady gig at the JCC and realized the job is a perfect fit. Her songs are hilarious and engaging, her voice is beautiful, and she really knows her way around a guitar. Get in touch to book your birthday party, in home music playgroup, or fun and interactive preschool shows!
Jimmy Bennington Colour and Sound
SUNDAY 4:15 – 5:00 – CHICAGO STAGE
“Once mentored by Elvin Jones, Chicago-based drummer Jimmy Bennington celebrates over a quarter of a century in the music field… Bennington’s unique sound and loose drumming, which doesn’t follow traditional rhythmic patterns…and leaves quite a bit of room to freedom.”
– Down Beat Magazine
“…Bennington has put into motion great activity in the accelerated world of music.”
– Delfeayo Marsalis.
https://www.jbcolourandsound.com/
Black Partridge
SATURDAY 7:15 – 8:00 – CHICAGO STAGE
Black Partridge comprises two brothers from Illinois. The duo have a unique sound that fuses lo-fi rock and pop with caressing sentiments of shoegaze and dream-pop. The older brother, Vito, plays the bass guitar while Mick takes over vocals and guitar.
Blue Ribbon Glee Club
SATURDAY 2:45 – 3:30 – CHICAGO STAGE
The Blue Ribbon Glee Club has been mangling your favorite punk and new wave classics since 2007. Chicago’s only a cappella punk band (we hope), the Glee Club has sung everywhere from Lincoln Center in New York to under an avocado tree in Hollywood to Chicago’s Cafe Mustache (where we host a quarterly variety show). Approved by members of Sleater-Kinney, Naked Raygun, Gang of Four, the Raincoats, and more. Give us beer and we’ll go away. Maybe.
Bones Jugs
SUNDAY 7:15 – 8:00 – CHICAGO STAGE
Bones Jugs has been shutting down frowns and bringing out smiles since 2013. With quirky songwriting, blazing fast xylophone, and all sorts of noise makers, they conjure up an eclectic acoustic sound. Fans of Spike Jones, The Memphis Jug Band, Bob Wills, and Scott Joplin, Bones Jugs creates something new and unique, but deeply rooted in generations of American music. Whether playing for a dancing crowd in a large room, attentive listeners in a small club, or acoustic on a street corner, Bones Jugs are a frenzy of frivolity and a marvel of merriment.
Cally & The Snag
SATURDAY 3:15 – 4:15 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
Enjoy a cocktail, a groove and tunes that’ll stick to your bones!
Steve Dawson, Alton Smith, Tim Williams, Emanuel Kalimili, Wally Rozak and me, Cally Raduenzel, our band’s spicy leader who’s been singing everywhere around Chicago from Phyllis’s Musical Inn, Sylvie’s, The Abbey, The Bulldog … and many a Harley Davidson Rally … have stage, will sing! We all have enjoyed a lot of playing time at Old Town School of Music too … now, let us entertain you!
Caryn & Mandy
SUNDAY 2:45 – 3:30 – CHICAGO STAGE
Caryn & Mandy began their musical collaboration in 2015 in the short lived all female band, Bake Sale. From the ashes of Bake Sale rose Caryn’s passion project, The L’80’s, strongly featuring Mandy’s choreographing genius. Continuing as a two person project, Caryn & Mandy look forward to sharing original works and a few classics with the People of Jarvis Square.
Dawn Marie
SUNDAY 12:00 -12:45 – CHICAGO STAGE
Dawn Marie creates an environment for kids to let loose and parents to connect with one another. From the typical toddler tunes to toddlerized mainstream music, there’s something to appeal to the pickiest of tastes. Join us for an hour of meeting new friends, dancing to kid and adult-friendly music, and good fun.
Dirty Velvet
SUNDAY 1:45 – 2:45 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
Dirty Velvet is a blues-rock cover band playing soulful, funky songs. Classic and contemporary favorites feature powerful vocals, rhythms rooted in guitar and bass, soothing sax solos, and rich keyboard harmonies to get you dancing and singing!
Fumèe Gypsy Project
SATURDAY 4:15 – 5:00 – CHICAGO STAGE
Fumée creates a suave fusion of European and American jazz traditions that is elegant and upbeat, sensitive and lyrical. The band performs with a traditional drum-less ensemble utilizing string instruments as the rhythm section (Don Stiernberg, mandolin). Add to that, the charm and European flair of the accordion (Don Stille), the tone and energy of the trumpet (Art Davis), and the emotion and lyricism of the voice (Christy Bennett) and you have their modern interpretation that preserves the tradition.
Vivian Garcia
SATURDAY 3:15 – 4:15 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
Vivian Garcia is a Chicago based singer-songwriter. Her musical journey has taken her from studying rumba flamenca rhythms in Granada, Spain to jamming with international folk musicians in Madrid as well as singing with various bands in Chicago. Cold Bed is her first album and her latest EP In Between Times was released February 2016. She’s currently working on a new album for 2019.
Eddy Green
SUNDAY 5:45 – 6:30 – CHICAGO STAGE
Eddy fell in love with music while digging through his mother’s records as a child. It is still uncertain whether it was the album art or the ritual of pulling the record out and reading the liner notes while listening to the music that set this course. Either way, the end result has been performing, recording and songwriting in music venues and festival stages throughout the United States. His music resembles a melting pot of Bluegrass, Country, Blues and Soul that ends up in the song camp of even a little Rock n’ Roll.
Joe Hartz
SUNDAY 1:15 – 2:00 – CHICAGO STAGE
Joe Hartz is a singer/songwriter from Chicago. He’s been playing music and writing songs for seven years now and his unique lyrical style and moody guitar parts lend a unique twist to the folk/rock genre. https://joehartzmusic.com

Steve Karras
SATURDAY 1:15 – 2:00 – CHICAGO STAGE
Steve Karras is a Chicago-based solo performer and emerging presence in the roots and Americana scene. Drawing from a vast array of influences, Karras has described himself as a “Joe Strummer apostle with a penchant for old-school gospel quartets and songs of the Mexican Revolution.” This will be his first-ever appearance at the Jarvis Square Music & Arts Festival. https://www.nodepression.com/interview/steve-karras/
Local Motive
SUNDAY 6:45 – 7:45 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
Local Motive performances are filled with lyrical messages, irresistible soulful melodies, and the spirit of the old-school rhythm & blues. Joy emanates from the stage when this talented collective of musicians plays their blend of classic soul, Motown, funk, & old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll. https://localmotiveband.bandcamp.com/releases
Tommy McCracken
SATURDAY 12:30 – 1:15 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
Tommy McCracken was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. The only child of Helen and Tom McCracken, Tommy enjoyed a religious upbringing. In his early years, he traveled extensively with his grandmother and grandfather as a featured Gospel soloist. Tommy’s grandfather was the pastor at a church and Evangelized in and around Atlanta, Georgia before moving to Chicago, Illinois. Tommy now resides in Chicago, Il. He started singing professionally in 1974 and formed his own band, “The Force of Habit” in 1975. Tommy comitted himself to the blues in 1982 and since then, he has become one of Chicago’s top blues vocalist/entertainers. His debut CD “FINALLY…” is available from www.bluebaronmusic.com.
The Mudflapps
SATURDAY 5:45 – 6:30 – CHICAGO STAGE
The Mudflapps are a Chicago- based band that plays original acoustic music. Whether plugged-in on the big stage, or truly unplugged and unamplified, they give audiences a dose of country storytelling at its finest. The songs weave tales of woe, whiskey, and wild living into a mix of styles with nearly universal appeal. Sometimes it sounds like honky-tonk, sometimes more like bluegrass, sometimes more like jug band blues. It often sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before. Upright bass, guitars, dobro, and mandolin combine with strong songwriting and tight vocal harmony to create a show fit for stages of any size.
R & L Rhythm Music Review
SUNDAY 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. – WOODSTOCK STAGE
She’s Crafty
SATURDAY 8:30 – 9:30 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
She’s Crafty is Chicago’s all-female Beastie Boys tribute. MCAmy (Amy Sumpter), MagRock (Maggie Tomasek), Ken D (Kendra Stevens) and DJ ENRG (Erica Reid) rhyme the rhyme well in honor of the greatest musical group of all time. To celebrate the spirit of Adam “MCA” Yauch and the legacy of the Beastie Boys, She’s Crafty’s shows are a place where people of all ages, races, genders and sexualities —in other words, “all lifestyles, sizes, shapes and forms” — can come together and have a great time. shescraftychi.com
Son Monarcas
SUNDAY 8:30 – 9:30 WOODSTOCK
Son Monarcas is a Latin Folk Fusion Chicago-based ensemble led by Irekani Ferreyra & Mercedes Inez Martinez, and comprised of musicians who are well-versed in the Afro-Mestizo genres of folk music from Latin America.They blend the traditional with the contemporary by creating original arrangements of “son” while retaining the foundation of the traditional style. Their original compositions include influences of Cumbia, Samba, Jazz and Experimental music in English and Spanish.Son Monarcas takes you on a musical migration, like that of the Monarch Butterfly, from the United States to far corners of Mexico and South America. https://www.sonmonarcas.com/
Straight Ethyl
SATURDAY 1:45 – 2:45 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
Classic Rock, Blues, a little bit o soul … and finally some “latin” and Rap?
https://www.facebook.com/StraightEthyl/
Tell Mama
SATURDAY 6:45 – 7:45 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
Judith Weirauch and Tell Mama deliver the wailing, emotion-laden music of rock & roll legend and queen of the psychedelic blues, Janis Joplin. Judith recreates the raw, edgy vocals and electrifying energy of one of rock & roll’s most powerful female voices, while the band–Chris Winters and John Mead on guitar, Jimmy Tomasello on bass, Alton Smith on keys, and Peter Manis on drums—brings the driving rock and soulful vibe that makes this a show you do not want to miss! Come experience the live music of Janis Joplin, a legend who left us too early.
TIJUANA HERCULES
SUNDAY 3:15 – 4:15 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
TIJUANA HERCULES is a long running Chicago based band that plays “hillbilly trance”. It’s a cross between boundry-busting blues, tangled psychedelic roots music, and hard bop jazz. The group has multiple recordings on BLACK PISCES RECORDINGS, SKIN GRAFT RECORDS, and BLOODSHOT RECORDS. www.tijuanahercules.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tijuana-Hercules-187809531240874/?ref=settings
Instagram: @tijuanahercules
Bandcamp: https://tijuanahercules.bandcamp.com/
The Untamed Shrews
SATURDAY 5:00 – 6:00 – WOODSTOCK STAGE
Eclectic cover band, focusing on 80s/90s/00s singer-songwriters. Aimee Mann, Cranberries …