Sessions From Studio A

Sessions from Studio A - David Hayes (July 15, 2021)

Sessions from Studio A - Aubs. (July 8, 2021)

Sessions from Studio A - The Stach Brothers (July 1, 2021)

Sessions from Studio A - Ax and the Hatchetmen (June 24, 2021)

Sessions from Studio A - Redhorse (June 17, 2021)

Joining us this week for their second time in Studio A is Fuzzlove. Their new, sophomore album Countless Wasted Days is out now streaming everywhere and available for purchase on Bandcamp. We'll hear songs from that record and some new tunes that the band recorded live in Studio A. The band will also tell us a little about the making of Countless Wasted Days. Spoiler alert: there were goat toenails involved.

We are joined by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Clark Kelly on this week's show. We'll hear his live set recorded in Studio A and talk with Kelly about his music, his time spent in Nashville, and about Heaven's Jukebox, a project where he composes personalized songs for weddings, birthdays, and other special events.

Amanee Avery, also known as Saxchick, is a jazz and R&B saxophonist from Rockford and she brings her smooth sounds to Studio A this week. She recently released her EP School's Out which you can find out now streaming everywhere. We'll hear those songs performed live and also talk with Amanee Avery about that EP, her background, and more on this week's show!

Blues royalty joins us in Studio A this week! Our special guest is The Cash Box Kings, who brought a mix of classic Chicago and delta blues with their live performance. The band's latest record Hails to the Kings! is out now streaming everywhere and you can find that record available on vinyl at Cashboxkings.com. We'll talk with bandleaders Joe Nosek and Oscar Wilson about their music, their backgrounds and more this hour.

Indie/Americana band The Midnight Purchase joins us on this week's edition of Sessions from Studio A. Nominated for the "New Artist of the Year" award in Milwaukee in early 2020, the band was riding high but then had their world shifted by the pandemic. After finding inspiration while attending the Black Lives Matter protests, songwriter Orlando Peña assembled a new lineup and began writing some of the new songs we'll hear on this week's show. We'll also talk with members of The Midnight Purchase about their music, inspirations, and more.

Indie/Alternative band Mirabilia is our guest on this week's show! You wouldn't believe it from their set, but this is the band's first ever performance outside of the practice space. Mirabilia formed right at the start of the current pandemic, but has used the time to tighten their sound and record an EP. You can find that debut EP streaming everywhere now and keep an eye out for a new single "Kind Lion" coming from the band this weekend.

Join us this week for a mix of jazz standards and original compositions from the Addison Jordan Trio. These three musicians met while attending the Jazz Studies program at Northern Illinois University's School of Music. Our production intern Jared Ortega takes over as guest host for this week's show! Join him for an interview with members Addison Jordan, Chano Cruz, and Tyler Steege.

Singer-songwriter Marques Morel joins us for this week's show. Inspired by sounds from country, blues, and folk, as well as the spirit of the American west, his latest album is titled Trail of the Ghost. Hear songs from that album performed live and a talk with Marques Morel along with bassist Ben Johnson and mandolin player Tracy Fleck.

Joel Baer is a drummer and bandleader of the Blueshift Big Band based in Chicago, where they play music in the tradition of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Join us as the Joel Baer Trio brings the sound and energy of a full big band into Studio A with this performance. We'll also talk with members Matt Ulery, Carl Kennedy, and Joel Baer about their backgrounds and some of their many side-projects.

Mathew Ray Fichter brings his beautifully honest songwriting to Studio A this week. Join us for a live performance recorded in Studio A, with music from Fichter's solo record "Hell Camino" which is out now on Mostly Annoyed Records and also Bandcamp. We'll also talk with the singer-songwriter about his background and his songwriting, plus Dan Edmunds will tell us more about his label, Mostly Annoyed.

Initially inspired by the first wave of post-punk, The Funeral March of the Marionettes has continued to evolve their sound and release new music thoughout the band's existence. Their latest EP Solace was released in the spring of 2020 and is available on their Bandcamp page.

We have a special, unique edition of Sessions from Studio A this week, with Rockford's Los Compadres del Tango. The duo is made up of pianist Erik Olson and Jacques Saint-Cyr playing flute. This is a new genre for us in Studio A, and it was a joy to learn more about the culture and history of tango. We hope you'll learn something new as well!

Our guest this week is singer-songwriter Joe Nanzer. He's released a string of singles over the past two years that you can find on Spotify, Apple Music, and all your usual streaming platforms. Hear him perform those songs live in Studio A this hour. We'll also talk with Joe Nanzer about his background, his influences, and about the stories behind some of his songs. That's all on this week's edition of Sessions from Studio A.

Emily Hurd does it all. She's a musician, a mother, chef, and restaurant owner of The Norwegian in Rockford. Despite the chaos of owning a restaurant in 2020, Emily still found time last year to record and release her latest record "Nightshades". We'll hear songs from that album performed live in Studio A on this week's show, and we'll talk with Emily about her music, The Norwegian, and more.

"Paralysis by Analysis" is the new album out now from DeKalb artist Mark Walters, also known as Kram. Join us for this week's show featuring music from that album and more, performed live in WNIJ's Studio A. We'll also talk with Mark Walters about his background, inspirations, and about writing and producing Paralysis by Analysis.