Friday, November 17, 9 p.m.
Rock Island Brewing Company, 1815 Second Avenue, Rock Island IL
A five-piece ensemble that, according to WSUM.org, “incorporates rock, bluegrass, jazz, and a little folk, creating nothing but an upbeat atmosphere,” the Chicago-based musicians of Old Shoe play RIBCO in support of their newest album Country Home, a compilation of 13 original tracks praised by GratefulWeb.com for the songs' ability to “paint a diverse landscape of American life.”
Currently enjoying its eighth year of performance, Old Shoe boasts guitarist Paul Priest, bass player Dan Huber, drummer Greg Fundis, keyboard/organ/mandolin player Joe Day, and guitarist Matt Robinson, the latter an alumnus of Augustana College. Following the release of its self-titled 2009 debut and 2011 album Let Yourself In, the jam band began touring throughout the Midwest, performing at high-profile festivals including Summer Camp and Wakarusa, and opening for the likes of Bruce Hornsby, Leftover Salmon, Keller Williams, and Greensky Bluegrass. In 2011, the quintet also inaugurated its own summertime music festival Shoe Fest, an annual event that The News-Gazatte called “a beautiful celebration of bluegrass, roots rock, funk, jazz-fusion, reggae, and more.”
Old Shoe found its profile raised with the release of 2013's Family, in which the artists collaborated with musicians from The Henhouse Prowlers and The Low Down Brass Band; WSUM.org described Family as “a culmination of their growth and progress,” and Illinois radio station WXRT named it the Best Local Album of 2013. Released last month, Country Home continues in the band's roots-rock vein, and as Robinson told Relix magazine, was made without much in the way of post-recording cleanup: “We grew up listening to these classic albums that were created with everyone in the same room, and we were after that old school rock 'n' roll magic.”
Tickets to Old Shoe's 9 p.m. concert on November 17 are $8 in advance and $12 at the door, and more information is available by calling (309)793-1999 or visiting RIBCO.com.
