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Flat Five

A combo featuring five of Chicago’s best & most versatile music artists, the Level Five started being a aspect task that played away only one time a season, but provides since matured right into a celebrated group that information and tours, albeit at their very own deliberate speed. The Level Five started when guitarist and keyboardist Scott Ligon, an experienced instrumentalist who used several groups in the Chicago membership circuit, crossed pathways with Kelly Hogan, a gifted vocalist who was simply a member from the Jody Grind and toured being a support vocalist with Neko Case as well as the Decemberists, aswell as seeking a solo profession. The two started playing occasional displays at a membership in Chicago, the Hideout, so when they were asked to open up for the Blind Guys of Alabama, they made a decision they needed another vocalist. Nora O’Connor, a previous person in the alt-country music group the Blacks who in addition has caused Mavis Staples, Andrew Parrot, Iron and Wines, and the brand new Pornographers, became a member of them as well as the trio became referred to as the Lamentations. Ligon started using a nation group known as the Traditional western Elstons, and he struck up a a friendly relationship using their bass participant, Casey McDonough, who was simply soon asked to become listed on the combo. (Ligon and McDonough would shortly talk about the stage in another music group when Terry Adams asked them to become listed on his long-running, genre-spanning combo NRBQ.) Drummer Gerald Dowd, whose réamounté included collaborations with Robbie Fulks, Edith Frost, and Chris Mills, arrived aboard as drummer, as well as the group used the name the Smooth Five, performing a wide spectral range of pop, jazz, R&B, and requirements, all with stellar harmonies. The Smooth Five performed their first recognized gig on the Hideout in 2007, and within their first 3 years, they just performed one a season, with time for the holiday season. With time, the Level Five began ramping up their plan to 3 or 4 shows a season, eventually playing regular residencies on the Hideout and some other favored locations in Chicago. After many years, Dowd slipped from the group, and Alex Hall (among Ligon’s bandmates in the Traditional western Elstons, and drummer for JD McPherson, Pokey LaFarge, as well as the jazz combo the Fats Babies) got his put in place the lineup. The Level Five became something of the organization in Chicago, and in 2014 they started recording an record, focused on the tracks of Chicago-based composer Chris Ligon (who’s also Scott’s sibling). Documented at Alex Hall’s Dependable Music studio room, the Level Five’s first record, It’s an environment of Appreciate and Hope, premiered by Bloodshot Information in Oct 2016.

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