At Go-DIY we strive to represent the independent musician in the world of music licensing. 

Trumpeter Shaun Johnson is one of the best up-and-coming musicians in Chicago. He is highly respected by his peers for his unique style, creativity and loving spirit towards music. Shaun believes music is a therapy through which he can interact with and uplift people. He is widely acclaimed as a captivating, yet humble, musician and seeks to share his love for the craft through live performances, mentorship and composition – a dream of his since childhood.
Shaun fell in love with the trumpet at the age of 10; a relationship he believes kept him off of the rough streets of Chicago’s south suburbs growing up.  He soon grew passionate about music and through practice and dedication, Shaun went on to play with numerous honor high school bands, including the Grammy All-Star Jazz band. From that point on, the doors of opportunity continued to open for him. In time, he found himself on stage with some of the best jazz musicians, including Miguel Xenon, Randy Brecker, Ernest Dawkins, Gerald Wilson and Dee Alexander. During his years in college, Shaun also toured the United States with world-renowned musicians Frank Foster, Jimmy Heath, Ed Thigpen, Benny Golson and Wynton Marsalis. Shaun studied with some of the best trumpet instructors in the Midwest, including Mark Ponzo, Art Davis, Pharez Whitted, Orbert Davis and Mark Olen, finishing up at University of Illinois at Chicago.  Shaun also had the pleasure of studying with Chicago saxphone jazz legends, Fred Anderson and Von Freeman.  Over the years, Shaun found his voice as a musician and has continued to gain experience in the field, including composition, arrangement and teaching.  
Shaun is making a name for himself as a talented Chicago musician. Having performed in the 2009 Made in Chicago: Poland Jazz Festival in Poznan, Poland and in Ernest Dawkin’s All Star Group at the Sant’anna Arresi Jazz Festival in Sardinia, Italy, he’s had opportunities to learn from the best. Shaun remains humble and spends his days as a husband, father, mentor and positive example to his community. Throughout the years, Shaun has taught music to high school and college students through various music programs in Chicagoland, including students at Chicago Public Schools and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a well-known local musician and has played at the House of Blues, Andy’s Jazz Club, the Velvet Lounge and the Chicago Jazz Festival.
Shaun’s dedication to the craft continues to open doors for him and today he is performing, composing and recording with many bands in Chicago, one of them being The Xavier Breaker Coalition. He is currently working an arrangement of selections from Miles Davis’s Birth of the Cool album. For his next project, Shaun is using his extensive experience with performing, composing, arranging and music copying to produce The Shaunlive Project, a way for Shaun to share his life’s dedication to music through mentorship, workshops, recordings and live performances. It is an extension of his utmost desire to uplift people through his music.

DaylightSinners.com
For booking and all inquiries contact: LiamKmgmt@gmail.com

Jordan Roulo, soprano, began her musical journey focusing on classical voice but she has begun to build a blended career in musical theatre, opera, choral ensembles, chamber ensembles and even some cover bands throughout the Chicagoland area. During her time at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Jordan had the opportunity to study with Mezzo-Soprano, Amy Pickering and work with conductors: Dr. Michael Anderson and Andrew Lewis. She has been praised for her dramatic commitment, engaging performances and flexible voice.  

 

Beyond her studies at UIC, Jordan had the opportunity to spend two summers at the Opera Training Institute of Chicago and recently returned from Fresh Inc Festival with Fifth House Ensemble.

 

She has sung with Kor Productions, TUTA Theatre, caKe, Schlock Entertainment, Entertainment Cruises and regularly performs Davenport's Piano Bar in Chicago.

Detroit bred hearthrobs bringing you some easy tunes in these historically crazy times.

The Lavellas are an atmospheric space rock band birthed in Denver, Colorado. The band's lineup consists of members Robyn Green (Guitars, Effects, Vox), Jason Mathews (Guitars, Effects Backups), Cory Cambell (Bass), and Spencer Kiss (Drums, Synths). The band was founded by Jason and Robyn and had Mike McDaniel on bass and Matt Amundson on drums during their first record entitled Cherish, and produced by Lance Bendiksen. Although recorded in nice rooms, Cherish was all but disgarded over a desire for a more raw, underground sound. Amundson left the band and was replaced by Spencer Kiss on drums and McDaniel departed to pursue Jazz and session work. Cory Cambell entered the band on bass guitar and the band began crafting their true atmospheric sound, dialing in vocals to audibly mesh with the other instruments to create a more 'wall of sound' effect.
         The result led to the band's second record, 2002's 'My Talk With The Dead', self-produced, mixed and mastered by Robyn and Jason on a small 16-track in the band's makeshift studio and sanctuary, Shyte Studios. The record received a bit more press and opened doors to larger Denver venues, allowing the band to become more involved in the Denver music scene.
         In 2003, the Lavellas relocated to Chicago, Illinois in search of a wider audience establishing a second home in Wicker Park and playing out frequently with occasional tours. In 2004, the band went to Paragon Studio in hopes of capturing a higher fidelity version of their sound, working with engineer Jack LeTourneau on'Distortion Story,' their third album. During recording, Cory decided to leave the band, endowing Robyn, Jason, and Spencer with determining the future. Robyn, Jason and Spencer went on as a trio over the next few years, recording in 2005 what would become a self-titled EP with engineer Ted Cho at Clava Studios Chicago. Special guest, Mike Perkins contributed vintage echo-plex noise soundscapes on the EP. In an interview with WZRD Chicago Radio, Perkins noted the band as a trio allowed more special clarity between instruments. The band continued to play out and craft their sound, which had become more complex and experimental. The Lavellas released the EP in 2006 and began composing music for another full-length album. In 2007, went to work with Keith Cleversey and Andy Bosnak at Playground Studio Chicago to record 'The Backhall Sessions.' Andy and the Lavellas spent the course of a few months recording and mixing new vibes. After the sessions, Robyn chose to relocate to Madrid, Spain in hopes of discovering greater influences and eventually carrying the band to an international level with more support. On January 13, 2008, the band played their final headlining show at the Metro in Chicago before Robyn departed the next day for Spain. In September 2008, Robyn returned to Chicago for a short tour with the band and in 2009, the Lavellas went to Madrid for a packed show at Moby Dick club. 
     Living in different cities, the Lavellas continued to find ways to pursue the band while embarking on side projects. Jason and Spencer founded dream pop group, The Rosen Association in Chicago and Spencer began a solo project, Bird Musuem. Robyn opened his studio in Madrid called Spaceland and devoted time to producing other groups while composing Lavellas songs and solo music. In February 2012, Robyn released his first solo record, 'Slowdown Deteriorate.' Jason moved back to Denver, CO and Spencer began playing drums for the Chicago-based Shoegaze band, Airiel. Robyn  relocated to Geneva, Switzerland.
        Upon releasing his second solo album entitled Then Came Dark, Robyn rejoined with the rest of The Lavellas back home to perform a couple more shows in 2016 and 2017, this time with Cory Cambell back on bass and different drummers sitting in for Spencer Kiss. And now… onto the future…

Leaving A Legacy For Future Generations

It’s the year 2027 and a young child has stumbled upon an old iPod in his grandmother’s attic. On the antiquated device, the child finds the Lo-Fi music and sound-scapes of a band called Neutral Drop. The tracks have been preserved forever in digital format, but they contain a style and sound he’s never quite experienced before. This music is different. The music is unedited, unpolished and it is “perfect imperfection.” It’s in this moment in time that the child’s musical life changes forever. It seems a true musical legacy has been left behind for another generation to discover! The young musician has suddenly discovered what music was, and it was meant to be – a real and raw artistic experience. Creating this sort of legacy is the goal of Mike Wilson and Neutral Drop. In fact, this “futuristic” look at a young child discovering musical treasure is very much the way Mike Wilson discovered music himself. As you will see, it was with a similar event like this that the very seeds of Neutral Drop were planted.

Windy City Beginnings: The Big Bang

Neutral Drop creator Mike Wilson was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois - “The Windy City.” On these winds came serendipity and chance musical encounters. Just as the child in our story above, it would be around age eight when Mike would happen upon old Beatles albums and discover another band’s legacy. It was discovering the sounds and styles on dusty old vinyl albums packed away in storage that sent Mike Wilson down the path toward a musical future. To this day, these “Windy City Beginnings” are the “Big Bang” that has led this talented songwriter and guitarist to create Neutral Drop!

Before Neutral Drop

Many things had to occur before Neutral Drop could be born. Mike had to develop as a musician, as a songwriter, and gain experience playing in bands. It was at the age of sixteen that Mike picked up the guitar as his instrument of choice. Without any formal training, he quickly became better not only at playing guitar, but also in his songwriting skills. It was in his teen years that Mike began working at record stores where he could feed his wide interest in musical masters of the past and his love of record collecting. Mike’s musical heroes were not just artists; he became interested in the techniques and history of recording itself! Wilson became enthralled with talents Les Paul and his work in multi-track recording, phasing, and delay effects. Also Mike studied the history and methods of recording processes starting with Edison himself. 

After developing as a musician and as a songwriter, Mike still needed to get the experience of performing and playing with a band. This would happen in 1994 when Mike joined Haegers Bend. Haegers Bend had recently been started by his brother Paul and the band was already very successful in Chicago. Haegers Bend was a perfect fit for Mike and his guitar skills. However, as Mike continued to write music, it soon became apparent that some of his material wouldn’t fit into the Haegers Bend sound. This led to an epiphany for Mike and another project was born in 2000 – Neutral Drop.

The Birth of Neutral Drop

If there was a project that is all Mike Wilson, from start to finish, Neutral Drop is that project. Neutral Drop is a Lo-Fi project that began seven years ago after a series of late night recordings. Mike had written a large collection of songs that didn’t fit into the sounds and style of Haegers Bend. Mike realized that there should be life given to these songs, and what transpired was the first self-titled Neutral Drop album. After the success of that release, Mike followed with a second release, Falling. Both CDs were mainly instrumental and contained the eclectic mixture of Lo-Fi recordings of rock, folk, industrial, sound-scapes that define Neutral Drop’s sound. The albums yielded what Wilson’s goal was in the beginning; to create a moody, authentic and raw Lo-Fi experience. The latest release from Neutral Drop is Lost Love and Broken Dreams. It’s within this latest release that Wilson has added more lyrical content and vocals. This, the third CD since the birth of Neutral Drop, is perhaps the best example of the creative and artistic genius of Wilson. Exploring his own past, he captured his experiences within the Goth scene he had been into at the time - generating covers from such artists as The Cure and Joy Division. Neutral Drop and Lost Love and Broken Dreams define Mike Wilson and it is Wilson from the top down as he played, produced and composed the entire album.

What’s Next For Mike Wilson?

While Wilson continues to actively perform and work with Haegers Bend … there are more exciting things planned for this artist, husband and father. While he is the heart and soul of Neutral Drop at the present, he seeks band members that fit into the project’s style. Not only do both of his current musical projects continue to grow and have a bright future, but he pushes the limits of his own creativity, ingenuity and artistic expression everyday. He has avidly begun to express interest in filmmaking. It’s a good bet that you will soon see film projects from Wilson. It’s not easy to overdub the past and phrase the future, but Mike Wilson and Neutral Drop will continue to do just that, and leave a legacy for future generations.

From his style to his talent and his passion, there is definitely something rare about this gifted aspiring artist. He is said to be the Seal or Sting of today’s generation bringing his unique pop/rock/alternative genre and dynamic tone and notably wide range. His romantic writing style of heartbreak and love captures the ears of every young teenager who comes across his music. It takes two ears and a big heart to hear what this young singer/songwriter conveys through what he sings. He forms an intimate relationship between you and his music as each person finds their own story in his catchy songs. Joel’s goal is to share his talent with the world conveying the message that “from disaster comes the bloom of a new day”. 

    Joel Keith Echols A.K.A Joel Michaels was born to famous Jingle singer, Alice Sanderson and music producer/songwriter Keith Echols. Joel was born in Chicago, Illinois and moved to sunny, southern California at the age of 1. Joel is the only son in a family of four children. His love for music was inspired by both his parents and growing up in the city of Los Angeles. His original set course was to become an animation artist while one of his three sisters would follow in the footsteps of their parents and continue on to pursue music. However, during the ninth grade, Joel was asked to join a band and found his God-given talent to write songs and his captivating voice that would inspire him to continue further in a musical career. 

    As he saw people fall in love with the words he wrote and the melodies he sang, he knew there was much more to music than a simple sound, but rather a connection between each song and the audience. Joel had joined a total of four bands as both the songwriter and singer, leading him closer to his career, learning more from each experience. He performed in and packed out many venues from small coffee shops to large, nationwide-known clubs, including the Key Club, The Roxy, BBKings, Knitting Factory and the Viper Room, along with recording in multi-million dollar studios. Soon after hearing his audiences singing along with his words, he knew it was his time to pursue becoming a major solo recording artist. Since then, he has been chosen to sing for various albums, movies and TV shows including the High School Musical 2 & 3 soundtracks for Disney, and background vocals for world famous pop singer, Pink and Gospel Artist Kirk Franklin. Joel now stands at the beginning of a journey as a new artist that will lead upward to him becoming an, as he puts it, “An Icon/A Young American Rock Symbol”.

The Great Crusades, 2014

Say what you will about this ragtag bunch of lifelong musical cohorts, but the Great Crusades can claim longevity, prolificacy, and a never-say-die attitude among its attributes. Like many of the bands they admire, such as the Jayhawks, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and Kaiser Chiefs, the Great Crusades seem to be in it for the long haul—they keep writing outstanding tunes, pursuing new artistic directions, and playing mind-blowing live shows.

Vocalist/guitarist Brian Krumm gathered the current band members in Chicago more than 15 years ago, including collaborators Brian Hunt (bass), Brian Leach (guitar/keyboards), and Christian Moder (drums/keyboards). Krumm had released the band’s first album, The First Spilled Drink of the Evening, in 1997 while based in Champaign, Illinois, and moved north the following year.

Now, the band members are putting the final touches on what will be their eighth studio release, Thieves of Chicago. The Great Crusades will join such respected label mates as the Bottle Rockets, Cracker, and Sons of Bill when Blue Rose Records (Abstatt, Germany) issues the album in Summer 2014, to be followed by a North American release. Boxing Clever Records (St. Louis, Missouri) will also release a limited edition seven-inch single featuring the Great Crusades in early 2014.

The band has kept a high profile since its last “proper” studio album, Fiction to Shame, was released in 2010 on Glitterhouse Records/Octane Recordings. That year, the band played a string of shows in Europe and the United States, to further solidify its now-legendary reputation as a live band that must be seen and heard whenever the boys pull into town. And much more was in store for the upcoming years.

In July 2011, Lakeshore Records (Hollywood, California) released “Who’s Afraid of Being Lonely?”, which featured “classic” songs from the Great Crusades’ back catalog. In October 2011, two of the band’s songs appeared in the season 4 finale of the HBO vampire series “True Blood.” The band performed in Europe and the United States in 2011 and 2012 and also recorded with Chris Estes (Adele, Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz) at Chicago Recording Company.

The Great Crusades are currently mixing their 8th studio album in Chicago with Grammy winners Brian Leach and Blaise Barton. The band has already confirmed shows in the United States and festival appearances in Europe for a Summer 2014 tour. This will be the band’s 20th European tour. In conjunction with the European tour, the Russian label GS Productions will issue a limited-edition digipack CD of the Great Crusades’ exceptional 2002 release Never Go Home, featuring the album in its entirety as well as unreleased demos, songs, and live recordings from the same era.

The Great Crusades, from the Beginning

The first Great Crusades album, The First Spilled Drink of the Evening, was released by Mud Records in 1997, and its sound and lyrics quickly created a cult following for the band. Rolling Stone’s David Fricke wrote, “The Great Crusades look at life through a shot-glass lens . . . mixing anger, muscle, and minor-key remorse like a roughneck Tindersticks with the bonus of a singer (Krumm) who’s got the tubercular pipes of Tom Waits and Axl Rose’s love child.” The album was reissued in Europe in 1998 by the German indie Trocadero Records, and the first of many European tours followed.

Damaged Goods was released by the venerated German label, Glitterhouse Records, in 2000, and by Checkered Past Records in the U.S. The critical accolades kept coming with praise from European and American press alike. Never Go Home (2002) saw the band reach a higher public profile when a tour of Germany, Austria, and Croatia was presented by Musikexpress magazine. In 2003, the band gained even more exposure as part of their appearance on the celebrated German television program, Rockpalast.

Welcome to the Hiawatha Inn (2004), Four Thirty (2006), Keep Them Entertained (2007), and Fiction to Shame (2010) followed, each featuring a fresh approach to the band’s sound. (The career retrospective DVD Key to the City was released in 2008.) The band continued to expand its fan base and further build its reputation as one of the most engaging, wildest live bands in the business. Along the way, the band shared the stage with a very diverse list of artists, including Gary Moore, Scorpions, 16 Horsepower, Broken Social Scene, Bottle Rockets, Steve Wynn, and Leningrad Cowboys.

 Influences

AC/DC, The Band, Richard Thompson, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Neil Young, Gallon Drunk, The Jayhawks, Replacements, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Leon Redbone, Webb Wilder, Morphine, The Smiths, Eric Burdon, The Pretenders, 16 Horsepower, Camper Van Beethoven, Thin Lizzy, The Ramones, Wall of Voodoo/Stan Ridgway, Uncle Tupelo, Nick Drake, R.E.M., The Pogues, Stray Cats/Brian Setzer, Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, PJ Harvey, Dwight Yoakam, Echo and the Bunnymen

Daylight Sinners is following