Ed Hamell picked up the guitar at age 7 and started writing songs not long after. In his early 20s, Mr. Hamell was the front man and writer for an original band, but local bands were a dime a dozen in the tough, working class neighborhoods in Syracuse, NY. So he launched a one-man act called "Hamell on Trial."

Armed with his battered 1937 Gibson acoustic guitar, Mr. Hamell toured the country, then settled in Austin, Texas, where he found a receptive audience for his esoteric mix of songs and story telling. In 1995, Mercury Records signed him straight out of the SXS Music Conference and released Big as Life and The Chord is Mightier than the Sword.

Find out more about Addenda Records & Reds and Blue at Chicagoist and The Deli Chicago

Painting a picture of Reds and Blue, the band dances between cacophony and calm, chanting around progesque keys, heavy drums, and drony bass. The band was formed by Ellen (of ZZZZ) in the spring of 2006. Fuzzy on reality, the noir sound moves from the cabaret, to the open road, to the far ends of the imagination. Ju Ju Pow Wow!

Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw of Cotton Jones have hearts - huge, questioning hearts - full of music that mixes elements of soul, rock and gospel into a gauzy cocoon of small-town sound.[It began as the Basket Ride, a few years ago, when the idea began to come to a head. Then, without intent, Cotton Jones became the core.]