CHICAGO | January is traditionally the slowest month in industries like restaurants and live music. Artists are touring less — as few albums are released in January — and travel becomes treacherous with snow and ice. Customers are trying to save money after big holiday purchases, not going out because they’re observing dry January, or simply, they’re cold. Chicago spent a frigid few days in subzero temperatures just days before Tomorrow Never Knows Fest — a festival dedicated to combating the “slow season” and continuing to bring quality live music to hungry fans since 2005.
Presented by Audiotree, TNK Fest is described on their website as having “proven for over a decade that music fans will brave the brutal Chicago cold for a good show.” The festival spans five days, and this year’s festival featured shows at Lincoln Hall, Schubas Tavern, Sleeping Village, and Gman Tavern. TNK has become a staple in the Chicago music scene, featuring up and coming local and touring acts that often hit it big soon after playing the fest. Notable past performers include Caroline Polachek, Snail Mail, Julien Baker, PUP, and many, many more.
The final show of 2024’s TNK Fest featured a lineup of promising indie folk, rock and country acts at Schubas Tavern. Opening the night was Chicago native Minor Moon, the project of Sam Cantor. Cantor played accompanied by a band member on a pedal steel, and began the night with a warm, relaxed set — perfectly priming the audience for the styles of the upcoming bands.
Sluice, the folk project of North Carolina artist Justin Morris, took the stage second. The band featured additional members on bass, drums, and fiddle – which absolutely stole the show, adding a striking dimension to Sluice’s roving country inspired tunes. Similar to artists like Slaughter Beach, Dog and Christian Lee Hutson, Morris writes in a stream-of-consciousness style, weaving in and out of story specifics. His track “Fourth of July,” off of the recent release Radial Gate, feels like listening to someone try to piece together childhood memories while also trying to process their present reality. In a new unreleased song, a lyric that stood out to me was “my goal is to make it on Pitchfork” (which Sluice did, read the review of Radial Gate here.) It’s a perfect example of the trend in indie folk of hyper specific lyricism, its sincerity drawing audiences in and proving that songwriters don’t have to rely on big universal themes to be relatable.
In a brief conversation following the set, Morris also informed me that the band utilizes three different sources to achieve the droning effect throughout the set, which emboldened the sound of the four piece band. They utilized taped keys on a synthesizer, a bass pedal, and a shruti box — an Indian instrument with bellows, similar to an accordion or harmonium — which provided an organ-like sound. Sluice’s unique blend of country influences, indie folk songwriting technique and experimental choices reminded me of Goshen College’s radio station, The Globe’s coined musical genre: “culturally progressive.”
The final performance of the night, and of the 2024 TNK Fest, was Nashville-based artist Mali Velasquez. Velasquez released her debut I’m Green in October 2023, and she is, in fact, green — this was her first time playing in Chicago. Joined by guitar, bass, and drums, Velasquez captivated the Schubas Sunday night audience with her emotionally charged indie rock.
One of my favorite finds so far as Radio DePaul’s music director, Mali Velasquez pulls at your heartstrings with delicate vocal melodies juxtaposed with muted, fuzzy guitars and instrumentals. She vocalizes the thoughts that most of us choose not to share, such as on the album’s opening track, “Bobby,” where Velasquez explores grief and loss. She asks the hard hitting questions about a break up in “Shove” and “Death Grip”; “Do we still wake up every morning at the same time?” and “Why do we act like strangers afterwhile?”
Velasquez’s contemplative, vulnerable style of songwriting and emotive vocal timbre is sure to draw in any fan of heart wrenching indie, and proves yet again why Chicago’s Tomorrow Never Knows Fest is one of the greatest opportunities to catch the next big thing before they’re making headlines.
Photos taken by Nina Bertuca.