Square Roots Festival

Saturday, July 11 at 12:30 PM

Day 2 of 3 · Saturday, July 11

Lineup

Calexico

Calexico are a Tucson, Arizona based, Americana, Tex-Mex, alternative rock, band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Quarterstick Records, while their 2005 EP In the Reins recorded wi… Calexico are a Tucson, Arizona based, Americana, Tex-Mex, alternative rock, band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Quarterstick Records, while their 2005 EP In the Reins recorded with Iron & Wine has reached the Billboard 200 album charts. Their musical style is influenced by traditional Latin sounds of mariachi, conjunto, cumbia, tejano, as well as country, jazz, and post-rock. The band is named for the border town of Calexico, California. Calexico had its origins in 1990 when Burns, who was studying music at the University of California, Irvine, met up with Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb in Giant Sand. Burns joined them, after first playing upright bass on a European tour. Giant Sand moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1994. John and Joey formed the Friends of Dean Martin (later the Friends of Dean Martinez) which scored a record deal with Sub Pop. However, the pair split up with Bill Elm, the co-founder of The Friends of Dean Martinez in 1996. The band subsequently became a kind of indie rhythm section for hire, working with the likes of Victoria Williams, Barbara Manning and Richard Buckner before forming Calexico. Calexico first recorded Spoke in 1995 for German independent label Hausmusik with a limited edition of 2,000 copies. At that point the band was still called Spoke and the album was technically self-titled. After the band signed with Quarterstick Records (a subsidiary of Touch and Go Records) and changed their name to Calexico, Spoke was reissued by that label in 1997. Burns and Convertino also collaborated with Gelb and Lisa Germano on the album Slush released under the name OP8 that same year. Their second album The Black Light was released in 1998. This was a concept album about the desert of Arizona and northern Mexico and received excellent reviews, with the critic from the Wall Street Journal rating it as one of the best records of the year. The band built their profile by touring as support acts for bands such as Pavement, the Dirty Three and Lambchop. Calexico has regularly played festivals such as the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Hurricane Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties. The Road Map album was a limited recording released in 1999 for sale only at Calexico's live shows. Calexico released its third album Hot Rail in May 2000 featuring the addition of horns and violin to their sound. The duo was busy in 2000 as they also appeared on a Giant Sand record called Chore of Enchantment as well as a tour only record Travelall. At the end of 2000, Burns and Convertino joined with two French friends Naïm Amor and Thomas Belhôm to record "Tête A Tête" (Wabana Records, 2001) released under moniker ABBC (Amor/Belhom/Burns/Convertino). Calexico released two collections of rarities during 2001. Even My Sure Things Fall Through collected outtakes from previous albums, B-sides, remixes and material previously unreleased in the US. The album also featured Mariachi Luz de Luna who frequently played live with the duo. The Aerocalexico album was sold exclusively at their gigs in 2001. The Scraping live album was released in 2002. Their next studio recording Feast of Wire was released in 2003 and made the charts for the first time appearing on Billboard's Heatseekers and Independent album chart. They made their first video for "Quattro (World Drifts In)" which was a single from Feast of Wire. They released a live DVD in 2004 called World Drifts In: Live at the Barbican. The song "Güero Canelo", from Feast of Wire, was featured in Michael Mann's Film, Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, in which the band appears. Calexico contributed the song "Burnin' Down the Spark" to Nancy Sinatra's self-titled album in late 2004. The album featured artists who cited Sinatra as a musical influence. The song was released in the UK as the second single from the album in early 2005. In 2005, Calexico joined up with Miami-based band Iron & Wine. Howard Greynolds of Overcoat Records was responsible for bringing the two bands together having previously been responsible for Tortoise and Will Oldham recording together. The In the Reins EP was released in September 2005 and received a positive reception with an MSNBC review giving it honorable mention. It also made an appearance in the Billboard 200 album charts, becoming their first recording to make the album charts, and No. 12 on the independent charts. In October 2005, they commenced a US tour with Iron & Wine to promote the record. Released in 2006, Garden Ruin is Calexico's fifth studio album and was produced by JD Foster. The sound strays slightly from earlier works, focusing less on the horn section, and placing more emphasis on guitar and vocal tracks, giving the whole album a more mainstream sound. In 2007, Calexico was invited by Arcade Fire to record a cover of their "Ocean of Noise." This recording was used as the B-side for Arcade Fire's "Intervention" single, originally released on vinyl on May 21, 2007. Also in 2007, Calexico recorded a revamped version of the Bob Dylan song "Goin' to Acapulco" for the Dylan biopic "I'm Not There". The song featured Jim James of My Morning Jacket on vocals and was featured on the soundtrack of the film. Several of Calexico's songs, usually their shorter instrumental pieces, have been used as interstitial and background music on Public Radio International's This American Life. Their songs "Ballad Of Cable Hogue" and "Service And Repair" were featured in the 2001 German comedy movie Lammbock. Their sixth studio LP is called 'Carried to Dust', featuring Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Douglas McCombs of Tortoise and Pieta Brown. It was released in the USA via Touch & Go Records on September 9, 2008. The album enjoyed solid reviews, with hometown paper the Arizona Daily Star praising the band's "ability to sweep you into its world, taking listeners to the American Southwest. This is one of the reasons Europeans love Calexico and others in this country are beginning to come around." On October 16, 2008, a three-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring Joey Burns performing the songs "Two Silver Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake". In 2009, the song Banderilla was featured in an episode of AMC's Breaking Bad. In 2010, a new album of Calexico was released: the soundtrack of the documentary "Circo". The band also spent part of 2010 touring with Arcade Fire along the west US coast. In May 2011, their song "Slowness" was dedicated by Gabrielle Giffords to her husband astronaut Mark Kelly as the wake up song aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final flight. Algiers was released 11 September 2012 on ANTI Records and CITY SLANG (Europe). In April 2014, the band began referring to a new album on Twitter in posts from Mexico City, Coyoacan, Mexico, and Athens, Greece. Edge of the Sun was announced on 27 January 2015, and released on April 14, 2015. The album features guest appearances by various artists such as Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Gaby Moreno, Carla Morrison and members of the Greek instrumental group Takim. The current members of Calexico are: Joey Burns – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, piano, keyboards, accordion, percussion, vibraphone John Convertino – drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, accordion Paul Niehaus – steel guitar, guitars Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone, theremin (occasionally harmonica & French horn) Volker Zander – standup bass, electric bass Live tour 2013: Joey Burns - vocals, guitars John Convertino - drums, percussion Sergio Mendoza - Keyboards Jairo Zavala - bazouki, baritone guitar, vocals Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone (occasionally harmonica & French horn) Ryan Alfred - bass, vocals Read more

Mekons

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The Mekons are a British post-punk band formed in 1976 as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. Although the Mekons' lineup has changed from time to time over the years, the core line-up includes Jon Langford, Sally Timms (vocals), Tom Greenh… Read more

Cedric Burnside

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Cedric O. Burnside is an American electric blues guitarist, drummer, singer and songwriter. He is the son of blues drummer Calvin Jackson and grandson of blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist R. L. Burnside.

Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys

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Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys is an American rockabilly and Western swing band from California composed of Robert Williams, alias Big Sandy, Ashley Kingman, Frankie Hernandez and Russell Scott. The band is known for its eclectic style, which also encompasses folk, bluegrass, Cajun, country, mariachi and rock and roll,… Read more

Classic Country Ensemble

Cesar Rosas & The Chi-Town Playboys

Cesar Rosas & The Chi-Town Playboys is a blues-rock side project led by Los Lobos founding guitarist Cesar Rosas, based between Los Angeles and Chicago, formed circa 2023 with Chicago musicians Dave Herrero, Scott Tipping, and others.

¿Qiensave?

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¿Qiensave? is a Cumbia Urbana band from Salinas, California, with roots in Michoacán, Mexico, formed in 2009, known for their album "Mujer" and the remix collaboration "Reanimación" with El Dusty.

Dill Costa

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Dill Costa is a Brazilian vocalist from Rio de Janeiro, based in Chicago since 2003, performing samba, bossa nova, and Brazilian jazz with her own quartet and ensembles like the Evanston Escola de Samba.

Los Gallos

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1) Los Gallos was a latin rock / blues band from Texas, USA, led by guitarist Rick Lugo. Fans usually described them as a jam session with Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughn. They combined elements of rhythm & blues and Latin rock into a saucy blend of musical stylings. Later, the band was renamed to Rick Lugo Band. ricklug… Read more

Growing Boys

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Cosmic Country Showcase

Cosmic Country Showcase is a Chicago-based camp-country variety revue hosted by Andrew Sa and Mary Williamson, based out of the Hideout bar, known for featuring guest performers in a queer country-inflected live show.

Tobacco City

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Tobacco City is an American five-piece band based in Chicago, IL, that features vocals by Chris Coleslaw and Lexi Goddard, and Nick Usalis on pedal steel.

Dusk

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Brandon Good

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Brandon Good is a Chicago-based country and Americana singer-songwriter, formerly a member of Celtic punk band Flatfoot 56, known for releases including 'The Anvil' and his 2026 LP 'Restless.'

Local Memory

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Local Memory is a Chicago, Illinois band whose members include Amy, Lucas, Matt, Nico, Nicole, and Lydia.

Second Half

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This text copied from their site with Ed's approval. Four. Three. Two. Four. This is the count that has led the Cleveland-based band 2nd Half’s founding members, Ed Gandolf and Drew Scalero, to the present day. 2nd Half began as a four-piece band in 1997, but over the course of the next half-decade this number dwindl… This text copied from their site with Ed's approval. Four. Three. Two. Four. This is the count that has led the Cleveland-based band 2nd Half’s founding members, Ed Gandolf and Drew Scalero, to the present day. 2nd Half began as a four-piece band in 1997, but over the course of the next half-decade this number dwindled as the band parted ways with their rhythm guitar player and bassist. As the only two original members remaining, Gandolf (vocals, guitar) and Scalero (drums) were faced with a critical decision; carry on or start over. Whereas most would succumb to the overwhelming pressure of such a desperate situation, in 2002 Gandolf and Scalero made a bold move in deciding to continue 2nd Half as a two-piece act. One year later, the duo proved to the skeptics that they had made the right decision by releasing their first record “Now it’s Real” (2003) with the help of long-time friend/producer Ben Schigel (Spider Studios), and taking their live performance to a new level with the incorporation of new audio and visual elements unlike any that Cleveland’s local music scene had previously encountered. Beat for beat, frame for frame, and second for second, with each set meticulously planned down to every minute detail, Gandolf and Scalero played countless live performances with the energy and layered soundscapes of a full band. Three years after their first release, Gandolf recorded and produced 2nd Half’s follow up record “Left Behind” (2006). The new music stayed true to the powerpop/rock sound that had defined the band on “Now it’s Real” but took their songs to a new level by incorporating more melody, more layers, and more hooks. Still a two-piece and armed with a new record’s worth of music that displays greater songwriting complexity, 2nd Half pressed on and continued to impress audiences with their perfectly synced audio-visual live performances. As the years passed though, the pressure and frustration of being overlooked began to mount. Over the course of the band’s existence Gandolf and Scalero witnessed many of their lifelong friends achieve notable levels of success in the music business. Having grown up with members of the Cleveland-based bands Chimaira (Ferret) and Sw1tched (Immortal), Gandolf and Scalero felt the need to make another critical decision for the future of the band. Five years after the beginning of their two-piece venture, the duo decided it was time to return to a more traditional structure while maintaining the definitive elements of 2nd Half and enlisted friends Mike Bernot and Matt Majoros (Hedspin) from the band Slow Motion Soldier on bass and guitar. With two new members, a vast and harder audible sound, more new material in progress and a renewed sense of hope 2nd Half is prepared to expand their audience both geographically and numerically while bringing back something to Cleveland that now seems lost; the local scene. Read more

The Dreamtree Shakers

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The Dreamtree Shakers are a Chicago-based children's music band led by singer/songwriter Jeremy Babcock, known for folk-pop family albums including Going on a Picnic and Big Top Tent.

Jonas, Anna & Company

Clamor & Lace Noise Brigade

Clamor & Lace Noise Brigade is a glam marching band based in Chicago, IL, and the city's first street marching band composed solely of people who identify as women or non-binary.

Cooper Dual Language Mariachi Ensemble

Wiggleworms with Anne-Marie & Amanda

Wiggleworms is the early childhood music program of the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, featuring educator-musicians like Anne-Marie Akin and Amanda Payne teaching songs and play to young children.

Venue

Square Roots Festival

Lincoln Square

Lincoln Avenue, Montrose to Wilson Map ↗

Hours: Fri 5pm–10pm · Sat 12pm–10pm · Sun 12pm–9pm

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