T.3 at City Winery

City Winery Chicago Presents T.3: The Fifth Season Tour - Brunch live on Saturday, October 10th at 12:00 PM! Some artists spend years trying to form a band and create their unique sound. Whether they are looking for a pianist, background singer, bass player, or drummer, the process can be frustrating and complicated. After all, how can you be so sure you’ve found someone who not only compliments your musicianship, but is also a fit with your personality? How do you place a want ad for chemistry…or “harmony”? For the members of T.3 – Liam Fenneken, Jim Hogan and Brendan Jacob Smith – that search didn’t take years. They found each other thanks to their shared interests, the power of social media…and eventually found their harmony thanks to a spontaneous decision to record in a stairwell. It’s one of those “lightning in a bottle” stories that can’t be explained using logic alone, but the elements of synchronicity have helped them create something truly special. Liam and Jim met while attending Penn State University - Liam was a theater major and Jim was in the school’s musical theater program. Fast forward a few years, and Jim and Liam met Brendan when they went to see Hyannis Sound perform, Cape Cod’s professional a capella group. They clicked instantly, since Liam and Jim had performed with Hyannis Sound years before. All three eventually met up in New York City to sing together. Despite having a capella as a strong building block of the trio’s foundation, it’s something upon which they are building. They’re not letting themselves be confined by the term, instead exploring ways to add to the sound for which they are known. “We love a capella, that's how we all met, and it greatly affects the way we arrange and perform our music together,” says Liam. “Our goal is to bridge the gap between a capella and instrument-supported vocal performance. We’ve been enjoying singing together and trying to sing a little something for everyone, and I think people appreciate the authenticity of three dudes singing together because it’s fun and sounds good!” Having fun and finding what sounds good is how they became an unintentional trio. Upon meeting, Brendan asked Jim and Liam to sing a song with him in his parents’ stairwell as something fun to put on the internet. That first video of “Into the Unknown” went viral, so they decided to meet up again the next week. Except…COVID-19 struck and everything went into lockdown. Throughout the pandemic, as millions of people learned the spirit of resilience in the face of tragedy, Jim, Liam and Brendan leaned on each other. They found themselves diving into their music, their friendship, and their routine. They forged ahead, watching the second video for “Defying Gravity” go viral, as did the third, a performance of “When the Party’s Over.” Each cover earned them more and more buzz, with some videos reaching 250,000 views and multiple exceeding one million. As all of this was happening, they didn’t have an official name or the intention to turn it into something bigger. But for Jim, the fact that they stumbled on something so naturally–and effortlessly–only told them one thing: Keep going. “For me, that organic quality is what makes us work so well,” he says. “We just happened to be three high tenors who all have distinct solo voices and tones from our years of training in different genres, so our unique blend came to us much faster than if we had started from zero. Luck meeting years of preparation and training led to us finding the T.3 magic.” That magic extends beyond T.3 in their individual careers as well, as all three have been actively involved in performing on Broadway and various tours in the U.S., Canada and internationally. Brendan currently plays Art Garfunkel in the U.S./Canada Company of The Simon and Garfunkel Story and was recently seen as Malcolm McGregor in The Full Monty at North Shore Music Theater. Jim is a standby for Buddy in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Kimberly Akimbo, with additional Broadway national touring credits that include Waitress, The Phantom of the Opera and Spring Awakening. Liam recently starred in Broadway’s Chicago as Amos Hart and has toured the U.S. and Korea in School of Rock, in addition to Once, American Idiot and Peter Pan 360. As time went on, the group’s desire to ask what they could achieve together led to a chapter on national TV. In 2021, T.3 auditioned for Season 16 of America’s Got Talent with their rendition of “Into the Unknown,” from Frozen 2. In a video of the audition that, on its own, has garnered more than 4.3 million views on YouTube, the energy shift is visible the moment the members of T.3 sing their first note. The electrifying performance led to the audience springing to their feet in a standing ovation that each of the four judges shared. T.3 made its way into America’s homes all the way through the quarterfinals, simultaneously creating a loyal following while catapulting them to semi-permanent viral status on social media. Collectively, across Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, they are rapidly approaching one million social media followers. On TikTok alone, they have achieved more than 5.7 million likes. They release new videos constantly, with song selections ranging from Disney to Broadway and pop, even letting fans peek behind the curtain of their arrangements. That process is Brendan’s favorite part of being in the group. “The three of us sit around the piano and throw out ideas until the arrangement is finished,” he says. “It’s a very creative and spur-of-the-moment way of doing things, but it keeps it fresh. It forces us to push ourselves and do something new every single time.” In fact, each chapter of T.3’s musical journey together leads to something different, surprising and exhilarating, something fans will be able to experience more in-person. In addition to the recent release of their first original song (and the first with instrumental accompaniment) “Dilly Dilly,” the group is planning the release of their first EP, Option Up, on December 8. To celebrate the EP, T.3 will head out on an eight-city national tour Dec. 8-18, where fans will be able to hear (and feel) this deep and dynamic musicianship. One thing is for sure: Fans will experience that vocal harmony for which the group is known, as well as the harmony between each member’s individual roles of musician, performer and songwriter.