Scotch Hollow began when Mark Verbeck met Carley Martin while they were both attending Berklee College of Music. The music he made on guitar, slide and ukulele was a perfect match for her full range vocals. Their mutual love for the blues, traditional country and roots music brought them together to form the successful Scotch Hollow. After graduation they toured regionally and played in Nashville for a couple years. When the wind blew them north in 2008, they temporarily switched their name and direction with the funk rock band named Bandit Runner. After a short run, Mark unfortunately came down with a severe case of tendonitis that put the brakes on all musical pursuits for the next 2 years. Determined to not be thrown off course, Mark, using various apps on his Ipad, continued writing music and eventually found himself with a whole catalogue of new music. After he was majority of the way healed, Mark contacted his friend and former band mate Albert Dingnus to start arranging his songs for physical instruments. To their surprise, music seemed to flow out of them like water from a faucet and the beginning of the New Scotch Hollow started to develop. After allot of hard work, practice, and gigs; Mark, Carley, and Albert found themselves with a new band, sound, and a fresh new EP that would show the world who Scotch Hollow exactly was.

Dan Whitaker & The Shinebenders are a modern day honky-tonk band from Chicago, IL. They have been entertaining audiences since 2003 with countless performances in Chicago and the Mid West and two full length albums to date.

The Shinebenders, the band that makes the magic flow, includes Earl Powers on bass and occasional vocals, Belden “Trip” Kimball on acoustic guitar and vocals, Chase Jackson on drums and Gabriel Stutz on pedal steel.

Dan Whitaker is a long time Chicago based singer, song writer,and guitarist. Whitaker’s past associations go back to the late 1980’s with DeKalb IL. punk-funk-rockers June Bug Massacre, 1990’s with the Americana/blues/rock band Great Plains Gypsies, and most recently Chicago jam-rockers The Gyps. He currently also plays in Western Grand, a Chicago Americana/rock band featuring Jay Harris.