The Ataris are four friends creating words and music in the basements and dive bars of the world, while young souls pile into the microphone and spill beer into our effects pedals. Honest stories and organic sounds, chock full of heart, sincerity and beautiful mistakes. Played loud and recorded to analog tape.

Sixteen years of traveling the world, several broken down vans and five full length studio albums. The Ataris album “So Long, Astoria” included the tracks “In This Diary” and “The Saddest Song” and sold upwards of 850,000 copies earning the band it’s first gold record.

The Ataris’ singer/songwriter Kristopher Roe released his first full length solo acoustic album “Hang Your Head in Hope” in November 2011.

All songs were recorded in one take, no edits, no overdubs, using vintage 1940’s ribbon microphones and a 1948 Gibson J-45 guitar.

The album contains familiar tracks stripped down as well as a several brand new songs which will later appear on The Ataris forthcoming album “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” in actual full band arrangements.

Dan Vapid & the Cheats is an exciting new Chicago punk rock quartet, formed several months after The Methadones’ breakup and fronted by the legendary Dan Vapid of Screeching Weasel, Riverdales, Methadones, Sludgeworth, Noise By Numbers, Mopes and Queers fame. The lineup features Dan Vapid (vocals/guitar), Mike Byrne (ex-Methadones/guitar), Simon Lamb (ex-Screeching Weasel/bass) and Mike Soucy (The Bomb/ex-Methadones/drums). After friends and fans from all over the world urged Vapid, he took to the stage May 27th at Chicago’s Cobra Lounge, performing a variety of songs he wrote in the last 20 years. The crowd had an overwhelmingly positive reaction and Dan Vapid & the Cheats had a ton of fun playing the songs. and have since been planning more shows. Dan Vapid & the Cheats will be recording a full length record in October. The Cheats’ debut album is too fresh for a title, but will be available to the world in 2012. Stay tuned to Dan Vapid & the Cheats’ Facebook page for up-to-date info and while you’re there, become a fan if you haven’t already. You will not want to miss hearing the arsenal of defining anthems we all know and dearly love that only Dan Vapid can deliver, as well as what they have in store.

Musician/Songwriter. Lead singer of Smoking Popes. Worship Leader at Village Church of Barrington IL.

The Hideout Sessions stands as a powerful and highly listenable document of Smoking Popes frontman Josh Caterer stretching out with a new band of accomplished players for a one-night-only, live-to-tape recording. The album is being released by Pravda Records on 12” vinyl LP in gatefold sleeve, CD, as digital download and via streaming platforms on March 26.

On October 28th, 2020, Caterer joined forces with John San Juan (Hushdrops) and John Perrin (NRBQ) to rock out 21st century versions of songs your grandparents used to dance to “back in the day.” They covered a few Popes songs, too. It was an inspired evening of music.

The recording took place on stage at the Hideout, one of Chicago’s most beloved intimate music venues. Due to the pandemic, the Hideout’s doors had been closed to the public for several months, and the room had to be empty for this performance, save for the skeleton crew of sound engineers who captured the event. As Josh and his band recorded the album, the entire thing was live-streamed as a ticketed virtual concert.

The result was a high-quality rock show – raw, sweet, honest and cathartic. Harnessing the unique blend of punk energy and Sinatra-style sophistication that has made Caterer’s work with the Smoking Popes so enduring, The Hideout Sessions throws a surprising mix of musical ingredients into the power-pop blender, and what comes out is a truly satisfying and savory sonic experience.