Soul Asylum

Saturday, July 23rd
8:00 p.m.

The Sheffield Garden Walk is excited to welcome Soul Asylum, an American alternative rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. First formed in 1981 from a group of high school friends, their triple-platinum album Grave Dancers Union was released in 1992. The album featured their Grammy Award-winning single, “Runaway Train,” as well as “Black and Gold” and “Somebody to Shove.” After a hiatus in the early 2000s, they reunited in 2004 to record their ninth full-length album, The Silver Lining, Soul Asylum’s long-awaited follow-up to the 1998 studio release Candy from a Stranger. "Stand Up And Be Strong," a single featured on the album, was chosen by ABC and ESPN for their college football coverage for the 2006-2007 season. Current band members Dave Pirner, Dan Murphy, Michael Bland, Tommy Stinson, and George Scott McKelvey carry on the tradition of the band as frontrunners of American college rock. Talk of a new album emerged in 2009, with a rumored release expected sometime this year.

See their performances of "Black Gold," "Somebody to Shove," "Runaway Train," and "Misery" on YouTube.

Mike Doughty

Saturday, July 23rd
6:00 p.m.

New to the Sheffield Garden Walk’s lineup, Mike Doughty is an American indie and alternative rock singer-songwriter. He led the band Soul Coughing in the 1990s before venturing out on his own in the 2000s. His best known songs include "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well" and "I Hear the Bells," both of which were featured on American television shows, as well as “Busting up Starbucks” and “27 Jennifers.” Doughty concedes that his upcoming album, Sad Man Happy Man – released October 6th on ATO Records – is a reaction to his fans’ reaction and that he’s giving the people what they want. Musically, Sad Man Happy Man finds Doughty returning to his acoustic roots thanks to its stripped-down arrangements that feature Doughty backing himself on guitar. Doughty maintains a widely read blog that chronicles his unique shows, international travels, and creative endeavors. He’s currently writing a memoir, recording an electronic album entitled Dubious Luxury, and working on a photo book about Eritrea’s capital city of Asmara, for Yeti Books. He also recently published a play, Ray Slape is Dead, in 24 by 24: The 24 Hour Plays Anthology, alongside Terrence McNally and Theresa Rebeck.

See his performances of "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well" and "Rising Up" on YouTube.

Kinetix

Saturday, July 23rd
4:00 p.m.

The Sheffield Garden Walk welcomes back Kinetix, a funk-rock-jazz group from Denver, for their second appearance at the festival. Kinetix received rave reviews for their set at the SGW in 2009. Described as an electrifying and charismatic live group by both critics and fans, this young band promises to be a crowd pleaser. Since their last SGW appearance, Kinetix had been consistently touring across the country to very positive reviews. Their most recent album Let Me In hit #47 on the iTunes Top 200 Rock Charts. Hot on the heels of their new album, a free acoustic show release, and an upcoming slew of major summer festival dates, it’s easy to call Kinetix in 2011 a “must-see” live act. Simply put, they’re the type of band that reminds you why it’s fun to let loose.

See their performances of "Lights Out" and "People Start Hopping" on YouTube.

Revivalists

Saturday, July 23rd
2:30 p.m.

The Sheffield Garden Walk has a long history of featuring bands from the great music city of New Orleans. The Revivalists, formed in 2007, have earned their standing among the best young bands in New Orleans. The group’s combination of danceable rock and soulful songwriting has made them instrumental in the growth of New Orleans’ burgeoning indie rock scene, gaining them success and notoriety in the city’s competitive musical landscape. The Revivalists are regulars in New Orleans at The Howlin’ Wolf, The Republic, and the legendary Tipitina’s. They have been touring the Southwest and recently made it to Chicago with two sold out shows at Martyr’s, on the same bill with the Rebirth Brass Band. They played the 2010 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where they caught the attention of Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke, who wrote about their performance on his blog on rollingstone.com. The Revivalists are currently working on their follow up to Vital Signs with Galactic and Trombone Shorty Producer Ben Ellman.

See their performances of "Catching Fireflies" and "Appreciate Me I" on YouTube.

Brighton, MA

Saturday, July 23rd
1:15 p.m.

The Sheffield Garden Walk is happy to bring back Brighton, MA, who opened for the first time at the Sheffield Garden Walk in 2008. Brighton, MA is a five-piece rock band from Chicago. Named for lead singer/songwriter Matt Kerstein's hometown, Brighton, MA has existed in various forms since 2006. In the past year, founding members Kerstein, Sam Koentopp, and Jim Tuerk have been joined by Joe Darnaby and Jon Ozaksut to develop their most cohesive sound to date. Brighton, MA has built a reputation in Chicago and the Midwest on a series of blistering live performances and a catalog of undeniably appealing and well-crafted songs, heard on such prime-time television shows as Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, and Castle. The diversity of songs has led them to share the stage with a number of noteworthy and disparate-sounding performers, from Old 97s, Elvis Perkins, and Mason Jennings to Man Man, The Essex Green, and Appleseed Cast, to name a few. With an ever-expanding catalog and a quickly-building fan base, Brighton, MA is a band on the rise and poised to break through. The band currently is working on their as-yet untitled third LP, a follow-up to Amateur Lovers, released in 2008, and their self-titled debut EP, released in 2007.

See their performance of "Sunblinded" and live in St. Louis in 2009 on YouTube.

Archie Powell & The Exports

Saturday, July 23rd
12:15 p.m.

Chicago-based Archie Powell has an ironic chic, chintzy underground appeal and a desire to make his mark on an art form that may have reached its limits of expansion and deconstruction. This was made abundantly clear with the release of the band’s first effort, The Loose Change EP, an internet-only gratis download that instantly expanded their audience to a national level. This initial warning shot garnered much critical praise with writers favorably plugging their gritty pop aesthetic and relatable sardonic lyricism. Building upon the acclaim of their EP, Archie Powell & The Exports continues to fight the good fight for all that is great in the world of rock and roll: clever, memorable tunes that dig deep in your brain and move in to stay. Skip Work, their debut full length, is music that bears many faces with raucous garage rock, pop sensations, and slow burners fused into great tunes full of twentysomething restlessness and dark humor.

See their performances of "Enough About Me" and "Skip Work" on YouTube.