This is a live taping of our song 17 Friends, originally aired on “Meanwhile in Chicago” on TGIS TV. The broad strokes of this tune are that community is as important an institution as the nuclear family, but there’s a lot more to it if you listen closely.

This taping originally aired on “Meanwhile in Chicago” on TGIS TV. This is one of our heavier (at times) songs. The arrangement is inspired by Big Star with a nod to Big Label 90s rock. Take a trip into the mind’s eye of Le Club Truantes!

‘Forever’ is a brand new song. This recording is the opening track on the live set BK&TC taped for the TGIS show ‘Meanwhile In Chicago.’

Meanwhile in Chicago is a live broadcast TV show that airs monthly on Twitch. Hosted by Darien, Bill, and Miles, the show covers current events in Chicago related but not limited to politics, culture, and music.

Throwing back to a stripped down duo performance Maria and I did at a fundraiser for my play “Fairfield is Beautiful.” Mounting that production with Zach Hebert directing stands out as an exciting pre-quarantine live performance memory. The most recent time the full Truancy Club band performed also happened to be at Cafe Mustache. Love that venue and can’t wait to be on their stage again soon. Stay up on what Mustache is up to food, drink, and streaming entertainment-wise at http://cafemustache.com.

Honored to be included in such a broad and dense swath of Chicago music on Aftermath: Chicago Unites for Puerto Rico. Get it at the link below and know that your $$ will be going where it is still very much needed. Congratulations and thanks to Mike Sugarman at Groove Cafe for putting this together!

Recently got to chat with Ari Mejia for CHIRP Radio about songwriting and banding:

http://chirpradio.org/podcasts/bret-koontz

Looking forward to playing a full band jawn on this nite of nites!

It was my extreme pleasure to return to the west coast for a jaunt with dear friends John Bellows, Glenn Hendrick, and Sydney Roth. Some highlights include a show in a 100+ year old cabin (audio forthcoming), playing on Berkeley Public Media TV (video forthcoming), a night of Twin Peaks vibes and paranoia in Redding, CA (video and audio redacted) & catching a glimpse of deep Chicago and Nashville friends who are now LA rezzies. Thanks so much to everyone who facilitated, played, and listened. Thanks also to John and Glenn for their friendship and music and to Sydney for the same plus singing with me every night. Below is our route for your sleuthing pleasure and the only three photos I’ve got to prove it all even happened.

Being filmed turning 36 on community TV in Berkeley with Sydney Roth. Photo by Glenn Hendrick.

Glenn with horse and cop as John and Rio the dog pose in background as runner approaches in Oakland.

Tarot reading administered by Glenn at a juice bar in LA. Youch, that’s a lot of swords! Also, that sun card was reversed so wish me luck.