Crossroads Presents: Ryley Walker / Circuit Des Yeux

Ryley Walker is the reincarnation of the true American guitar player. He lived a mundane life, raised on the banks of the Rock River in northern Illinois, but things started to pick up for him when he moved to Chicago in 2007 and briefly attempted a collegiate lifestyle. After a few years of wasted, finger-bleeding basement shows under the names \”Heatdeath\” and \”Wyoming,\” Walker firmly established his name locally. Hardship, setbacks, and dilapidated housing only seem to spur Walker in a creative direction. With each of his records, he risks limiting his access to personal disaster by flirting with success. But his short lifetime of practice and discipline has resulted in a masterpiece of an album.

Haley Fohr’s music strikes a unique balance between the personal and universal. As Circuit des Yeux she creates music that embodies the complexity of human emotions, juxtaposing tenderness and grief, ecstasy and horror, while using sounds as representations of the emotional spectrum that we all experience. Fohr’s striking voice, an impassioned baritone, is the music’s centerpiece and guiding force. On In Plain Speech, Fohr is joined by some of the most progressive musicians in the Chicago music community: Cooper Crain (Cave, Bitchin Bajas), Whitney Johnson (Verma), Rob Frye (Bitchin Bajas), Adam Luksetich (Little Scream), and Kathleen Baird (Spires That in the Sunset Rise). Fohr cements her reputation as a fearless songwriter and inventive arranger with this stirring collection of songs that are both gorgeous and emotionally potent. Extensive touring after Circuit des Yeux’s acclaimed 2013 album Overdue influenced the making of the album in several ways.

Admission: $12 in advance / $14 day of show (standing room only)