CMPtv OnStage featuring Kid Static

Chicago hip hop phenom, Kid Static, performs two songs for your viewing pleasure. Filmed live at the Double Door for CMP's summer local music showcase.

CMP OnStage: Kid Static "Speak the Truth/World Goes Round" from Chicago Music Project on Vimeo.

Claire Stahlecker @ Uncommon Ground

Chicago Music Project generally tends to stay in their native Wicker Park neighborhood for shows, save for the occasional show at the Metro. So when the guys sent me over to The Uncommon Ground for an their back room session, I was a bit skeptical. I hadn't gone to Wrigleyville in a very long time. But a musician that's able to hold down a month long residency is probably someone worth checking out.

Not knowing quite what to expect, I ordered a beer and enjoyed the show. Taylor Mallory, another young local singer/songwriter, was in the middle of his last song - which he was performing with two guys from Fly Pheonix.

The room filled up and Claire finally took the stage. The way she started engaging the audience pretty much set the tone to how her performance would be. Her songs were all stories of her life, and experiences she's had through her ripe age of 21. Love and heartbreak, self realization and trying to find her place in life were common themes in her music that really seemed to speak to the people who watched and listened attentively.

Although the audience mostly consisted of friends and family for this occasion, it was as though they were listening to her for the first time. She can play the hell out of the guitar and really take you on a journey through her storytelling. Really putting meaning behind her songs has left me with a lingering impression of Claire (and the concept behind singer/songwriters), and at times I think of her raw voice that filled the air with pieces of her life. I felt that for an hour, I too was a part of her life. And I know that if I asked her, she'd tell me I actually was.