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The Denise La Grassa Band stands at the crossroads where reverence meets rebellion. Steeped in the spirit of their blues elders - Howlin’ Wolf’s growl, R.L. Burnside’s Hill Country trance-grooves, Albert King’s molten soul, the earthy groove of Booker T. and the sassy sounds of Memphis Minnie - the band treats those influences with deep respect, even devotion. But La Grassa refuses to let tradition become a cage. Instead, she and the band honor the blues by taking music they love and inject it with a fresh sound.That style fits alongside current bands who blend the blues with their own style, including The Tedeschi-Trucks Band, Eric Johanson, Shemekia Copeland, Adia Victoria, and Beth Hart. Music grounded in blues, but never beholden to it. La Grassa describes it as a "blend of swamp heat, Chicago muscle, and spiritual mystique.” It’s music that is soulful, riveting, and unafraid to take exciting turns.
La Grassa herself has never been one to play it safe. A Chicago native with a daredevil streak – as a teen, she set a world record on the trapeze on a dare and toured the country post-college with the Second City Improv troupe - she’s made a career out of risk-taking by reinventing herself, pushing her voice, and writing with an honesty and ferocity that match her stage presence. Her fascination with the Hill Country groove and Memphis soul sprinkled with hints of jazz give her songs a deep-blue backbone with instincts as a songwriter stretching beyond genre lines.
The band’s upcoming nine-song album “A Crossroads Communion” dropping June 5 is their boldest move yet: a rockin’ blues statement that honors the past while offering fresh sounds. The album, made possible through an award from the Illinois Arts Council Agency Creative Accelerator Fund, includes a raw, heartfelt take on Albert King, hints of Led Zeppelin’s ferocity, and stories featuring La Grassa's powerful, soulful voice that wrestle with the moral crossroads of the last decade. La Grassa writes about people giving in to their worst impulses—and challenges listeners to choose light over darkness, community over chaos, and the teachings of Jesus over the seductive pull of social media.
Live, the band is a force: swampy, soulful, roaring when needed, tender when it matters. They don't replicate the past—they resurrect its spirit and send it forward with a spark that is unmistakably their own. The Denise La Grassa Band stands ready to remind audiences what modern blues can be: reverent but restless, rooted but roaming, fierce, faithful, and fearlessly alive.
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Event Venue
Chant Restaurant in Hyde Park, 1509 E 53rd St,Chicago, Illinois, United States
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
