In the early days of Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, programming included an evening dedicated entirely to independent music. Initially, the Blue Carpet Opening Night festivities were focused on music and then later got moved to midweek as the Festival Centerpiece Concert. The evening would begin with a opening performance by a solo musician, followed by a presentation of music videos in competition. After the videos, a headline indie band would take to the stage.
This format was only used for the first four years before BWiFF began its World Cinema Centerpiece and moved from Palatine to Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect. While it lasted though, the festival featured some great performances by emerging artists likeDennis Florine, Chris Petlak, and Murley.
What are these artists up to today?
Dennis Florine released an album entitled Diggin’ into Grace and can be seen today playing shows all over the Midwest. Later this month, you can see Dennis at the Renaissance Schuamburg Convention Center Hotel on August 18 and August 25 at 7:00pm.
Chris Petlak, formerly Chicago’s WTMX 101.9’s “Social Media Chris,” has released a variety of performance clips on his YouTube channel, can be seen in The Jamz on Netflix, and performing comedy live in Los Angeles.
Murley performed their 10th anniversary show at Martyr’s in September of 2015, which was just a year after their last album release entitled Missing Time. Earlier this year, the band was seen performing at Arlington Park over the Memorial Day weekend. Upcoming performance dates are to be announced.Band Called Catch has just released a new single and music video (above) entitled “See You Soon”. The Band can be seen live on September 2 at 4:30pm in Chicago at Navy Pier during The Great American Lobster Fest.
