March is traditionally when the city starts to unfreeze and Chicagoans begin exploring greater musical options in clubs and theaters. This inaugural list serves as your curated set of highlights for the month.
Rather than recommend the obvious marquee stars playing the usual sports sheds, the following 10 shows reflect the variety of styles and genres thriving at midsize and smaller venues. Any night of the week in Chicago is a good one for music. Here’s where to start.
(Thoughts on our choices? Have some to recommend? Email arts@wbez.org.)
Mama Digdown’s Brass Band
8 p.m. March 1 and March 2 at the Green Mill
Wander around New Orleans and you’re likely to come across one of the city’s many brass bands — loud, funky and tailored to get the street dancing. Mama Digdown’s Brass Band is the rare Midwest equivalent. Hailing from Madison, Wisc., the group has been playing New Orleans street music for 30 years and has blazed a reputation across the Midwest. But they’re now considered legit even in the Crescent City itself. This is the band’s annual weekend set of shows at the storied Uptown jazz club. 4802 N. Broadway; tickets from $20.
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John Primer and the Real Deal Blues Band
9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. March 2 at Rosa’s Lounge
When guitarist John Primer moved to Chicago in 1963 from his native Mississippi, the legends of Chess Records were already stars. Eventually he joined them, playing long stretches with Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and Junior Wells, among others. These are special birthday shows celebrating his 79th birthday at one of the liveliest storefront juke joints in Chicago, located in West Humboldt Park. 3420 W. Armitage Ave.; tickets from $20.
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The Flat Five
5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. March 2 at FitzGerald’s
This Chicago quintet is a cherished presence on Chicago’s music scene as all five members have prolific side careers as solo artists and side players for people like Mavis Staples, the Decemberists, Neko Case and NRBQ. Together they mine the playlists of 1960s-1970s pop radio as well as the strange and wonderful song catalog of Chicago songwriter Chris Ligon. 6615 W. Roosevelt Road, Berwyn; tickets from $25.
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Bruce Hornsby and yMusic
7 p.m. March 10 at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston
Pianist Bruce Hornsby was a radio hitmaker in the late 1980s and early 1990s, an honorary member of the Grateful Dead, a collaborator with Bon Iver and, over the last few decades, an experimental pop composer who has reshaped his hits into compelling new shapes. This show is a collaboration with yMusic, a Brooklyn classical chamber ensemble. 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; tickets from $49.
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Natalies Woods Play Roland Kirk
8:30 p.m. March 13 at Constellation
Saxophone great Rahsaan Roland Kirk died in 1977, but his creative legacy, renown for playing multiple instruments at once and genre-spanning compositions have made him a totem for experimental-minded musicians. Chicago saxophonists Juli Wood, Natalie Lande and Natalie Scharf will perform his most challenging work in a sextet setting. 3111 N. Western Ave.; no cover.
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Sons of the Silent Age
8 p.m. March 16 at Space
This mighty Chicago ensemble built a glowing reputation for paying homage to the legacy of David Bowie with special guests such as Sinéad O’Connor, Shirley Manson and Michael Shannon. Ex-Ministry/RevCo player Chris Connelly is the only singer in town who can match Bowie’s stature; his mighty vocals combined with this dynamic band create the unthinkable, making you temporarily forget these are vintage Bowie songs. Instead, they pull you into their majesty in real time. 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston; tickets from $25.
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Danny Brown
9 p.m. March 20 at Metro
Detroit rapper Danny Brown’s 2011 album XXX was a commercial breakthrough that avoided the cliches of the genre by mixing Detroit techno, psychedelia, alt-rock and compelling storytelling. Quaranta, a sixth album released in late 2023, is similarly ambitious, featuring experimental twists, vintage beats and a psychedelic haze with tales of heartache and spiritual yearning. 3730 N. Clark St.; tickets from $28.50.
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Sleater-Kinney with Black Belt Eagle Scout
7:30 p.m. March 21 at the Riviera Theatre
The Pacific Northwest’s Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein are continuing the legacy of this enduring art-rock band whose attributes are best appreciated live. They are touring with a new record, Little Rope, and with opener Katherine Paul, who is known professionally as Black Belt Eagle Scout and grew up in the Pacific Northwest’s Swinomish Indian Tribal community. She dazzled in a Pitchfork set last summer. 4746 N. Racine Ave.; tickets from $39.
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The Children’s Hour
9 p.m. March 26 at the Hideout
This is a 21-year reunion of this Chicago indie pop duo whose first record, SOS JFK, was praised by BBC tastemaker John Peel and convinced Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan to take the band on a U.S. tour with his post-Pumpkins band Zwan. A long-awaited second album, Going Home, is new on Chicago’s Drag City label. 1354 W. Wabansia Ave.; tickets from $12.
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Rachel Drew
8 p.m. March 28 at FitzGerald’s
This Chicago singer-songwriter is a ubiquitous presence around town and, over the years, she has honed her own brand of country soul and folk. This show is particularly special: It’s a release party for her long-awaited new record, Old Sky New. 6615 W. Roosevelt Road, Berwyn; tickets from $15.
Mark Guarino is a journalist based in Chicago and the author of Country & Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival.
