Noon

Benjamin Wagner has been working the New York club scene for over ten years, self-releasing ten LPs along the way. Famed "Idiot's Delight" host Vince Scelsa described him as "extraordinary." R.E.M. front man Michael Stipe dubbed him a "future superstar." VH1 News called his songs, "Timeless." The New York Press, says "He's Ryan Adams without the 'tude, Pete Yorn without the hair, John Denver without the glasses, Dave Matthews without the dance moves."

As a high schooler reveling in bands like the Replacements and the Pixies (he even does a "twisted" cover of the Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man"), Wagner strapped on a Martin acoustic and began playing in bands. Later at Syracuse University, he fronted the funky -- and popular -- local alt. pop band Smoky Junglefrog, opening for majors like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the Samples and Dada. Following the bands' demise, Wagner moved to New York City and began playing a wide array of clubs like the Mercury Lounge, Arlene Grocery and Brownie's.

1:15 p.m.

Mike Himebaugh is the lead singer of roots rock band Hello Dave, which he accidentally formed at Eastern Illinois University. Set on being a veterinarian at the time, Himebaugh curiously picked up an old acoustic guitar he found in the garage one day and taught himself to play. Deciding that being in a rock and roll band was way better than vet school, Himebaugh started rocking the Midwest and beyond.

Big Al Wetzel (bass player) and Mike MAGOO McGohan (electric guitar) joined Himebaugh and made Chicago their home in 1993. Hello Dave rocked clubs, bars and festivals in Chicago, toured the country, and even the world, gathering fans everywhere they went. In 2006 Peter Bauschke joined the band as the new drummer, and shortly thereafter, guitar-player Marty Williamson.

Together, the unique band created a fresh new sound dubbed “Chicago Twang.” Hello Dave is known for their addictive melodies, ringing harmonies and heart-felt and memorable lyrics. When the roaring guitar riffs mesh with the thunderous rhythm section, people can’t help but get up and dance.

2:30 p.m.

The members of She Swings, She Sways were all born in Iowa and raised within 30 miles of each other. Nobody could have known that beginning in 2005, the only thing separating them would be the number of trips they’ve each taken around the sun.

Since then, She Swings, She Sways has spent almost every minute together – sharing a house and completing five tours of the Midwest, playing over 200 shows. Their travels have resulted in many new friends and fans, a few broken hearts and the rescue of Sassafras, a horse stuck in a frozen Kansas pond.

She Swings, She Sways released a self-titled EP in the winter of 2005, which was quickly snatched up by audiences across the Midwest. July 2008 marked the release of their first full-length record, ”Wasted Love Songs.” The band describes their sound as “Midwestern” music. She Swings, She Sways’ range of influences is wide, combining rocking two-beat stomp, soulful lovelorn lyrics, and lilting pop melodies.

3:45 p.m.

Not much can get Bonne Finken down these days. A single mother who was diagnosed with cancer before the age of 21, Bonne won't let her challenging life experiences get in the way of her dreams. “I had a big reminder that life is short...winning my battle against cancer just fueled my desire to live out my life long dream of becoming a professional singer,” says Finken.

That dream led to “Soul on Display,” Finken’s debut album. Successfully mixing soulful lyrics with blistering rock vocals and deep melodic grooves, “Soul on Display” is an album experience that is both one of a kind and unforgettable. Along with her unique and sultry voice and heartfelt vocal stylings, Finken nearly explodes off the stage giving an emotional and energetic performance that will make her hard to forget long after you’ve left one of her shows.

Prior to her work on “Soul on Display,” Bonne honed her vocal skills as female vocalist in four separate bands; one hip-hop, one rock, one funk and one R&B pop. Having touched so many genres, Bonne Finken and her band, the Collective, now are prepared to unveil a new genre all their own.

5 p.m.

Ask any of the five members of Fat Andy where the band’s name comes from (although they are quite large for a rock band, none of them are fat or named Andy) and one will likely get five different stories. "We choose to let it live in legend," lead singer Will Petersen says mysteriously.

What is not a mystery is how the band came up with their unique sound. From playing trumpet with Jerry Lee Lewis to rapping with a folk rock band to playing heavy metal in high school, the boys of Fat Andy bring a variety of musical experiences to the group and recording studio; those experiences culminate in something they concisely call Americana Folk Southern-Alt Country Rock.

When the band formed in 2001, they were mostly doing cover songs. The transition to writing original music happened organically, says Petersen; when they started jamming as a band, the first song just flowed out of them. Realizing that they were on to something, they kept writing.

The result is their first album, “Motel Bottle Rocket.” Petersen compares the individual songs on the album to individual guests at a motel. "Each song is kind of like its own room filled with people with their own background and own sound," he says. "When you look at the album as a whole, it adds up to a place you’d want to come back to when you need to get away."

6:15 p.m.

Musician and record producer Todd Pipes has an obsession with time. It isn‘t so much an awareness of mortality as it is an amazement over the patterns that repeat from generation to generation, as a befuddlement over how he‘s arrived at responsible adulthood: “Things got crazy in my life. I blinked and I was a grown-up...I got my first record deal in ‘95, I‘ve been producing records since ‘99, and yet it seems like just a few months ago I was 18, living in a college dorm, teaching myself how to play Smiths songs."

Pipes big break came In 1996 when his band, Deep Blue Something, scored an international hit with “Breakfast at Tiffany‘s,” which reached number three on the U.S. charts, number one in the UK and found top five success in almost every country in the world.

In 2000 Pipes and his brother, Toby, opened Bass Propulsion Laboratories recording studio in Dallas. After years of working as a producer and session musician, Pipes realized he‘d owned the studio for almost a decade, but had yet to record one note of his own music there. And so in early 2008 he started writing. The result is the concept album “Taurus Petals,” the title being a homonymic reference to the Moog Taurus pedal keyboard. Pipes recorded, mixed, and played all the instruments himself, except for the drums.

7:30 p.m.

Based in Chicago and born in Iowa, singer/songwriter Dick Prall comes to his easygoing – and sometimes goofy – manner quite naturally. Though he readily admits to enjoying the embrace of company, it was Prall’s exploration of what he calls “autonomy” that brought a whole new spin to his latest work.

The product of that exploration is “Weightless.” The wanderlust lyrics, often dropping references to cars or the road, speak to a search for something, usually the truth, either about oneself or one's partner. The arrangements on “Weightless” carry the same light. There‘s violin throughout and a marimba-like instrument called a vibraceleste accenting the songs with a chiming ring. Plenty of space exists for guitar at the forefront and sing-a-long hooks. The crack group of musicians here, some of whom are bandmates involved with Prall‘s previous works, know when to add a swirling fill, and when to get out of the way. Most of all, the melodic voices of the characters in these songs float to the surface, recalling the album‘s title.

Prall’s previous albums include the critical and audience favorite “Fizzlebuzzie” in 2005; 2001‘s “Dressing Up The Failure,” a hard-driving pop album recorded under the name Starch Martins; and his first album, 1998‘s rootsy “Somewhere About Here,” recorded under the name The Dick Prall Band.

8:45 p.m.

Hailing from Iowa, The Josh Davis Band lives by the motto, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Formed in 2006, they had one goal – quite simply, to play rock ‘n’ roll.

Three studio albums later, they continue to fulfill that goal. Their new release, “Get Awesome,” is proof that music doesn’t need to be drastically reinvented to be listened to and enjoyed. The first single, “Messages from Mars,” has been getting consistent airplay – climbing as high as 3rd most requested song on 105.1 Channel Q in Ames, Iowa. In response to a question about his band’s plan for the future, all Josh said was, “Well, I’m not done yet.”

True to his words, Josh hasn’t stopped writing and the band spends time in the recording studio regularly. The Josh Davis Band continues to tour throughout the Mid-Western and Southern states to accommodate demands from their ever-growing fan base.