You Black Kettle, Rock and Roll. Indie folk pop, plastic soul. Chicago west side hipster dread. Corn fed trio, midwest bred. Adulthood misfits, childhood friends. You Black Kettle until the end. Six string drum kit bass guitar, sing in shower, sing in car. Songs about the way things might have been. Songs about building, songs about the end. We sing in the alley, we sing in the bar, play for the moon, play for the stars. You Black Kettle, what we do, we play for us, we play for you.

Robert Chinnici and Mark Meisinger started writing and recording under the moniker You Black Kettle in autumn 2007. Meisinger (previously in It’s a Wise Child) and Chinnici (previously in Planet of the Planets, and It’s a Wise Child) spent the end of 2007 and the majority of 2008 writing and recording the first YBK album-alt folk rock songs built up from bass and drum rehearsals, peppered with guitars. Reminiscent of Crazy Horse era Neil Young and Uncle Tupelo, these demos were designed to lure an old friend into the fold. Bryan Penrod (previously in Blue) joined YBK as a bassist in 2008 (he also plays ukulele, writing and recording as Uke) and adds a more psychedelic punk element. The three have been playing music together on and off for a decade or two.

YBK’s second album, That’s One Determined Horse (2009), brings a bigger, fuller sound, exploring heavier influences like Captain Beefheart (“Heartstrings”), The Stooges (“AKA”), Funkadelic (“Thing 1”), and old time string bands (“Better That Way”) Brad Knain became a working member assisting in production and keyboard work during this time.

YBK’s third album, Three, finds the band working again as a trio exploring a playful looseness on themes of love (“Little Things”), loss ( “Touching Ground”), revenge (“This Is The Day”), abandonment (“Family Man”), and addiction (“CheapThrills”). While mixing Three, You Black Kettle found time in December to record a whole new batch of songs in their near west side Chicago studio.

The Angel’s Share is their most sonically diverse, dance floor filling music yet. According to the boys, both albums have been made available to the public in 2012. What kind of music is this? You Black Kettle music, fool. You Black Kettle finds much of their inspiration in Math, English, Science, History and Social Studies, and further influences in blues, reds, whites, blacks, browns and yellows. You Black Kettle believes in magic.