| Ethan Sellers Music - 2025 In Review |
Hi Everybody- Ethan Sellers - musician, teacher, bandleader - here. 2025 was an exciting year for all of my musical endeavors - gigs, lessons, and recording. I'm filled with gratitude for my family, friends, clients, bandmates, and other collaborators. I'm looking forward to even more growth and adventures in 2026. I'd have to say that my biggest career excitement this year was traveling to Box, England, to record piano and vocal tracks for my rock band Tautologic at my hero (former Genesis frontman) Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios. Katie May, who engineered and played on Peter's most recent release, i/o, engineered the session. My bandmates and I recorded live basic tracks at Rax Trax Recording in Lakeview, Chicago with Grammy-nominated producer Rick Barnes. They all did a great job. I can't wait for you to hear the results, which - alas - won't be available for quite some time, as this is intended to be a double-album and we are less than halfway through tracking.
Logical Fleadh - the "rocked-out" version of Character Fleadh opened for Skerryvore at our second appearance at the Chicago Scottish Festival and Highland Games and for about a thousand people at the Shamrock and Roll St. Patrick's event in downtown Chicago, boogied up to play Duke's Alehouse in Crystal Lake, and just about froze our fingers to the bone playing at the St. Patrick's Day parade in Crown Point. Cold air, warm reception. Character Fleadh likewise played a headlining concert series slot to a thousand people at the Allerton Park (Monticello, IL), entertained seniors at Veteran's Park and Illinois State Fair attendees in Springfield, and held the capacity audience's rapt attention during our performance at Park Ridge Public Library. We are also grateful for the cozy home base that Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro offered us throughout this year, playing in multiple configurations.
I launched a Christmas/holiday music spin-off of my bluegrass band, Bourbon Aristocracy, extending our usual season. This year's public gigs included well-received performances at the City of Chicago's Sounds of the Riverwalk summer concert series, Lombard Historical Society's Food Truck Social, Barrington Area Library, Alsip-Merrionette Park Public Library, Bobby's Eastside in River Forest, and Apple Fest in Lincoln Square. We were also honored to perform gospel bluegrass at worship services for First Presbyterian Church in Libertyville and St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Barrington Hills. My Cajun/zydeco band Le Travaillant's schedule included a performance on WGN-TV, an enthusiastic crowd at the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Summer Concert Series, River Forest Public Library, Time Out Market, and a return engagement at the Illinois State Fair.
My soul band Chez Butter played wonderful community events, including its third annual performance for the concert series at the Crandon Community Garden in South Shore and the Portage Live! concert series in northern Indiana. I also got back into more regular solo acoustic gigging with performances for the non-profit Sharing Notes, playing a mix of rock and folk for cancer patients with Gilda's Club at Northwestern Memorial downtown and children's music and even some recent pop chart hits at La Rabida Children's Hospital in South Shore. It's been an honor and a reminder of the healing power of music. I hope that your winter holidays are treating you well, and that our paths will cross in 2026. Yours in music, Ethan Sellers |
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