A few months ago I got to sit down with Trecka and his band Pillars and Tongues after they played the High Mayhem Festival. Trecka is not only a great musician but a really smart and articulate guy who made my music crush on him grow even more. Pillars and Tongues is a pretty experimental and somewhat difficult band but one that, if you let yourself get into it, can bring a wonderful catharsis. At least it did me the first time I saw them. Trecka and crew brought me to tears, the kind of tears that I had to hold back from sobbing so as not to interrupt the music. I still drive around with the CDs I bought from them that night in my car and will only listen to those CDs when I'm alone and need to have a moment. By the way, as depressing as that might sound it wasn't. Yes, I was almost sobbing but it was one of those happy breakdowns where I simply let go of all of my joy and pain in the same moment and felt lighter than air afterward.

The next two times Pillars and Tongues played I missed it. First due to a migraine and then a family emergency that took me out of town.

So unless my leg is severed sometime in the next 5 hours I will be there front and center, no matter what.

Trecka's solo work is a lot more accessible than Pillars' too, though no less emotional. In fact, on his myspace page he even describes it as sounding like "you've really lost it." Bring a friend people, we're all going to need hugs after this.

Trecka and his folky, bluesy acoustic guitar are joined by another Chicagoan, Meander, the perfect adjective for Mandy Ellis' gentle folk.

For real people, check it! I don't care how much booze you imbibed last night, you owe it to yourselves to see and support these amazing musicians. It'll make you a better person.