John Austin

w/ Scott Greenberg
John Austin moved to Chicago, just after high school, and began performing on street corners and in subway stations. After winning a national song-writing contest, he began recording his first album, with Mark Heard as producer. Austin's The Embarrassing Young introduced the music world
to an artist rich in both melodies and lyrics.

Austin lived out of his car after leaving Illinois, ending up some time later in Atlanta to begin work on Byzantium. The CD was acclaimed as a "do-it-yourself masterpiece" by Performing Songwriter Magazine. Austin's fourth album, the self-produced If I Was A Latin King, was released in 1998. The album revisits Austin's encounter with gang violence in Chicago, and is filled with Latin rhythms and musical styles; it is a sonic and often experimental concept album that cruises the back streets of
violence, love, death, and hope. In 2002, Austin released his latest album, Busted at the Pearly Gates. It continues to prove that Austin is a
vitally important singer/songwriter.

Armed with a fistful of pure power pop sensibility and cowpunk energy, Scott Greenberg is not your father's folk singer. In the past several years, he's played at Lili's, Jacoby's, The Blue Note and Xhedos. He also performed on the unplugged stage at the 2000 and 2001 Arts, Beats and Eats Festival in Pontiac. He draws influences from Bruce Springsteen, Marshall Crenshaw and Big Star.