Champaign-Urbana locals Jonathon Childers and Jared Michael Park banded together with a couple friends last summer to form The Leadership, and their self-produced debut album Frontiers is a polished rock gem. Childers, formerly an acoustic folk singer/songwriter, takes up electric guitar and vocals for The Leadership, while Park, a former drummer, contributes guitar, keys, and vocals, along with the skills of Zane Ranney (drums) and Chris Jones (bass), cranking things up with a rowdy alt-country/rock sound. Citing Jay Bennett and Sun Ra as influences as well as Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon and Yes, the group establishes a clear legacy to seminal alt-country Illinois bands Uncle Tupelo and (early) Wilco. Those are big shoes to fill, and I’ll be interested to see where The Leadership goes next. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | The Hold Steady, Sunset Stallion, These United States, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco