Chicago Farmer & The Fieldnotes w/ Eleganza! & Baby Grant Johnson at Turf Club

The son of a small-town farming community, Cody Diekhoff logged plenty of highway and stage time under the name Chicago Farmer before settling in the city in 2003. Profoundly inspired by fellow Midwesterner John Prine, he’s a working-class folk musician to his core. His small-town roots, tilled with city streets mentality, are turning heads North and South of I-80.

“I love the energy, music, and creativity of Chicago, but at the same time, the roots and hard work of my small town,” he shares. Growing up in Delavan, Illinois, with a population less than 2000, Diekhoff’s grandparents were farmers, and their values have always provided the baseline of his songs.

He writes music for “the kind of people that come to my shows. Whether in Chicago or Delavan, everyone has a story, and everyone puts in a long day and works hard the same way,” he says. “My generation may have been labeled as slackers, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t work hard - many people I know put in 50-60 hours a week and 12-hour days. That’s what keeps me playing. I don’t like anyone to be left out; my music is for everyone in big and very small towns.”

"I don’t know the reason, or even if there’s one,” sings Brian Vanderwerf in the opening track of Eleganza’s Water Valley High LP (Dial Back Sound, April 2022). Despite Brian’s undoubted place amongst underground rock’s singing MVPs, the past decade has given many in his position little reason to hustle. Love of the game? Fuck that! This is all they’ve got! Water Valley High is the sound of a band punching its way out of a corner, once again finding ring center in a scene of royal outcasts.

Baby Grant Johnson is a solo musician playing mostly Blues and Ragtime material some original some traditional. Accomplished guitarist, 12-String acoustic, Bottleneck style and 6-String acoustic.