Let the whoring of my blog begin.

So a couple of weeks ago roomie was invited to see a concert at Uncommon Ground and asked if I'd like to go along. Uncommon Ground is my favorite restaraunt in Chicago, so it didn't take much convincing.

Upon getting to the restaraunt we were quickly approached by one of the artists who introduced himself as Keith. Keith was adorable, kind of with an American Idol Elliott vibe, but way better looking. Not only did he tell us our meal was covered, but he also let me touch his shirt. Twice.

Keith played a great acoustic set, which was not the norm for him... apparently he puts on more of a rockin' show, but I thought he pulled off the mellow acoustic thing really well. Roomie says he reminds her a bit of having a Ryan Cabrera vibe, which I can absolutely see, although I like Keith more. And while Keith hasn't had as much exposure on MTV as Cabrera has, he did have a song on Laguna Beach, which is really impressive. I think my favorite song from his as yet unreleased CD (which he was kind enough to give us copies of) is "In My Head."

The next act was Ryan Auffenberg (also adorable). Ryan's music is usually mellow acoustic stuff, so Uncommon Ground was the perfect setting for him.

My favorite song was the first track on his (as of yet unreleased) CD which he also was nice enough to give us copies of. The song, "Under All The Bright Lights" reminds me a bit of Irish singer/songwriter David Hopkins, but maybe the connection is just because Hopkins album is titled "Here Comes the Bright Light." Or maybe Ryan is a fan...he does have the BEST MUSIC TASTE EVER (Loves the Frames AND Nada Surf.) Check out his myspace site.

So, seriously though, their music was very good, and that's not just the Mac and Cheese talking. And they are the nicest, coolest, funniest guys ever. Roomie and I loved them so much we went home and stayed up half of the night making them mix CDs for their journey back to California, posted below.

And just so everyone knows, I didn't sell myself and my opinion for a bowl of mac and cheese and some CDs...even though it was 8 year aged Irish Cheddar with tomato chutney. I really do like these guys. The next day we took Keith and Ryan, as well as their friend and bandmate Dave to Orange, on us (see, would a whore do that?) Keith had what he called salisbury french toast (ie. Chai Tea Latte French Toast) which he said was the best thing he had ever eaten (it is my favorite dish too.) I, instead, had the cereal themed pancake flight:

Dave said it was the Fab Four of pancakes. He was right... they tasted half dead (but looked great).

Anyway, you all must check out their music and see them. I can't wait for them to swing back through Chicago and do a couple more shows ;-)