Two of the finest in Chicago’s country and independent music scenes, Jess McIntosh & Aaron Smith met as old time players steeped in the sounds and rhythms of American string band music. Both highly versatile performers with credits that run the gamut of today’s creative music circles, they retain a deep love for traditional songs and melodies. Their aim as a duo is not merely to reproduce the music that inspired them early on, but to celebrate its lasting vitality. They perform songs and tunes old and new, from high energy breakdowns to stirring vocal duets and everything in between. It’s old time music the way it should be played: dynamic and gritty, with an unfaltering groove and a real sense of adventure.