Vanilla Monk plays Saturday at Raue Center

After years of playing in and around the Crystal Lake/Chicago area, local musician Craig Stevens will be back in town with his band Vanilla Monk to perform a concert Nov. 29 at Raue Center for the Arts. Craig moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., in the summer of 2000 during which time he paired up with singer/songwriter and longtime friend Matt Farr to form Vanilla Monk.

In 2006, Stevens and Farr started work on recording an original album. Envisioning a dynamic, down-tempo and versatile selection of music that would appeal to a broad audience, "Parallels" was released in the fall of 2007.

Since the early days of the band the live version of Vanilla Monk has changed and takes on a whole new life with the addition of lead guitarist Chris Condon and drummer Adam Piccoli. Condon is a musician with disciplines in jazz, blues and rock. Piccoli, whose energy and groove is contagious on stage, has been playing drums since the age of 5.

Vanilla Monk is developing the unique character the group was hoping for. Departing from the norm, and bringing a new sound, a new vibe, that reaches out to a wide variety of music fans. Listen to some of their newly released songs at www.myspace.com/vanillamonk.

See them live at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29 at the Raue Center, 26 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake. Tickets are $30/$27 and can be purchased online at rauecenter.org or by calling the box office at (815) 356-9212.