Festival Centerpiece Concert to Highlight Local Musicians
The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival (BWiFF) will be presenting its signature Blue Carpet at the Cutting Hall Performing Arts Center for the fourth year in a row, making the Palatine Park District facility the site of an up-and-coming cultural event. Over the course of eight days, the festival will present over forty films from around the world. Midway through the week, however, the focus of the festival will take a slight change of pace. Wednesday, July 24th is BWiFF’s annual music night, the Festival Centerpiece Concert. Held at Palatine's Durty Nellie's, the centerpiece will feature seven official selection music videos and live performances from local musicians Murley and Chris Petlak.
Murley (formerly Murley Shertz) derives inspiration from the city, cleverly blending characteristics of the Midwest with rock, blues, and indie influences to create their unique sound. Band mates Scott Burdsall, Ryan Curtis, Travis Hall, and Dave Wilson have banded together to produce two albums.The first, Sold As We Sleep, was released in 2009; the album went a long way to help establish Murley as a staple of the Chicago music scene. Hayward, their second effort, was released in 2011. Recorded at I.V. Lab Studios and produced by Manny Sanchez (Umphrey’s McGee; Fall Out Boy’s frontman, Patrick Stump), the album remains true to the band’s themes of music with intricate melodies and solid grooves and serves as a compilation of the band’s best work to date.
Opening for Murley is Chris Petlak, a northwest suburban native. Practically a BWiFF tradition, Petlak has played every year at the festival, making him a long-time veteran. Petlak’s music sounds like a mixture of pop acoustic with smatterings of jazz, hip-hop, and the music “your mom has been listening to for years”.
On top of the two live performances, the night will feature the screening of seven official selection music videos from artists like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (“Home”) and Bianca and Chiara D’Ambrosio.
The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival runs July 21st through July 28th. To see the full program of events and screenings, visit BWiFF.com. Tickets and passes are available in-person at the Cutting Hall Box Office (open Wednesday through Saturday from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.), as well as online 24/7 at CuttingHall.org.