Chicago’s Sanctified Grumblers formed in the Spring of 2009 when Rick Sherry (Devil in a Woodpile) and Eric Noden started writing songs together. Their music succeeds in the challenge of combining the sounds of roots music’s pre-electric past with the narration of modern universal themes; tales of love, communication break-downs, and good time grooves.

Between Noden and Sherry, Sanctified Grumblers’ sound is formed from a mesh of finger picking resonator guitar, washboard, harmonica, 6-string banjo, and clarinet. The trio’s third musical leg is alternated between the dog-house bass of Texas ex-patriot Beau Sample and the sousaphone of Mike Hogg.

The band’s first release “no lie” was released in the spring of 2011. It contains seventeen acoustic cuts, sixteen of which were penned by the band. These sessions were greatly enhanced by the skills of friends Jim Becker (Califone, Iron & Wine) on fiddle, mandolin, and saw, Mike Reed (People, Places, Things) on drums, and Tom V. Ray (Neko Case, Bottle Rockets, Jakob Dylan, Devil in a Woodpile) on banjo and ukelele.

The band has also performed behind delta blues legend Honeyboy Edwards and Chicago harmonica great Billy Boy Arnold.