After a year of exchanging demos, Chicago's Angie Mead and Stephen Howard (formerly of Pinebender) teamed up in early 2011 to form the duo Redgrave. Mead has spent years as a publicist and talent buyer and Stephen Howard's been a working musician since he was thirteen years old. As Redgrave, Mead's bluesy riffs and haunting vocals play off Chicago scene vet Howard's rumbling behind the drum kit. The group caught the attention of some impressive folks, including Jesus Lizard's David Yow and Tim Rutili of Califone -- both contributors to to the band's 2011 2 Song 7" on Lovitt Records.

Always on the search for new sounds to assault the saki Records soundsystem, Epitonic and saki booked Redgrave to blast through a session back in November. With their signature heavy blues sound, the two-piece ushered in the gloomy sounds of winter. Brooding and tense, the wall of sound Mead and Howard created was unlike any other EsS. Deconstructed down to pulsing, gritty chords and crashing, expansive rhythms, the duo's sound growled and resonated all throughout the 3700 block of Fullerton Avenue.