Featured Album

WXPN Radio

The premier guide for new and significant artists in rock, blues, and folk - including NPR-syndicated World Cafe ®

Listen Xpo

24/7 Musical discovery. A unique mix of emerging and heritage blues, rock, world, folk, and alt-country artists.

Singer Songwriter Radio

Featuring classics from heritage troubadours to new musicians and bands in the singer-songwriter tradition.

Folk Radio

Folk music radio streaming on the web; Americana, Roots Music, recordings, and stories from folk's best.
Listen Live

JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - Want More - Bloodshot

There’s a new sound in Chicago and it comes in the form of XPN Artist To Watch JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. Taking their name from Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, this four piece band goes beyond your typical soul revivalists. Following in the footsteps of standouts like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings or Austin’s Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Brooks and company cook up their own brand of soul stew. On their second album Want More you’ll hear a band that can produce some pure soul, add a dash of funk, rock with a punk-like attitude and even sweeten the mix with a little R&B.



Frontman JC Brooks comes from a background in theatre and naturally finds his groove on the stage. For the last few years, the band has been wowing audiences in and around Chicago and just recently signed to their hometown label, Bloodshot Records. Want More is their first album for Bloodshot and an introduction for many fans outside Chi-town. Energy is the first and last thing you get from JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound. From the funky opener “Want More,” Brooks and the band exude charisma. And the musicianship isn’t far behind.

Throughout Want More the band offers that undeniable groove that good soul music just thrives on. And as you fall into that comfort zone with these tunes, there’s a little surprise just a few songs in. Brooks leads a skillful re-working of “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” by fellow Chicagoans Wilco. It’s a can’t miss moment on Want More and even one that Jeff Tweedy must appreciate as he’s been known to drop in on occasion to see the band play live.

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound's, Want More
CD of The Month - January 2012

Check out the complete list of CD of the Month. Join the CD of the Month Club today.

Buy XPN's Featured Album of the Week, Want More at Amazon.com. Your purchase that starts here supports WXPN public radio.

Help Support WXPN

Non-COMM Recap: Going introspective with John Murry (photos, audio, setlist)

With just his guitar and his voice, Bay Area by way of Mississippi songwriter John Murry played an emotional, powerful set Wednesday...Read More

Non-COMM Recap: Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside dabble in retro rock (photos, audio, setlist)

Portland retro group Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside showed the Non-COMM crowd its rockability in a feisty set that closed out...Read More

Non-COMM Recap: The late night gets weird with Foxygen (photos, audio, setlist)

Quirky upstate New York four-piece Foxygen got crazy in a late-night Non-COMM set yesterday that blended Doors-esque poppy psychedelia...Read More

Non-COMM Recap: Robert Randolph makes steel strings sing and the crowd dance (photos, audio)

Slide guitar wizard and XPN favorite Robert Randolph got the downstairs crowd at World Cafe Live dancing in his Non-COMM set....Read More

Watch Surgeon perform “Greed” at Garage Mahal (playing Johnny Brenda’s on Sunday)

Local thrash / metal band Surgeon has been readying its long-in-the-making new full-length Chemical Reign for the past couple years...Read More