My Italian family hails from Chicago’s Southside. I’ll be traveling home this weekend to celebrate my mom’s 80th birthday...which got me thinking about those roots...both familial and musical. You see...my dad grew up in the Roseland community which helped birth two iconic Chicago-based bands...Styx...and of course...Chicago. He was actually in the same high school graduating class as Chicago’s Peter Cetera. Check out this crazy photo from his senior yearbook. That’s my dad (Nerio) at the top left and Cetera at the bottom right.

He would often tell stories about his classmate “Pete” and how he was always playing in some band or another during their high school years. I’ve been a fan of Chicago’s music for as long as I can remember....and have had the great fortune to see them in concert on a number of occasions. So for this week...as I prepare to travel home to visit family...I thought I would share some of those musical memories during Joe’s Garage from a band that started the same year my parents were married in that same neighborhood. They had a sound unlike any other band...before or since. “Rock n Roll With Horns.” It just doesn’t get much better!