Hey there, it's producer Joe DeSoe here for Curious City.

You hear that?

That's a pin dropping and a play smack dab in the middle of pretty much every music venue on any given night during the pandemic.

But Illinois Governor Pritzker has said, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot agrees that this week,

barring any significant reversals in key COVID-19 statewide indicators,

Illinois will move to phase five, normal business operations, free of pandemic-related mitigations,

as soon as Friday, June 11th.

That includes completely lifting crowd restrictions at every venue, from bar rooms to banquet halls.

And with that, the sounds of needles dropping, beats bumping, guitars wailing, and vocals

crooning will fill the air once again for full capacity crowds.

So with, as the city puts it, quote, things getting back to normal, we spoke with several

Chicago area musicians about how they've survived this last year.

You learn to spend less.

That's when you begin to value the essentials.

What do you actually need?

I got to interact with individuals, which is something

I could never do on a live show. And what they're taking with them is the crowds come back.

I appreciate everything that I went through last year that got me to a point now where I feel

more confident. I'm rejuvenated. The pandemic fueled creative flow of Chicago area artists.

That's coming up.

If you're already a WBEZ member, thank you.

Right now, you have the power to do even more.

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