About Tansmission

Transmission is the music section of Gapers Block. It aims to highlight Chicago music in its many varied forms, as well as cover touring acts performing in the city.

Editor

Anne Holub, Music Editor - Transmission
Anne, a native Virginian, still considers herself a southerner even though she moved to Chicago from Montana. During the daylight hours she clickity clacks on the interwebs, and sometimes she writes poems for no money at all. At night, she enjoys knitting and roving with The Crafty Ladies. Email her at anne@gapersblock.com.

Staff

Mike Bellis
Mike is a former cross country captain from the wilderness of Chicago's north side, where he can be seen shooting darts and otherwise wearing flannel. As a Sagittarius, he prefers temperate climate to the mountains. He is an avid Diet Coke drinker and writes liner notes to fake albums in his spare time.

Sarah Brooks
Sarah is a native Chicagoan who graduated from DePaul University in 2012 with a degree in Communication and Media Studies. Raised on The Beatles and learning the violin at age nine, Sarah's passion for music began early on in life. Her musical obsessions include Wilco, Andrew Bird, Otis Redding, and The Tallest Man on Earth, to name a few. Feel free to follow her on Twitter.

Abigail Covington
Abigail Covington is a local freelance writer and editor. She has slung words for CoverMe and the AV Club and is currently a freelance copy editor at the RedEye. In her free time she plagues her friends inboxes with nostalgic and rockist arguments about Fleetwood Mac's brilliance and ponders the ubiquity of Beyonce. You can follow her low-brow musings here and read some of her published works here.

Marc Fishman
Marc Fishman is a writer and Spanish translator who grew up in Indiana. After graduating from Indiana University, he moved to Crested Butte, Colorado, where he attended more than one rodeo as a reporter for the local newspaper. He now lives in Chicago, where he is happily overwhelmed by the city's vibrant music scene. He tweets as @marcfishman.

Stephanie Griffin
Stephanie grew up in one of those small suburban towns two hours away from the city where the residents still considered themselves Chicagoans. Having now lived in Chicago proper for five years, she feels she is finally gaining some street cred. She is a science fiction and Scrabble enthusiast and embraces all things nerd. Her lifelong goal is to acquire the perfect avocado. You can usually find her reading underneath a tree, sipping vodka and cranberry at a dive bar, or dancing horribly at concert venues around the city.

Katie Hovland
Katie Hovland attended Columbia College where she received a BA in Art & Design with a concentration in Photography. She fell in love with music at an early age going to punk shows at the Fireside Bowl. Her favorite Chicago bands are The Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, and The Arrivals. Her music photography has appeared in publications such as SPIN, Razorcake, Venus Zine, AMP, Time Out Chicago, Alternative Press, Rampant Rock, and Outburn Magazine. You can check out her portfolio at katiehovland.com.

Andrew Huff, Editor & Publisher
Andrew works deep into the night at his West Ridge two-flat, writing and editing and playing with the cats. He spends more time online than is healthy; follow along at me3dia.com. Email him at ah@gapersblock.com.

Katie Karpowicz
Originally from St. Louis, MO, Katie moved to Chicago two years ago after enrolling at DePaul University. When she's not working to finish her BA in journalism, she waitresses at Leona's at Belmont and Sheffield. Come say hi! Follow Katie on Twitter.

Kirstie Shanley
A photographer covering Chicago shows in the area for the past three years, Kirstie Shanley is just as excited about the music as she is about capturing the live experience. You can check out her portfolio that also includes theater, street, and experimental photography at kirstiecat.com or on flickr.

Chris Sienko
Chris' earliest musical memory was hearing "Lady Madonna" by the Beatles emanating from his parents' wood-paneled console turntable. He has no idea what happened from that point to the where he is now, writing about the most unusual and difficult "music" to be found in Chicago. Like the witnesses at the scene of the crime always say, he seemed like a regular guy — nobody really saw this coming.

Dan Snedigar
Dan grew up in the West, drifted around for a while, and somehow ended up in Chicago several years ago. He enjoys sunsets and long walks on the beach, and thinks that the free Honky/Nebula show at the Bottle in '05 was the best show ever.

Lisa White
Lisa is a born and raised Midwestern girl who's had numerous adventures and escapades, all in the name of music. She's spent time working at labels, venues, in publicity, touring, and of course writing about music. You can usually find her at a show jumping around and encouraging others to dance, and if you ask nicely, she'll probably make you a mixtape. You can find her on numerous social internet sites, including Twitter

James Ziegenfus
James Ziegenfus moved to Chicago on a whim and now lives in Ravenswood. He spends entirely too much time digging for records wherever Odessey & Oracle and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady could be hiding.

Contributors

Niki Fritz
Niki Fritz is a freelance writer, not-for-profit paper-pusher, casual yogi, non-bra-burning feminist and, of course, lover of Chicago. She graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in Journalism and has an unabashed love for the Packers, cheese, headgear in the shape of cheese and cheap beer. When she's not writing about online dating or checking out the music scene for Gapers Block, Niki is busy updating her blog dedicated to feminists in Chicago called 3rd Wave in the 2nd City. Feel free to contact her with any quips or qualms at write2fritz@gmail.com.

J.H. Palmer
J.H. Palmer is a secret writer who has lived in Chicago since 1992. She was born in Boston, but you'd never know it. Notable moments in her life include a brief stint as a census taker, writing copy for a hangover chaser, and a temp job at a catheter factory. She lives on the Northwest Side with three cats and a man. When she's not catching up on cable TV shows on Neftlix, she enjoys biking, eating, and writing about her life in her blog, Buttered Noodles.