It’s funny how incestuous music scenes are. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be talking to a musician and they’ll say, “Oh you should check out so and so.” And then it leads me on a journey of all these people referring me back to one another. Over the past few weeks I’ve had a few people talk to me about how much they love The Shams Band. First it was Gabe Liebowitz of Dastardly instigating an online fued to promote their show together, and then Trevor Jones of Molehill had some really great things to say about Donnie Biggins and his band. It’s one of the things I love about Chicago’s musicians; they’re all in it together and they support one another.

Cold City, the newest record by The Shams Band, is coming out on July 9th. They’ve put up a pre-order on their Bandcamp page which allows you to download one song. It’s called “I’m Not Sorry,” and it’s one heck of a doozy. I listened to it a couple times yesterday and if the rest of the album holds up to that potential, it’s gonna be a great one.

They’ve also nailed down a residency at Schubas for the month of July that features some of the greatest lineups that stage has seen in recent years:

July 9th they play with Shovels and Rope. July 16th pairs them with Elephant Gun and Derek Nelson & The Musicians. July 23rd the stage welcomes three great acts, as The Shams Band shares with Young Jesus as well as Daniel Ellsworth and The Great Lakes. Then they finish things off on July 30th with Archie Powell & The Exports and Young Hines (who I’ll be seeing at the end of this month opening for Brendan Benson). It’s gonna be a ridiculous month of shows.

So do yourself a favor and check out the song before it forces you to click on the pre-order button. And get your tickets dearly for these shows as they promise to be one hell of a good time!