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Dante Ingram is a singer who writes songs about crime and an aerialist who brings dream imagery to the stage with her band, Sideshow Villains. She also fuses these pursuits into collaborative performances with her new project - Sideshow Villains' Deviant Cabaret.
After working as a fashion designer, a shoeshine, and an artist's model, Dante ran away with a freak show, Psycho Circus, and performed with Mark "the Knife" Faje as his assistant in the knife throwing act. With Mark "the knife," Dante appeared on Wild Chicago, The Late Show with David Letterman, and the Discovery Channel's More Than Human. She created burlesque acts to ensure she contributed to the show as more than "just a dangerous ornament". In the early 2000's, she wrote, produced, and released Songs for Saints and Sinners under the name "Dante's Voodoo Cabaret". With that moniker, she performed in Chicago, New York, and Amsterdam.
Dante and her Voodoo Cabaret appeared solo on television as well. She danced a la fans for Ben Hollis' Ben Around Town and had a second appearance on Wild Chicago with Dante's Voodoo Cabaret. Dante's Voodoo Cabaret music was included in the soundtrack of Ivan's XTC, a film by Bernard Rose, director of Immortal Beloved, Candyman, and, most recently, Samurai Marathon.
In the mid 2000's, Dante left burlesque behind to focus on music and in the early 2010's transitioned her love of movement to aerial. She studied with Chloe Jenkins at Aerial Dance Chicago and with Hayley Larsen at Aloft - also in Chicago. She choreographed her first solo piece and performed it at Aloft in May of 2022.
Sideshow Villains is her latest project. The album includes 7 songs centered around various criminalities. Live performances billed as Sideshow Villains' Deviant Cabaret currently in pre-production will include her own aerial acts as well as other fabulous circus performers backed by the Sideshow Villains musicians. When she isn't plotting nefarious performances with likeminded deviants, Dante takes her two fluffy dogs for walks in Chicago.
Singer/Guitarist/Songwriter/Saxophonist Wes Cichosz began playing on the Chicago club scene at age 15 with a variety of jazz and rock acts. Shortly thereafter he received a full scholarship to University of Illinois at Chicago where he won the prestigious Bar Association Music Award. During this time he also had the opportunity to play in the orchestra for the lost Duke Ellington musical, Jump for Joy, with Duke’s collaborator, Sid Keller. In the 90's he was a part of Chicago's Wicker Park music scene performing regularly with members of Tortoise and Wilco. As a regular studio musician at Gravity Studios he performed on numerous recordings including the Grammy Nominated, self-titled album Studebaker John and the Hawks. More recently, Wes played a tenor sax solo for Phil Collins on a tribute record for his dear friend legendary songwriter, John Martyn. Wes has played with or opened for War, Ziggy Marley, Maceo Parker, Smashing Pumpkins, Guster, 3 Dog Night, Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel), Adrian Belew, Oz Noy, Dave Weckl, Tony Williams, Umphree’s McGee, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Tributosaurus, Robert Irving and Richard Patterson (Miles Davis), and Rolling Stones sidemen Jack Leavell, Tim Ries and Bernard Fowler (and many more). In 2018, Wes recorded and performed with The Darryl Jones (Sting, Rolling Stones) Project, Kim Deal (Pixies) and producer Steve Albini (Nirvana). He also served for many years as music director for The Ken Arlen Evolution Orchestra and is now MD/Vocalist/Guitarist/Saxophonist for national music juggernaughts Soul Spectacular and The Lucky Devils. In addition, Wes was owner/operator of the Chicago-based music retail store/school, Musicopia. Chicago DJ Richard Milne of WXRT 93.1 describes Wes's original music as "...unlike anything going down in the town." Wes’s most recent album, The Moon Threads A Needle, is a seamless intertwining of Rock, Folk, Jazz and Country and is available on all major streaming platforms. After relocating to Phoenix in 2019, Wes is looking forward to sharing his unique talents in the southwest and abroad.
Greg Nergaard is a bassist from Chicago, Illinois. Greg has performed locally, regionally, nationally and internationally with ensembles such as Surabhi, The Right Now , Soulio, Yves Francois and Rocambeau Jazz, JC Brooks Band, Anne Harris, LasGuitarras de España, and many others, including of course Side Show villains.
Pianist Jo Ann Daugherty loves making all kinds of music. Some of her favorite recent appearances include: NPR's Tiny Desk Concert with SIX, a role as featured onstage pianist with the Washington National Opera in Songbird at the Kennedy Center, touring with the AfroBop Alliance Big Band's Pan American Nutcracker, and regularly sold out shows at Winter's Jazz Club in Chicago. She has played venues around the world including Chicago Jazz Festival, Satchmo Fest New Orleans, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, and Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba, and her jazz album Bring Joy was listed by Downbeat magazine as one of the year's best.
Chris is a guitarist/singer/songwriter/composer/producer from Batavia, IL. He is currently touring nationally with A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor and The Howard Levy 4. He is a first-call session guitarist and he teaches guitar and performing ensembles at Elmhurst University. Chris lives in a little house with his son and dog.
Joe is Chicago native, versatile free-lance drummer, and composer of profoundly unserious songs about Bears, Meat, Spiders, Piranhas, Flags, Shopping Carts, Neighbors, and Men who play the Flute. He also enjoys the outdoors, the beach, his dogs, and gigs that are really close to his house.
Drummer/Percussionist
Dan has performed with, toured, or played on recordings by the following artists: Jazz trumpeter Randy Brecker, singer/songwriters Liz Phair, Jewel, Peter Himmelman and Robbie Fulks, the band Poi Dog Pondering, guitarist Fareed Haque and funk jazz group Liquid Soul. Currently he can be seen and heard with Tributosaurus and Under the Streetlamp.
Guitarist Mark Anderson is an active performer, composer and arranger in Duo Tandem (with Necati Emirzade), an instrumental guitar duo with a focus on storytelling through music. Their music has been hailed as a "new and exciting polyglot" (Classical Guitar Magazine) and a "wonderful melange" (Minor7th.com), with their latest album Watching the World Go By being chosen as one of the top 10 albums of the year (2018) by Classical Guitar Magazine.
Mark has performed throughout the United States and Europe including at The Freight and Salvage in Berkeley and at the historic Bellapais Monastery in Cyprus with the president of North Cyprus, President Mustafa Akıncı, in attendance. He has also premiered many works for guitar including "Inventions on Um a Zero" (written for Duo Tandem) by João Luiz and "Rising Spirals" by award-winning composer Chinary Ung (U.S. premiere).
In addition, Mark works as a mentor and High School Programs Manager with Guitars Over Guns and also maintains a private guitar studio with the Academy of Movement and Music.
Composer and pianist Ioannis Goudelis has performed on Jimmy Kimmel "Live" and he has collabotated with artists such as James Newton Howard, World Party, Ray Price, Mike Stern, Bobby Broom, Nicholas Payton, Azar Lawrence, Howard Alden, Pantelis Thalassinos, Alexia Vassiliou, and many more. His original music has appeared on Fox (House), NBC (NCIS), HBO shows, the FIAT commercial 2011 and more.
He has performed internationally at festivals, clubs and concert halls throughout the world including the United States, Europe, Africa, Central America and the Pacific. Born and raised in Greece, Ioannis started playing piano and accordion at the age of 9 in his hometown, the beautiful island of Corfu. The past twenty years he lives in the US. Ioannis studied at ASU jazz piano and at UCLA music for film.
He has four personal albums released with all original music, "Life Goes On" June 2007, "Melodia" June 2013, "Blue" October 2016 and his fourth personal album "Home" released May 2020
Paul Mutzabaugh is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from Chicago, who also works as an audio engineer and producer (having received Grammy and Emmy nominations). While keyboards and electric bass are his primary instruments, he also doubles on guitar and percussion. In addition to leading his original group, The Unknown New, he has also had the pleasure of working with variety of notable artists & productions, including: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Heather Headley, Robbie Fulks, Mannheim Steamroller, Miguel Zenón, Spektral Quartet, The Who's "Tommy", and "MJ the Musical".
Jaime Ruiz is a graduate of Elmhurst University where his time was spent studying under Grammy Award Winner Doug Beach and playing in the internationally acclaimed Elmhurst College Jazz Band.
This experience gave him the opportunity to perform alongside notable jazz musicians such as Doc Severinsen, Sean Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Randy Brecker, Bill Holman, Gary Smulyan, Byron Stripling, among others. Jaime also had the opportunity to perform at jazz festivals and clubs across the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Poland, and The Netherlands.
Jaime has a busy performing and writing career writing for different jazz, funk/rock, classical, and mariachi ensembles. Most recently, his arrangements have been performed in festivals across the United States by Mariachi Estrellas De Chicago where he played trumpet and was their arranger/copyist.
After touring, Jaime spends most of his days arranging and teaching in the Chicagoland area.