MIKE REEB: It's been a real hard year

Listen to Mike Reeb's "It's been a real hard year"

Return to the Chi-Tunes home page. Mike Reeb can be found at mikereeb.com.

"It's been a real hard year."

That's what Mike Reeb sings on the first track of his latest release, "All That's Left," but if the singer-songwriter keeps drawing positive reviews and kind comparisons to musical legends, he may be singing a different tune in the not-too-distant future.

Names like Dylan and Springsteen are often thrown out too loosely when used to describe up-and-coming artists. In Reeb's case, however, the connections may be warranted.

Reeb's folksy, troubadour-like style and the dark social undertones in his work have led many critics to reference the seminal Bruce Springsteen album "Nebraska" when reviewing his music.

The music sounds as if it were recorded in a bygone area too. Reeb records only in analog, a throwback to an age before the digital revolution.

The Lansing, Ill.-native got his start playing in the folk rock band Seventy Two Others, but eventually he struck out on his own in 2004. He moved to Lafayette, Ind., where he lived for two years. The college town served as his home base, and from there he would strike out by train, playing gigs across the Midwest.

Now back in Chicago, Reeb has played multiple shows either alone with his guitar or backed by musicians he befriended in Lansing.

"I'm comfortable playing alone or with other musicians," Reeb said. "The songs can work either way, but I have to be able to go up there and pull it off with just a guitar and my vocals."

[ mark thornton is a redeye special contributor. ]