Ravinia 2025 Issue 2

DISPATCH Chadwick Stokes and Brad Corrigan found- ed Dispatch with former band member Pete Francis while attending Middlebury College in Vermont in the mid-1990s, but the group soon laid down their roots in Boston while playing the jam band circuit, interpolating sev- eral genre and contemporary artist influences in their original music. The group made their first recording in 1996, a mostly folk rock and acoustic collection entitled Silent Steeples fea- turing each of the trio dabbling in all vocal and instrumental parts. Adding more roots and up- tempo facets, Dispatch quickly turned around their second album, Bang Bang , the following year while their fanbase grew rapidly outside of New England thanks to organic spread, par- ticularly with the antiwar track “The General.” For their next album, the band took an unusual approach that replicated the sonic explorations of their live shows—2000’s Four-Day Trials fea- tured a series of first takes recorded over four days in a studio, consequently including only the trio, again rotating vocal and instrumental duties. Among the nine tracks of live-show fa- vorites was a cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Root Down.” Just a few months later Dispatch issued Who Are We Living For? —borrowing the title of the cover art by William Quigley, based on a painting in response to the 1992 LA riots—fea- turing electrified music and lyrics charged with social commentary. Their first live album, Gut the Van , appeared in 2001, but the band soon announced an indefinite hiatus; their “farewell” show to a crowd of over 100,000 in Boston was released as All Points Bulletin in 2004. After a handful of charity benefit reunions, Dispatch officially reformed and released an EP of new music in 2011, followed by Circles Around the Sun and a more laid-back sound. Recordings from the ensuing tour formed 2013’s Ain’t No Trip to Cleveland: Vol. 1 . Switching coasts to record 2017’s America, Location 12 , Dispatch found further stylistic growth that played out over a series of singles that eventually became 2018’s Location 13 . The same pattern culminat- ed in their latest disc, Break Our Fall . Dispatch made their Ravinia debut in 2022 and tonight is their first return to the festival. JOHN BUTLER Born in California, John Butler returned to his ancestral Australia before his teens, where he started busking in the streets of Perth and Fre- mantle with his grandfather’s dobro and mu- sical styles ranging from Indian and Celtic to bluegrass and folk. Butler captured this spirited sound on a tape he entitled Searching for Her- itage in 1996, and within two years he formed the first iteration of the John Butler Trio. The trio released two albums on Sydney’s Waterfront Records label before Butler and Philip Stevens, who was the owner of one of the clubs the trio regularly played, formed their own label, Jarrah, which released all of Butler’s music from 2004’s Sunrise Over Sea through 2018’s Home . The Sun- rise single “Zebra” was named Song of the Year in Australia, helping lead the disc to quintuple platinum sales and a number-one chart position in that nation, as well as extending the group’s audience internationally. The warm reception led to the trio opening a tour with the Dave Mat- thew Band, further increasing the band’s reach. As a result, Butler’s next album, 2007’s Grand National , topped not only Australia’s charts but also Billboard ’s Heatseekers, fueled by the disc’s top single, “Better Than,” and broader instru- mentation than any of his previous trio albums. The group followed up with an appearance at Lollapalooza in 2008 that was later released as a live album. More sonic explorations highlighted 2010’s April Uprising , and a show at Red Rocks that year also became a live album. Butler and company returned to the studio for 2014’s Flesh and Blood , then continued the streak of topping Australia’s chats with 2018’s Home , which con- tinued to expand, experiment with, and accen- tuate Butler’s core roots sound. After a 2023 live album release, Butler began work on back-to- back solo studio albums that emerged in 2024: Running River , an ambient album providing a journey of deep relaxation and meditation, and Still Searching , an instrumental set that harks back to his busking origins. John Butler made his Ravinia debut in 2017 and is returning to the festival for the first time. DONAVON FRANKENREITER For nearly two decades, Donavon Frankenreiter has been traveling the globe, first as a profes- sional surfer and now as a musician. Born in southern California, Frankenreiter spent most of his youth chasing waves, turning pro at the age of 16. These days, instead of surf competi- tions, it’s concert halls that bring Frankenreiter not only to the coasts but to any town in be- tween, where he entertains audiences with his unique blend of laid-back grooves, philosoph- ical lyrics and soulful delivery. Frankenreiter released his first studio recording in nine years on September 20, 2024. The album, entitled Get Outta Your Mind , marks the 20-year anniver- sary of his self-titled debut album. In between, building on the techniques he picked up from longtime friend Jack Johnson, the singer-song- writer cut another five studio albums of original tracks over a decade— Move by Yourself (2006), Pass It Around (2008), Glow (2010), Start Livin’ (2012), and The Heart (2013)—along with a cou- ple sonic reinterpretations of his debut album entitled Revisited . Donavon Frankenreiter is making his Ravinia debut. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JUNE 16 – JUNE 29, 2025 66 GEOFFMAGEE(BUTLER)