The Blacks

The Blacks, a Chicago-based insurgent country band, were formed in 1994 by singer/guitarist Danny McDonough, a former member of psychedelic hard rockers Cornmother, who quit the latter group after discovering the music of Hank Williams, Tom Waits, and Louis Armstrong. Teaching himself basic drumming and trumpeting skills, he began writing songs on a four-track recorder; after several months, he met DePaul University symphonic music student and bassist Gina Black at a local concert, and days later they played together for the first time. Within weeks Black dropped out of DePa...