House Music Chicago Testimony

#6 Vick Lavender | "A Job in the Business"

“A Job in the Business” Vick Lavender has never taken the easy road. Born in Louisiana, and raised on Chicago's west side, he came up on dub tapes, Italo, and New Wave r

#5 Dajae [Karen Gordon] | "Everyone Knows Dajae. Nobody Knows Karen."

Karen Gordon 'aka Dajae' grew up in West Englewood on Chicago's South Side. Music was in the house. Her father, Reginald Gordon, was a doo-wop singer who performed on the

#4 Toni Shelton | ”Everybody Has Somewhere to Go"

Toni Shelton, known throughout Chicago as Disco Tony, has been throwing parties since 1979. As the city's first solo female house music promoter, she's built a legacy tha

#3 Craig Loftis | "It All Started in Craig's Basement"

Some of the best history gets told between old friends. Before there were house music producers, there were kids in basements with cheap turntables and cheaper cassette d

#2 Robert Williams | "The Warehouse Would Not Have Existed"

Without Robert Williams, there may be no house music, or at least not as we know it today. As the founder and owner of the legendary Warehouse club, the space where Frank

#1 Lori Branch | "I Feel Evangelical About the Music"

In this first episode of House Music Chicago Testimony, host Lori Branch tells her own story — from growing up on Chicago's South Side to becoming one of the first female

Teaser: Meet the Voices of Season 1

Before we even called it house music, these people were living it. In Season 1 of House Music Chicago Testimony, host Lori Branch sits down with five legends who were the

Trailer: House Music Chicago Testimony with Lori Branch

Every story about Chicago house music starts somewhere different. A record, a club, a night that changed everything. Host Lori Branch, a South Side-born DJ and historian