JT and the Clouds think of the music they play as soul music, although their definition of "soul" might be a little broader than most music programmers'. If you asked one of them for a good example of a great soul band, you'd be as likely to hear the Stanley Brothers mentioned as you would the Talking Heads, the Band or the Family Stone.

The Clouds have been influenced by a number of musical genres, so it's tempting to start using hyphens when describing their sound. What the Clouds have in common with the bands mentioned above, however, is that ability to take those disparate influences and imprint their own distinct personality on them, where eventually something new, or newish is created.

After releasing their first album, Delilah, in 2004, the Clouds did a good deal of traveling, making friends throughout the country, and into Canada. Delilah was met with a good deal of critical raves, and a growing fan-base in Chicago. Clint Mathis of the west-coast alt-country/roots rag "freight train boogie" called the Clouds "simply one of the best bands to ever emerge from the Americana scene," and the record received favorable reviews and airtime from numerous magazines and radio stations across the country (and in the UK and Canada. Click here for all press information.)

The touring took time away from recording, however, so the Clouds slowed their playing down to finish their second record. After a long year in the lab, the Clouds are now set to release their independently-produced second disc "the city's hot yeah the city's hot." Recorded at Studio Chicago with Zach Goheen (know for his work with Indy bands Office and My Were They) behind the board, "the city's hot..." is a pressure-cooker of a record, a suite of simultaneous love and hate odes to the city. Haunted harmonies, strange dissonances, soul-shout call and response, hard city beats with faint mountain echoes...they all find their way on to the record, and manage to make perfect sense together.

Beyond anything else - this is a record for Chicago. Targeted for release in early June, the Clouds are ready to re-load and take that Chicago sound out to their fans across the country.