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Legendary Chicago blues bar Rosa’s Lounge in Logan Square is launching its very own record label.
Rosa’s Lounge has been in business for more than 40 years, and hope their new record label will help even more people enjoy soulful music. And the first artist they signed has a strong connection to the nightclub.
“When you got a good crowd and you’re reaching the crowd, and you can tell when they’re with you, it’s a wonderful feeling,” said musician Billy Branch “It’s a connection between you and the audience.”
The blues legend has felt that connection many times at Rosa’s Lounge; in fact, he was the first act the day the nightclub opened more than 40 years ago.
Now he’s the first artist signed to Rosa’s new record label and is their first single “Begging for Change.”
“It’s a metaphor. Literally, you can’t go outside without someone begging for money, but people are also begging for change because they’re not happy with their current situation,” he said.
Tony Mangiullo owns the lounge and, now, the record label. He fell in love with the blues as a young musician in Italy, and opened Rosa’s, named for his mother, in 1984.
“We always kept some sort of record of what we’ve done through the years, because we believed we had something valuable,” he said.
Those records include pictures, videos and – during COVID – live streams. For him, the record label is the next logical step and Branch is the perfect person to help launch it.
“It’s definitely the most natural because of our long partnership,” Mangiullo said. “He represented the new generation of the Chicago blues and I wanted him to put us on that path.”
“It’s new, it’s united, it’s unproven, but every label has to start somewhere and given the long history that I have with Rosa’s, it seemed to make sense,” Branch said.
Branch’s new single comes out on vinyl Aug. 1, with launch parties on Aug. 1 and 2 at Rosa’s Lounge. “Begging for Change” is already available through streaming, and Branch’s next full album comes out Nov. 7.
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