Old Road is a Chicago band dating back to the turn of the century. Mark Hetzel - a singer/songwriter who sees himself as largely raised by the likes of Neil Young, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, and the Grateful Dead - met Antonio Carella in 1999 as students in the International Studies program at DePaul University. Antonio would eventually play bass for the Chicago Afrobeat Project and guitar for Occidental Brothers Dance Band International before starting L’Orchestre Super Vitesse, his own 12-piece West African pop outfit. After a year of studies in South Africa and Brazil respectively, Mark and Antonio reunited and started playing music together along with their new musician friend Chris Paquette, then a hand percussion student at Columbia College. Chris has gone on to be a fixture in the Chicago music scene playing in Frank Catalano’s house band and on stages across the city and now the world. While working on Mark’s first solo album, Kurt Festge became a powerful creative force as both a sound engineer and keyboardist. Brian O’Quinn, with both a father and grandfather as established jazz musicians, is a natural behind the drums. Alex Blomarz, a graduate of DePaul’s Jazz Composition program and active in a number of vibrant local music projects, supports and accents the music tastefully. John Vanderweit, Mark’s high school buddy and early bass prodigy (not to mention fire-walker and back-flipper), rounds out the dynamic ensemble.