Blues music can bum out even the peppiest cheerleader, but bluegrass music can cheer up even a monster-truck owner who just backed up over his own living room. Savor a range of melodic emotions with today’s GrouponLive deal to the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival at the Congress Theater on Saturday, January 28. Doors open at 4 p.m. and performances start at 5 p.m. Choose between the following options:

• For $15, you get one general-admission ticket (up to a $35 value, including all fees).
• For $59, you get a VIP package (up to a $120 value, including all fees). The VIP package includes the following:
• All-night drink package of call liquor and beer
• Express venue entry
• Designated skybox and balcony wings seating<p>

The fourth annual Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival revels in the Second City’s love of first-class roots music in a daylong showcase of popular acts sprawled across three stages inside the hulking Congress Theater. After attendees catch a peek of dueling banjos and conciliating mandolins, the 15-band buffet features a main-entree performance by southern-fried Georgia sextet Drive-By Truckers. On the heels of their new album Go-Go Boots, the Truckers stir soul and blues into their signature skid-marking sound, which tears through the air like a Trans Am shot out of a cannon that’s been flung from a catapult. Mellifluous outfit Dawes drops in with sweet Americana sounds that make Midwesterners crave a trip to L.A., and winsome indie-folker Joe Pug impresses with weathered lyrics and a dusty voice that can hit notes only heard by hearing-aid wearers who stand too close to a microwave.

VIP ticketholders can skip the scourge of the long line with express entry into the venue. From reserved skybox and balcony wings, VIP ticketholders can indulge in you-call-it liquor and beer while basking in the melodies of a dozen more heralded acts, including Van Ghost, Jaik Willis, The Shams Band, and Great Divide.