In December 2024, Cadien James and Jack Dolan decided to take in a show at Chicago’s Thalia Hall — Dolan can’t remember which. Friends since first grade and bandmates since high school, the two 32-year-old Rogers Park natives and founding members of the then-dormant Chicago indie-rock band Twin Peaks weren’t at the Pilsen venue scouting locations for a potential reformation. Unbeknownst to Dolan, James already had.
“(Cadien) tells me he had some dates blocked off” for a Twin Peaks reunion, said Dolan, a bassist/vocalist for the band. “I was surprised, but excited. It felt like, ‘wait, we can actually do this again?’ That’s how it started.”
The two dates he’d blocked off were in May 2026. At the time, Twin Peaks — a pillar of Chicago’s DIY music scene — had been on hiatus since the early days of COVID. Like most music artists, the pandemic forced the band off the road. For Twin Peaks, it was a blessing in disguise.
“We were burned out,” James, frontman/guitarist for Twin Peaks, says. “After a decade of touring, that pause felt like something we never would have given ourselves.”
“Beyond that,” Dolan adds, “we all needed time to figure out who we were individually.”
Rounded out by guitarist/vocalist Clay Frankel, multi-instrumentalist Colin Croom and drummer Connor Brodner, Twin Peaks had spent part of their teen years and the better part of their 20s touring, one year averaging a show every third day. Early on, and underage, the band developed a loyal following performing in basements in and around town.
“I miss the visceral energy of those basement and warehouse shows,” James says. “It used to feel like every block in Logan Square had a basement show.”
It was in James’ own basement where Twin Peaks recorded their debut album, 2013’s “Sunken,” using Garageband software. The band recorded three more full-length albums, along with a litany of singles and EPs, and graduated from basements to traditional venues not just in Chicago, but all over the world.
Proof that absence makes the heart grow fonder, despite a cult following and critical acclaim, Twin Peaks never earned the level of fanaticism they have since announcing the concerts at Thalia Hall. The first two shows sold out so fast, they had little choice but to add more, the rest of which sold out, too.
“We didn’t plan eight shows — it just happened,” James says. “We kept calling each other like, ‘This is crazy, should we add more?’”
The eight-night residency — which also celebrates the 10-year anniversary of what’s generally considered their best album, “Down in Heaven” — begins May 14 and ends May 21; for those unable to acquire tickets, the fifth and sixth nights are available to livestream through their website, twinpeaksdudes.com.
Other than a concert in Pasadena, California, in August, there are no plans for Twin Peaks to pick up where they left off pre-pandemic.
“The quickest way for us to stop doing this again would be to jump back into full touring mode,” Dolan says.
“Honestly, not really,” James says when asked if he’d like to return to the road. “I love being in Chicago. Now I’m more excited about playing meaningful shows than living in a van again.”
Since the hiatus, James released a solo album, 2024’s “Dizzy,” began working as a software engineer and got married. Brodner got married, too, and Dolan will get hitched this summer. Dolan is also working on his first solo album, with help from James and Brodner, and will open a new coffee shop, Dot’s Café, at the border of North Center and Roscoe Village right around the time Twin Peaks’ residency begins.
But, for both James and Dolan, perhaps their biggest accomplishments during the hiatus was giving up alcohol and getting healthy.
“Touring involved a lot of drinking and it felt good to step away from that,” James says. “I invested in my relationship with my wife, lost a lot of weight and addressed my drinking habits.”
For Dolan, going on the wagon was particularly tricky given his hiatus job: bartender. Despite the potentially destructive paradox, he’s been sober for two years and counting.
From time to time, Dolan would get recognized while pouring a draft or cleaning the mahogany. Almost always, they would want to know if and when Twin Peaks would rise again.
“Before, it felt kind of sad because we weren’t doing anything,” Dolan says. “Now it’s nice to be able to say, ‘See you at the shows.’”
Blair R. Fischer is a freelance writer.
If you go
A Week of Peaks, with a changing roster of guest artists, runs May 14-21 at Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St.; tickets (ages 17+) and more information at thaliahallchicago.com
