The first time I saw Cornmeal, at Magnolia Fest in Live Oak, Fla., it took me hours to come down from the adrenaline buzz they gave me. At one point I was moved to exclaim “Look at her go!!” when fiddler extraordinaire Allie Kral took off on a wildly frenetic solo.

They are the most energetic band I’ve seen in a long time, blasting a seemingly endless amount of sheer energy from the first note to the last. The band was formed in Chicago more than 10 years ago, and for the first six, played every Wednesday night for small, but loyal, crowds at local bars and pubs.

Now the group spends most of its time on the road, playing a blend of high-profile venues and both jam band and bluegrass festivals around the country to thousands of rabid fans, taking their unique bluegrass-rock to Bonnaroo, High Sierra, Wakarusa, DelFest and others.

Feeling the love and gratitude for those early fans that propelled them to their current stature, the band went back to Chicago in 2009 and performed a series of shows at Martyr’s for those initial followers that have been culled into the band’s first live album, “Live in Chicago IL, Vol. 1.” WARNING: This album is NOT for the overly-mellow or sedate person! It effectively captures the energy and excitement of Cornmeal’s joyously feverish live experience, and will have the effect of chugging several Red Bulls on the listener.

Right off the bat, the band launches into a breakneck-paced “Girl With Short Brown Hair,” and the kickass, dance-till-you-drop party has begun. Running through great versions of “Calling Me Back Home,” “Oh Leah Lee,” “Jenny In the Middle,” and others, the band settles into their jammy side deeper into the record, with an epic 18-minute “The Road,” and a 14-minute “When The World’s Got You Down” closing the album.

So if you need to get up, get going, and get energetic, Cornmeal is the musical equivalent of methamphetamine.

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