Music - Tom Irwin | Wednesday, November 12,2008

Tales of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, now in a book

I first met Michael “Supe” Granda about 2:30 in the morning at Bruce’s Tavern in August of 1990. Or was it ’91? Anyway, the Illinois State Fair was in session, bars were open u

Music - Tom Irwin | Wednesday, November 5,2008

Songs grown organically make better food

Writers based in tradition produce songs that nourish our imaginations, providing good food for thought

By Tom Irwin

This week we're working on an assortment of related music here at Now Playing World Headquarters. It just so happens in the next 10 days Springfield plays host to a collection of

Music - Tom Irwin | Wednesday, October 29,2008

Go see the saw at the freejazz forum

By Tom Irwin

Boo! Here comes Halloween weekend when the bars get loaded with plenty of costume contests, lots of live music and general all-around weirdness, which adds up to one frighteningly

Music - Tom Irwin | Wednesday, October 22,2008

Good news of the Blues

By Tom Irwin

Blues music, a major influence on jazz, rock-n-roll, rhythm & blues, rock, soul, and country, and the source of the many variations of blues styles, is alive and well in Springfield. Muc

Music - Tom Irwin | Wednesday, October 15,2008

The “Best” and all the rest

We congratulate the winners of Illinois Times Best of Springfield

By Tom Irwin

What could be better than winning an Illinois Times Best of Springfield award? Being recognized by peers within your community is an honor and delight, to be accepted with dignity and respec

Music - Tom Irwin | Wednesday, October 8,2008

Three songwriters romp through Springfield

John Walter, Bill Mallonee and Otis Gibbs bring their talents to town

By Tom Irwin

Untitled Document Here is a striking example of the incredible and profound talent floating around the universe that occasionally ends up on our doorstep, as three good songwriters st

Music - Tom Irwin | Thursday, October 2,2008

Best at the Beatle Fest

By Tom Irwin

Untitled Document After conducting an informal survey, I found very few people knew the name of the original drummer for the Beatles. Pete Best played with John, Paul and George (and

Music - Tom Irwin | Wednesday, September 24,2008

Musical musician delivers Camp Sunshine comedy

By Tom Irwin

If you're wondering (and you're probably not) how a theatrical musical found its way into a column about live music happenings, it is simply this: Roger Wainwright, composer of th

Music - Tom Irwin | Thursday, September 18,2008

There’s a lot going on in the world of music

By Tom Irwin

Untitled Document Oh me, oh my! With so many excellent events and great goings-on this week I feel professionally unable to place one above the others. Therefore I've decided to take

Music - Tom Irwin | Thursday, September 11,2008

Introducing the Sangamon Songwriter Series

By Tom Irwin

Untitled Document I must admit a strong weakness for writing about any locally inspired and produced, live music series. Last week it was the Bedrock 66 Live! and this column through