Is it not the dream of every music lover to
host a living-room concert? Imagine being able to book your
favorite performers, sell seats to help cover costs, and watch the
show from your own couch. Sound too good to be true? Well, in the case of Ann Bova and Joe Bohlen,
the sounds are good — and all true. The Pleasant Plains
couple held their first Cabin Concert in the spring of 2004 and
have achieved nothing but success in terms of audience
participation, performer attitude, and overall household happiness.
Last month, the pair hosted the Concert in
the Pines Benefit, featuring some fine local talent, and held a
silent auction to raise funds for a house sound system. Again the
couple met with wild success, and this weekend’s show will
debut the state-of-the-art sound-reinforcement system. This weekend at the Cabin Concerts, the
featured artists are known as super pickers in the crowded world of
ace bluegrass players. Wyatt Rice, brother of acoustic-guitar hero
Tony Rice, has backed his sibling on rhythm guitar for a lifetime,
both live and in the studio. Living in the shadow of a famous and
popular older brother might not be easy for some, but the younger Rice
has flourished in his support role and has come into his own in recent
years. Rickie Simpkins also performs with Wyatt as a
regular in the Tony Rice Unit. The two have recorded an album of
Christmas standards and often perform together, outside the
“Unit.” Simpkins, a talented mandolin, banjo, and
fiddle player, is in demand as a studio producer and performer and
has played with the best and the brightest of the
acoustic-roots-music world, but he’s really made his mark as
an awarding-winning fiddle player, somehow taking the age-old
instrument and finding something new in it while sticking with the
traditional sounds and songs of old-timey and bluegrass music.
Seats for the Cabin Concerts with Rickie
Simpkins and Wyatt Rice are $25 each, available by reservation only
at 217-626-1091 or at www.thecabinconcerts.com. The show starts at
7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 23 and 24. Don’t
forget to wipe your feet.
Pull out your tie-dyes and wear your
colors proudly; it’s high time for the Penny Lane-sponsored party in
the park, 1-9:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25. Watch Douglas Park undergo a
magical transformation into a wonderland of music and good vibrations as
Perfunctory This Band performs Grateful Dead tributes and original music,
Springfield Shaky covers the hot rockin’ blues, and Scott Simpson
adds his one-man-band blues sound to the mix. Originally established as a
requiem for Jerry Garcia, the annual event has continued as a celebration
of the man and his music and the culture he helped create.
Whoa, what’s this
— an official Music in the Parks at Enos Park on Sunday, Sept. 25?
The concert, featuring jazz and blues with Real Time, Kit Jones and the
Mudbugs, and Tempus Fugitive, is scheduled from 4-7 p.m. The musical lineup
for the Children’s Art Festival, slated for noon-5 p.m. the same day
in Lincoln Park, is mostly for the younger generation.
The list of upcoming must-see
music includes two shows at the Underground City Tavern. First, on Sept.
29, is that guy who simultaneously cooks Cajun food and plays Cajun blues — you know, old Sauce Boss himself, Bill Wharton. Then in comes
Robbie Fulks on Oct. 1, in his first Springfield appearance since the
release of his critically acclaimed CD Georgia
Hard. And on Oct. 7, at the Hoogland Center for
the Arts, world-famous drummer and St. Louis native Dave Weckl brings his
band to our community.
Chris Sutton, a founding
member of the Screaming Vatos, has incurred quite a sum of out-of-pocket
medical expenses since learning recently that he has cancer. Musicians,
family, and friends will gather 2-10 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, at the Eagles
Club on East Ash Street to raise funds to help him. According to Billy
Bacon, another founding member of the Vatos, it’ll be the last Vatos
show. There’ll be plenty of other bands, food, a silent auction, and
lots of love and compassion.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2005.
