Epsom in a rare pensive moment (l-r: Tim Harte, Scott Faingold, Steven Sgro). Photo by Kristopher Zander. Epsom is a minimalistic post-punk garage trio which I cofounded with my friends and musical brothers-in-arms Steven Sgro and Tim Harte (and Epsom emeritus member Gary Walnuts Swaggerty) but that’s another story). Our repertoire consists of songs we […]
Scott Faingold
Scott Faingold is a journalist, educator and musician. He has been director of student media at University of Illinois Springfield, founding editor of Activator magazine, a staff reporter for Illinois Times and co-host of Old School Bleep, a music-centered podcast.
Posted inArts & Culture
Torch Tuesday tonight: Birthday bash for Les Luger
Les Luger Tonight’s edition of the ongoing Torch Tuesday concert series might be the best chance yet to see the cream of Springfield hip-hop talent on one stage. In honor of the birthday of scene mainstay Les Luger – winner of Single of the Year at this past January’s Torch Tuesday Awards – a variety […]
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Tonight: The Legacy salutes a legend
The late Patsy Cline The word inimitable doesn’t seem far off the mark when talking about the huge, resonant force of nature that was Patsy Cline’s singing voice, but that isn’t stopping the Legacy Theatre and Roxy Productions from doing their damnedest to resurrect the sound and spirit of the down-home diva, who perished in […]
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Sunday afternoon: Latin Jazz from Decatur at LLCC
Millikin University Latin Jazz Project Operational since 1993, Millikin University’s Latin Jazz Project has been among the best-regarded of collegiate jazz groups. Tomorrow afternoon, they will be providing curious Springfield listeners a chance to hear the new influences they picked up during a recent trip to Havana, Cuba as they groove through a plethora of […]
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Tonight: Torch Tuesday hosts out-of-town talent
Double A from Madison, WI Torch Tuesday at Bar None continues to expand tonight, presenting three artists from Madison WI. Check out video from DB Cooper, Double A and Michael Medall below and come out later on for the most consistent hip-hop party in town. The show starts at 9PM at Bar None, corner of […]
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From Buck to Beck: Dwight Yoakam at PCCC tonight
A country star playing the Prairie Capital Convention Center? STOP THE PRESSES! Sarcasm aside, Dwight Yoakam – who performs at the PCCC this very evening – isn’t anyone’s idea of a typical country star. A unique and versatile artist, Yoakam has spent decades crossing stylistic lines, drawing as deeply from the Bakersfield sound pioneered […]
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Music tonight: Gentle vs. Brutal
Springfield music fans bemoaning a lack of variety in local concert offerings can go ahead and bite their tongues on this particular evening as a former Bon Iver collaborator and a balls-out thrash metal show each prepare to take downtown stages. Field Report The Hoogland Center for the Arts, via Bedrock 66, is playing host […]
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Movies: Midnight Road Trip for Gore Snobs
Why simply trudge to the local multiplex like a good little horror movie consumer to see the slick new remake of camp gore classic Evil Dead when the original is being given a rare theatrical screening just up the road? Champaign’s ever-scrappy Art Theater Co-Op is doing its best to steal some of the new […]
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Requiem for a Punk Rocker
L-R: Dave Baker, Jeff Williams and Brian Tober, ca. 1980s (photo courtesy Bill Tober) Known to many as a devoted family man and passionate educator, Dave Baker was also renowned for his antic personality and love for all things punk. When he passed away suddenly last week from natural causes, the Springfield-area music scene lost […]
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Tonight at The Pharmacy! Open Format Open Mic!
Are you a singer? A stand-up comedian? A poet? A sumo wrestler? A yo-yo champion? Or do you just like to get up in front of a group of people and try to freak them out? Boy, oh boy, does The Pharmacy have a deal for you. The Pharmacy’s open mic night has a completely […]
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Champaign Hip-Hop artist 12K: Mixtape Release Party tonight!
12K Tonight, Champaign-based rapper / producer 12K will hold the release party for his new PSA mixtape as Torch Tuesday continues to diversify and bring in hip-hop artists from all around the region. Listen to his stuff here: Also appearing tonight will be Champaign’s Jay Moses, Woods G from Decatur, and Springfield’s well-loved NovelT. The show […]
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Spring Breakers: Great and Terrible
In The Wizard of Oz (1939), a young farm girl from Kansas wishes for excitement and gets more than she bargained for when a cyclone lands her in Oz, a bizarre alternate reality populated by odd, often hostile creatures. In Spring Breakers, currently playing in Springfield at AMC’s Parkway 8, four young college girls wish for […]
