We’re now in the throes of the “most wonderful time of the year,” as expressed in a classic Christmas song that has seeped into our common American vernacular. It’s definitely debatable to many just exactly how wonderful it all is, but hey, that’s how the song goes so we’re sticking with it. Let’s go see […]
Tom Irwin
Tom Irwin, a sixth-generation Sangamon County resident, has played his songs and music for nearly 40 years in the central Illinois area with occasional forays across the country. He's contributed to Illinois Times since 2000 by writing Now Playing, a weekly music column, as well as features stories and other articles. He resides on the Irwin family farm in rural Pleasant Plains.
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December-land music
NOW PLAYING | Tom Irwin Here we come a-wassailing and there we go, too, as the holiday-tinged experiences of December music fill the air with lots of jolly stuff and plenty of holly-ish things as well. We see blowup Santas and plastic nativity scenes decorating lawns, outdoor trees inside the house decorated to the max […]
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Holiday happenings arrive
It seems some folks were determined to wade into the yuletide before the ebb and flow of Thanksgiving or even Halloween had gone out, but the time is definitely here now. In our business of reporting on live music stuff (multiplying like Santas this time of year) let’s harness up the flying reindeer and see […]
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Thanks for the music
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the 2023 Thanksgiving edition of Now Playing. As you give those thanks on Thanksgiving Day proper, don’t forget to give a shout out, however humble, to all of the musicians, venues, fans and participants in general that make our music community the vibrant and scintillating scene it is. As usual, […]
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Friday music rules
With a few weeks of November 2023 under our belts, the time is slipping by like a cool fall stream in the autumn woods as we approach the midpoint of the month. Be on the lookout for Thanksgiving next Thursday, which means a big party night on Wednesday plus a lot of things to do […]
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Remember this November music
What a week of warm weather for November, and with it comes a collection of hot music done by some very cool people as our scene continues to bloom with talent and events. Let’s take a gander at what’s happening around town this weekend. By commemorating Veterans Day on Friday, Nov. 10, we’ve managed to […]
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Hello November music
It’s hard to believe – or maybe it isn’t – that we are into the first weekend of November 2023. We sneaked through October with some warmer-than-usual weather, allowing for pleasant enough outdoor music activities for longer-than-normal, but the time for cessation of most live music outdoors is here. Nevertheless, our intrepid readers know that […]
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October-ized music
While we work our way through the month of October, the outdoor gigs are getting the cold shoulder as we begin to drift indoors to the warm embrace of manufactured heat and creature comforts. Let’s see what we can find going on in the scene. First, I’d like to jump ahead to Sunday, Oct. 29, […]
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Springfield rocks on
Central Illinois contains a definite rock connection, ranging from early garage band days to producing superstar groups. Nowadays the music world is splintered into many factions but this weekend the rockin’ returns full blast with plenty of heavy hitters hitting the scene, just by chance of the calendar. While we’re messing with Springfield rock music […]
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Music in the garden, on the shores and at the Hoogland
Welcome to our first full weekend of October as we find ourselves in the midst of fall flings, autumnal outings, Oktoberfest-erings and all such things that happen as we finish out the year of outdoor festivals and begin to consider the approaching cooler weather. So let’s get out while we can and enjoy all the […]
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September music moves
Here we are wrapping up another month of mighty music-making as we slip on into October for the year of 20 & 23 or the Year of the Rabbit in Chinese culture or 5784 in the recently started Jewish new year. But all that matters not, for we are not here to do a thing […]
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Much to do with music
As we roll along into the last full weekend of September (Oct. 1 is a week from Sunday), let’s get outside while we can to enjoy the last of the year’s under the sky gigs, while preparing ourselves for the upcoming colder weather and inside shows to come. On Thursday, the Moving Pillsbury Forward group […]
