Tom Irwin

David Cain is an artist, and with that title bears the weight of discovering ways to make ends meet both creatively and financially. As the president and chief employee of UMEDIA, his multimedia company, and the composer/musician/producer behind Senses, his progressive jazz/rock band, Cain combines artistic dreams into business realities using creative talents to make […]

Hello friends out there somewhere. Thank you for being a reader and taking the time to digest these few words for whatever purpose you choose. And with that let me also congratulate myself for starting into my ninth year of writing Now Playing columns. You can see how these two things are likely related. Now […]

For those of you lucky enough to have heard Henry Miles play the saxophone, enough said. For those of you unfortunate few who haven’t, please make the effort soon. Henry recently was diagnosed with a terminal illness and musicians, friends and fans have organized a couple benefits for the brilliant musician over the next few […]

Well here we are again at the seasonal crossroads of the Labor Day weekend. With this three-day celebration, dedicated to the working people of America, but commemorated by all classes, we proclaim a final tribute to summer festivities and prepare to act autumnal. And with that gloriously overblown introduction here are several events loaded with […]

The blues style of music originated as a form of deep therapy that allowed people to self-proclaim problems through lyric, rhythm and melody in the hopes of dispelling those troubles. The blues is a way of singing out the bad stuff, somewhat like talking to a friend about tough times, not that it makes the […]

Okay I give up. I’m trying to find something else to cover other than the Illinois State Fair for this week’s blathering, but not much else is a-coming into the column coffers. Sobeit, let’s head back out to the fairgrounds one more time. Unfortunately, a couple of my personal favorites perform on Thursday, the day […]

I’ve never been sure why, since it is the Illinois State Fair, that most all the bands playing at the beer tents come from the ranks of Springfield cover bands, but that’s the norm at the ISF and has been for years. This is no complaint mind you just an observation on the situation. In […]

The weather may be slightly sluggish in participating in the average August heat and humidity we’re familiar with, but the hot music happenings are typical for the approaching end-of-summer season. Please allow me to enumerate a few for you. This Friday, Aug. 7, from 6 to 8, visit the Three Legged Dog on the south […]

That may not be the most exciting headline ever printed for a Now Playing column, but fans of Slaid Cleaves will find the news thrilling enough. Not only does Cleaves hold an avid fan base in Springfield, more than five years have elapsed since the release of Wishbones, his last recording of self-penned tunes. Cleaves, […]