Everyone ready and waiting for an action-packed weekend? Are you prepared for rooftop excitement, auditorium magic, coffee shop jazz, and bar band bonanzas? Ready or not, here it comes. Virgil Rhodes, longtime area jazz saxophonist and flutist, has set us up with a wonderful night of high-dollar jazz at a mere pittance. Jazz by Footprints, […]
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.
Posted inMusic
Now playing 7-1-04
Hello fellow Americans, ready to celebrate 228 years of independence? Put that bottle rocket where it belongs, and let’s get (fire)cracking. Begin your holiday weekend with a Thursday evening stop at Cecil’s beer garden to experience the uplifting sounds of elevator shoe featuring the stellar vocals of Trina Madonia. You won’t find a more pleasing […]
Posted inMusic
Make way for the queen of rockabilly
When Wanda Jackson began singing country music in the ’50s on an Oklahoma City radio station, her voice had that certain something that caught the ear of Hank Thompson, a popular singing star of the time. He called Jackson and asked her to perform at his next show. ” ‘I’d sure like to, Mr. Thompson, […]
Posted inMusic
Now Playing 6-24-04
Welcome to my world. Hey, it’s your world, too. Here are some musical happenings in “our world” of Springfield nightlife. On Thursday, Keith Harden, one of central Illinois’ most vibrant and prolific musicians, returns from his adopted home in upstate New York for a show at the Trading Post Saloon. Harden, a long-time Champaign-Urbana full-time […]
Posted inMusic
Now Playing 6-17-04
Here we are passing the middle of June. I love June. The word invokes so many things: June Carter Cash (Johnny), June Miller (Henry), June Cleaver (Beaver), June Lockhart (Lassie), June bugs (badminton rackets), Junior Sample (BR-549), Juneau, Alaska, (someday), junipers (gin and tonic), and Juneteeth (party and parade). See what I mean? How could […]
Posted inArts & Culture
What could be finer than pigskin and suds?
You may never have heard of the Capital City Outlaws, Springfield’s very own semipro football team, but they’re making lots of noise in the Original Midwest Football League. They placed second last year in their division. This season, they’ll be busy “kicking butts and taking names,” promises Jay Gooding, the team’s general manager. “We’re sitting […]
Posted inMusic
Now Playing 6-10-04
Deep in the heartland of America is a sleepy little town that teems with nightlife on an unimaginable scale. This tiny but mighty source of monumental musical moments lives in constant denial of the true caliber of its entertainment world. Trained workers, in a valiant attempt to enlighten the ignorant public, struggle night and day […]
Posted inNews
Summer fun in the capital city
In your hands you hold the famed Summer Guide, provided as a service to you by the hardworking and ever-caring folks at Illinois Times. For more than 20 years, readers have turned to us for help in their time of need. Where do I go? What do I do? How do I find my way […]
Posted inMusic
Now playing 6-3-04
What? June. How did that happen? Last thing I remember it was winter and it was snowing. Not exactly, but here we are almost halfway through 2004. Hey, there’s no time for wallowing in the past. We have things to do. Let’s do ’em. Enjoy some music in the great out-of-doors this week. Start off […]
Posted inNews
Summer Guide calendar
ONGOING EVENTS Wednesdays and Saturdays Old Capitol Farmers Market Adams Street between Fifth and Third streets. 8 a.m.-1 p.m. (544-1723) Thursdays Farmers Market on the Square Taylorville. 2-6 p.m. (824-3555) Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays Jacksonville Farmers Market Lincoln Square, 901 West Morton, Jacksonville. 7 a.m.-noon. (245-7589) www.jaxfresh.org Tuesdays and Saturdays Uptown Farmers Market Washington Park, […]
Posted inMusic
Now playing 5-27-04
It’s here, the official summer kickoff weekend, whatever that means. No really, I read about it in the paper and I always believe everything I read. And so should you. If you like hanging out on the streets of Springfield, drinking, eating, and listening to music without the worry of being run over by a […]
Posted inMusic
Now playing 5-20-04
Great googly-moogly what is going on here? Are those people wandering around downtown Springfield at night, enjoying the fine entertainment offered by scores (almost) of nearly new nightclubs? Even the most hardened Springfield cynic has to be somewhat softened by the recent growth of late-night goings-on in our fair city. And if the offerings are […]
