Band Spotlight

What does the son of legendary, iconic drummer Ginger Baker do with the drumming gene? He plays music on the drums, and that’s what Kofi Baker does. Beginning with a drumming debut TV experience with dad at age six, the long and winding road of this working musician includes duets during the early 80s with […]

When music works, it works, and when these bad boys play, they are truly Baaad Boyz. Bandmates Tony Young (vocals), Marcus Taylor (drums), Charles Foxx (bass), Jerry Cole (keyboards) and John Virgin (guitar) are known for getting funky on old-school stuff by Rick James, Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Prince, but that ain’t […]

Founded in 2014 “out of a mutual love of good songcraft and honest live performance,” bandmates Colin Helton (guitar, vocals) and Danny Kerwin (bass, vocals) started out, as all good musical experiences do, by making music in a jam session. The accomplished and experienced local musicians had played in other bands but not together before. […]

If you’ve got a hankering for some electric blues, rock or psychedelic, guitar-based music, look no further than Andy Logan and the O.C. 75s. Mr. Logan, along with John Hussey, his comrade in the 80s for the Geffen-signed band Little America (remember “Walk on Fire?”), plus Brian Glass on drums and vocals, proceeds to play […]

With the release of Shot Out the Saddle, the second, full-length recording of original material from Fireside Relics, the band looks to “establish themselves as heavy hitters” within the Springfield music scene. The local group came together in 2009 to play covers of 70s hard rock, 90s grunge and contemporary rock-pop and soon discovered a […]

Whenever Lyman Ellerman returns to the home turf from his songwriter life in Nashville, Tennessee, be prepared for a full onslaught of original Southern rock tunes done Ellerman-style with an attitude that just won’t quit. The Riverton native spent a lifetime writing songs and playing them for folks from Louisiana to Illinois and all parts […]

Our longest-running Celtic-influenced band continues performing like nobody’s business during the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Springfield, albeit with a new lineup in action. Though the band seems to evolve annually, the music remains a constant, with a flair for taking old Irish songs and making them new again plus covers of songs by The […]

Blazing a trail from Toronto across the world in the jazz-fusion-blues crossroads of music, Galen Weston is the guy who gets quotes like “a guitar tour de force, the kind they just don’t make anymore” and “Weston is an impressive guitarist.” With his all-star recording and live performing band comprised of David Woodhead on bass, […]

A man on the move, Rockin’ Johnny has really been rocking in the past year. He relocated to California from Chicago, toured mainland Europe between Halloween and Christmas, promoted a CD, recorded another CD, gigged nearly every night, and now he’s showed up on our doorstep to take the Springfield area by storm while doing […]

Originally from the Taylorville area, Ty took off for Nashville about 10 years ago with dreams of becoming a songwriter in Music City, U.S.A. By that time, he’d been a writer and performer since his youth and was well prepared for his time in Tennessee. Brando quickly established himself as the pre-eminent host at some […]

With a new album out (Dr. Feelgood’s Traveling Medicine Show released on Feb. 3) featuring production work by Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth and new member Arthur Lee Land (guitar, banjo, vocals), the core unit of Chad Staehly (keyboards, vocals), Jim Lewin (guitar, vocals), Brian Adams (bass, vocals) and Will Trask (drums) continues the Great […]

After a year of working out the kinks and playing “sparingly” around town, The Loops are now ready to roll onto the local scene in full force. With names you’ll recognize as familiar faces on central Illinois stages, this combination of Aley Mundstock (lead vocals), Howard Freitag (guitars, vocals), Joe “T” Phegley (bass), John Vickers […]