After friends submitted one of his songs to a local radio station contest and listeners liked what they heard, PJ Summers, the music minister of Koke Mill Christian Church, felt the calling and added acoustic Christian rocker to his God-given and driven work. With Summers covering the songwriting duties plus acoustic guitar and vocals, the […]
Music
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July heats up the music scene
As you experienced live music goers know, July means a plate chock full of performances coming out of our ears, to improperly mix metaphors or simulate similes or otherwise antagonize proper grammar and English usage. Where is Ezra Pound when you need him? Fighting in the captain’s tower with T.S. Eliot while the calypso singers […]
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Venice comes to town
The path to success in the music business is covered in an array of obstinate obstacles and littered with the remains of those who tried and failed. Even being born with a music family pedigree is no guarantee of success and sometimes it’s a hindrance. Venice, a band from the Venice, Calif., area formed in […]
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New Goat Ensemble
This Sunday, the New Goat Ensemble celebrates 20 years of making the most marvelous and mischievous music this side of Pan himself. Always perpetrators of off-the-wall cover songs, the Jacksonville-based band became one of central Illinois’ most endearing original bands of the 90s through the songwriting of Jeff Davidsmeyer. With Davidsmeyer on rhythm guitar, piano, […]
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Kentucky Knife Fight
With a name only a southern Illinois band mother could love, Kentucky Knife Fight arose from a raucous open mic night at the legendary Stagger Inn Again in Edwardsville to become one of the hardest rocking and most up and coming bands in the alt-country vein from the St. Louis area. Jason Holler (vocals), Nate […]
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Mid-June gems of live music
With so much to see and do where does one begin? I have no idea, but here is a bunch of cool and crazy things to do this week in no particular order, rhyme or reason other than what goes on in the grab bag inside my head. The Sangamon County Fair kicks off this […]
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The mysterious Lazer Dudes
Black leather fingerless gloves. Love Club and Stripping Glitter. Tattoos of strange designs in stranger places. Cahokia Mounds and MoonPandas. What link ties these odd and peculiar things together? Answer: the Lazer Dudes. Not much help? Maybe figuring out what possibly constitutes a Lazer Dude could aid in solving our puzzle. First and foremost they […]
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Max Allen Band
Fresh from their Springfield debut at last week’s SOHO Music Festival, the Max Allen Band (MAB) drops into Marly’s on June 17 for a night of funk-blues-jam-jazz-rock songs. A seasoned group on the Midwest jam-rock music scene, the trio of Max Allen (guitar, vocals), Shaan France (drums, percussion) and Dace Robie (bass) tours regularly performing […]
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Big Bottoms? They got ’em
Listen up you high-enders. The time has come for the low frequency players to rise up and proclaim the often-overlooked work of the bassist as a necessary and worthwhile part of music instrument combos. Springfield hosted Guitartown, then Drumfest and now rolling in at the bottom of the barrel comes BassBerg. Conceived by longtime Springfield […]
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SOHO number six
When it comes to outdoor music festivals in Springfield, only one event supports live, original music with predominantly area talent. The SOHO Music Fest is a treasure chest of up and coming locals, out of town discoveries, tried and true troupers, soloists, combos, rockers, folkies, rappers and other varied assortments of alternative-edged performers creating random […]
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Dan Hubbard and the Humadors
Based in not-so-faraway Normal, Dan and the gang list themselves as an original rock and roll band, which is pretty cool when you think about it. No hyphens or hype, invented categories or inverted genres, just a guy writing good songs with a fine band backing him up. They claim influences from Tom Petty, Neil […]
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Music out of doors
Some ancient and deep desire must come forth in the warm weather that forces humans outside to listen to music. Perhaps the old days of dancing around the fire and drumming across the hills linger on within our collective psyche. Maybe it’s an innate need to share a common heritage of melody and beat among […]
