Direct from the metro-east St. Louis area, Coldshot makes its Springfield debut playing for the Goulden Motorsports Fundraiser, a private party open to the public. Not one to mess around with subtle songs and obscure artists, the band consists of well-seasoned players Jeff Shanks (drums), Rod Whittom (lead vocals), Bill Boyd (guitar, keyboards), Brian Schifferdecker […]
Music
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Ragged Jack rolls on
When Lyman Ellerman sings “life is a wheel, let it roll, let it roll, let it roll,” you know he means it in his heart and soul. The song is the title track from a new CD recorded in Nashville last fall by Ellerman’s group Ragged Jack, available to the public for the first time […]
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Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
A year ago, Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles became the talk of the town after a bang-up performance at the Bedrock 66 Live! concert series presented by WUIS at the Hoogland Center for the Arts and sponsored by E & F Distributors. Since then our pop-rockin, alt-indie, kinda-countryish singing Sarah from Boston has been […]
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Jake’s Leg
For over 30 years, Jake’s Leg has faithfully and uniquely reproduced the music of the Grateful Dead while extending the spirit of the popular band through heartfelt lifestyle interpretation and imitation. The St. Louis-based group started as a guitar/vocal duo with Randy Furrer and Tim Fahy in the mid-70s, then later added lead guitarist Dave […]
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Terry’s take on the top ten
Prior to taking off on an adventure somewhere this week, I needed a Now Playing idea before I left. Lo and behold, Terry Hupp, one of my best friends ever, delivered a review of what he says are the 10 Best Albums of the 2000s. Since I haven’t listened to a new album in years […]
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Becoming Elvis
The person, or perhaps more correctly, the personality of Elvis Presley permeates our entertainment culture from all directions. His influence spans generations and runs the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime with more than a few stops in between. The man from Mississippi spawned a cultural revolution while alive. He still continues to attract […]
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Brandon Carnes
Billed as an EP release-slash-going away party, the Brandon Carnes extravaganza this weekend is not your average concert. Son of local singer-musician Suzanne Carnes, the 20 year-old singer-songwriter is about to go itinerant and hit the mythical and mystical road by definitely “leaving Springfield indefinitely.” Harvest, the latest CD from this prolific young writer, contains […]
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Renae
What do you mean you had no idea there was a band from central Illinois that just signed to a record label? Renae, a local, hard-hitting, hard-working, sorta, indie-rock band just hooked up with Hotfoot Records out of New York with all the good intentions of taking their sound national. The band, featuring Stephen, Brad, […]
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New Year’s Eve reinstated
Remember not so long ago in Now Playing land we discussed the rise of Thanksgiving Eve as the biggest party night connected to a holiday on the calendar? I’m not sure how you feel about that, but if you are at all saddened by this turn of events and would like to see things changed, […]
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Happy holiday happenings
A very important ingredient in having a happy holiday, which is the ubiquitous call to all heard across the land in some form or another this season, is a good dose of live music. Fortunately for us patient and persistent participants of performance, our cup runneth over during the season to be jolly and other […]
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Trash Martini
One look says it all: these guys are living the rock band dream of wild times on the edge. Trash Martini hails from Chicago with Ral II and Erik Donner as the brothers behind the band. Offspring of Ral Donner (1943-1984), a Chicago native who scored a few Billboard Top Ten hits in the early […]
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Miles Nielsen not a Cheap Trick
Okay, let’s get this out of the way right now. Miles Nielsen is the son of Rick Nielsen, guitarist and founding member of a band called Cheap Trick. The famed quartet hails from Rockford, and became fabulously famous in the late 70s for pop rock renditions of original songs of teen angst and desires. Miles […]
