Music

Untitled Document In the ever-changing landscape of area bands it seems this first weekend of the New Year delivers us some new groups to ponder and peruse. There’s nothing like switching it up a bit and stirring the pot to bring new flavors to the mix. Any Starry Eye fans left out there? Sure there […]

Ready or not, here it comes: 2008 A.D. is well on its way. I would give a nice little rundown of all the highlights of 2007 — both of them — but that would be living in the past, and we like to move forward, correct? Onward and upward we go, marching into the future […]

Untitled Document It’s become a holiday tradition here at Now Playing world headquarters to write a column about Marina V on her yearly Yuletide return to central Illinois. I consider it a privilege and an honor not only because she is a good friend and a considerable artist but also because every year she has […]

Untitled Document Look out, pardner — one of the most popular modern-country bands in central Illinois is back in the saddle. The Twang Gang ruled the range around these here parts from 1993 to 2000, headlining nightclubs, beer tents, and local festivals while opening for touring country stars such as Tim McGraw, Sammy Kershaw, T. […]

Untitled Document Let’s get the jokes out of the way right now. Free jazz is a music art form, not an announcement of a music giveaway, and the price of free jazz is not something everyone is willing to pay. Now, let’s get down to business. We recognize that the abstract strains of free jazz […]

Untitled Document Let’s give joy to the world and ring silver bells (or if you want just jingle bells) as we deck the halls then wish you a Merry Christmas here in our central-Illinois winter wonderland. Making up silly sentences using Christmas carol titles and lyrics is a new way I’ve discovered to pass time. […]

Untitled Document Regular readers of this column are surely aware by now that Thanksgiving Eve is Springfield’s busiest bar night of the year, thanks to the booze-swilling public and measured by the cash registers of participating nightclubs. It certainly makes sense when you think about it. Almost everyone has the next day off for Thanksgiving […]

Untitled Document Ever since the Underground City Tavern closed, the Thursday-night Bluegrass Jam and the Wednesday Songwriters Circle have been homeless orphans, but there’s good news to report: Both of the weekly acoustic jams have relocated and are functioning again. Guitarist Luke Turasky and friends (Jeff Cunningham on double bass, Josh Parr on fiddle, Shane […]

Untitled Document A quick survey of last week’s Pub Crawl, the best and most accurate entertainment listing in our area, conveniently located in our illustrious paper, shows 112 separate happenings over a seven-day period. Breaking down the overall events into live music vs., well, not live is an interesting way to while away the hours. […]

Untitled Document Greetings, Springfieldians. Welcome to another preview of the terribly exciting musical happenings in our prairie capital. Speaking of that moniker for our city, remember the Prairie Capital Convention Center? It’s that big brownish building of concrete and steel, covering blocks of real estate in the eastern part of downtown. I remember when the […]

Untitled Document Who doesn’t love Halloween? Other than those really scary folks who take life too seriously, I think most people get a kick out of dressing up and becoming someone or something else, at least for one day. That transformation must be good for the soul. Halloween is the one holiday in which Americans […]