Various Artists Imaginational Anthem: A Guitar Anthology (Near Mint) O glorious guitar, the sound of wood made radiant, the sound of metal made vegetal, a vibrating synthesis of opposing elements housed in a vaguely female-shaped form! Unlike the elitist piano, which costs a bundle to buy and maintain and can’t be lugged around at a […]
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Hate will keep us together
My dictionary says that “hate” means “loathe, despise or have a strong dislike for something.” So when a Web site called Ihateyourband.com comes along, you might figure that it would be a place where you could say all kinds of nasty things about the musical groups you aren’t too fond of. Not so, according to […]
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Classical class act
“An unfortunate side effect of being a classical guitar player is, you end up spending a lot of time in a room by yourself,” says Russel Brazzel, musician and co-founder of the Springfield Classical Guitar Society. In March 1998 Brazzel met with other local classical-guitar enthusiasts to encourage a regular gathering for social interaction. After […]
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Rediscovering Kate Bush
Confession time: Until about a month ago, I hadn’t been listening to much Kate Bush, and I’m not sure why. True, she hadn’t put out a record in 12 years, and I tend to listen mostly to new releases, a hazard of the record-reviewing trade. But a quick inventory of my vinyl racks proves that […]
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Fifty years of harmony
“I love to hear those minor chords and good close harmony.” — from “The Old Songs” (words and music by Geoffrey O’Hara, 1921) Every Tuesday evening, about 40 men meet at the Hoogland Center for the Arts to carry on a local tradition that stretches back to the time when Elvis was a rising star […]
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A prodigy’s odyssey
After a hiatus spanning more than two decades, guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer’s Odyssey trio has returned with a new album, a 55-minute tour de force that neatly encapsulates the myriad musical directions that its iconoclastic leader has pursued over the past half-century. Don’t let the CD’s title fool you: An amalgam of free jazz, country-blues, […]
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String Band reties the knot
Members of the Allen Street String Band, for many years the unofficial keepers of the old-time-music flame in central Illinois, are having a reunion, and you’re invited. The combo was originally formed sometime around 1981 with Bill Rintz on fiddle, Dave Landreth on banjo, and Ed Hawkes on guitar. All were accomplished players of the […]
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The Katt came back
Kevin J. Cox, also known as Bob Katt and sometimes as Boss Toots, explains his lack of recent Springfield shows this way: “I hate booking gigs — always have.” Now how does a fellow who strongly dislikes getting jobs stay busy for more than 40 years as a full-time musician? “I was a sideman in […]
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The King of country
Cast King Saw Mill Man (Locust Media) If fate had dealt Cast King another hand, he might be as famous as the late Johnny Cash. Like his more celebrated contemporary, King toured extensively in the late ’40s and early ’50s and even cut some tracks with Sam Phillips at the legendary Sun Studios. But when […]
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Redefining “Springfield Sucks”
Last year at this time, I compiled a short wish list of items that, if delivered, would allow our hometown to not suck, or at least to continue sucking with much more excitement and fulfillment. A few of my dreams came to pass, but most ended up in the wastebasket of hopeless wishes, soon to […]
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Long-distance relationship
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan Ramblin’ Man (V2) Who says long-distance relationships never work? Despite being separated by some 8,000 miles, Isobel Campbell, of Glasgow, and Mark Lanegan, of Los Angeles, have brought us Ramblin’ Man, a four-song collaboration that wouldn’t have been possible without the Internet (tsk, tsk — and you thought it was all […]
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Marina V revisited
It was two years ago when we last checked in with Russian-born, Illinois College-educated singer/songwriter/keyboardist Marina Verenikina. At the time, Verenikina and her partner, Springfield native Nick Baker, were living in Los Angeles, hard at work trying to break into the music business. As big news goes, there’s not too much to report: No major-label […]
