Music

Don’t look now, but February (though the weather feels more like April!) is creeping right by us with Valentine’s Day around the bend. Good music keeps making the good times even better and there’s no end in sight, which is a mighty nice thing. Let’s take a peek at what’s happening ’round town and give […]

By the time you read this there may be a bit (or two bits) of snow on the ground; otherwise, with the sunshine and nice temps out right now, this current January vibe feels more like March without the madness. But let’s just forget the weather for now and get to the music calendar to […]

This time of year sometimes gets described as a blue time, where the post-holiday season blahs began to remind us it’s not all fun and games out there. But wary as one may be for this possible downturn, it sure doesn’t feel a bit like that this January as our music scene continues to pop, […]

Since we’re only nearing two weeks into 20 & 23, I hope you don’t mind that I am still wishing folks a happy and healthy New Year (here’s to ya) and dwelling upon the fact that we turned the old calendar in for a new one. Now let’s take a peek at what’s going on […]

Welcome to almost 2023 or actual 2023, depending on when you read your Illinois Times, but I always believe everyone grabs a print copy (or goes online) every Thursday with bated breath to see what we have in store for you. And while we are in the mindset, isn’t it really remarkable and wonderful we […]

Well, with the upcoming frightful weather and how this year Christmas falls on Sunday, therefore putting the naturally occurring Eve on Saturday night, our music forecast for this holiday weekend is slow to middling. Then again, if the pickings are slim, those events that are happening will likely be bustling, since it seems that nothing […]

Get yourself all decked out for the hallowed halls and set up for fancy balls as we roll into the last weekend of doings before the big holiday cometh. With Christmas being on a Sunday this year, and therefore putting Christmas Eve on a Saturday night, here’s a heads up that it is very possible, […]

As Meredith Wilson (of The Music Man composer fame) wrote in one of my favorite holiday songs, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go,” and it most certainly is doing just that. Along with the dandy decorations and ubiquitous canned music, there are plenty of special parties, plus regular gigs, all […]

Don’t look now, but 2022 is nearly in the rearview mirror as the old calendar on the wall (remember those?) says it is now the twelfth month of the year. Sometimes time crawls, sometimes it marches on and sometimes seems to be sprinting toward the goal line. I’m going to leave that feeling up to […]

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for our annual Thanksgiving issue and that means we should all take the time to think about thanking things. So here in our music column called Now Playing, we should not even have to think about what to thank and just get directly to giving thanks for the music. […]