Alison Krauss has come a long way since her days on the Champaign talent-show circuit. The violin prodigy formed her own band at age 10, won the Illinois State Fair fiddle championship two years later, and scored a recording deal with Rounder Records by the time she was 14. By 16, she’d dropped her debut, […]
Music
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Now playing 5-6-04
Strike up the band — several of them in fact. Let’s see who’s on first, who’s on last, and what’s in between. All the signs of approaching summer are here. The oak trees are leafing out, the swallows are back, folks are donning shorts and losing shirts, but most importantly, the beer gardens are open. […]
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Now playing 4-29-04
Enter, my friends, into the wild and wonderful world of music in the capital city. It’s a place of diversity and digressions tied together by darkness and booze, smoky taverns, and bright beer lights. The rewards are great if you take seriously the challenge of finding your music and don’t mind the added attachments that […]
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Growing roots
When Sean and Jamie Burns discovered American “roots” music during its resurgence in the ’90s, they took the music to heart. Trips to Indianapolis and Chicago to see acts like Wayne Hancock, Johnny Dilks, and Big Sandy solidified their love of swing, rockabilly, hillbilly blues, and the culture surrounding the music. After seeing Hancock at […]
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Now Playing 4-22-04
Howdy hey, nightlifers. Let’s take at little trip around the farm and see what’s shakin’. Just watch where you step. We’re still receiving fallout from the April Fool’s column. Denby of Rockhouse reports a few frantic phone calls from astonished fans about the band’s decision to quit music and start a stone store. Here’s the […]
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Guitar Society’s season ends with return of Javier Calderón
When Springfield Classical Guitar Society founder Russel Brazzel calls Bolivian Javier Calderón “one of the deepest musicians to play Springfield,” he’s referring to the artist’s success not only as a performer of classical music but also as an arranger, publisher, and program director (at the University of Wisconsin-Madison). Calderón’s credits include concerts in Buenos Aires, […]
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Now Playing 4-15-04
Come on, tell the truth. Is there any place on this glorious earth you’d rather be right now than Springfield, the home of Abraham Lincoln (and several other humans), preparing to bound out of your invisible chains, race to the place that supports your favorite (or at least most likeable) area band, order a tall […]
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Now Playing 4-8-04
I hope everyone recovered from last week’s flight of fancy column and realized what day it was (April 1) and that it was what is called in polite circles “a bunch of baloney.” To prove my point, let us head to the Hilton where they proudly continue their wonderful tradition of bringing Springfield the finest […]
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Now Playing 4-1-04
I ain’t no fool, though sometimes it’s handy to wear a jester’s crown. So, in the spirit of the day, here’s news about some critically important developments in the local music scene. Remember, you read it here first. Kip Nelson of Hot Property is swearing off rock & roll. “I’m going back to my roots. […]
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Now Playing 3-25-04
Yikes! Is it really the end of March 2004? I must be having fun ’cause the time surely does fly by. Speaking of flying time — anyone remember Rudolph’s Bean, a local coffeehouse of some 30 years ago? Our pal and IT contributor Job Conger fondly remembers the joint. He played music there when folk […]
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Riding a train to country-music fame
From seemingly out of nowhere, he comes. He lands on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry and receives an encore for his first performance. A song is released to the nation’s country music radio stations and he finds himself on the charts sandwiched between heavyweights Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, and Alan Jackson. Now he […]
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Now Playing 3-18-04
Hey there, all you beer-swilling, shot-swigging, music-loving barflies. What’s going on this week? Yes, the rest of you are also welcome to come out and enjoy the tunes, too. We never mean to exclude responsible imbibers or teetotalers from our music club travels. It’s just more fun to talk about the guzzlers. First and foremost, […]
