A blast of June music
NOW PLAYING | Tom Irwin
Hello to June of 20 and 23 as the sixth month of the year is coming in hot, weather-wise and otherwise. With outdoor temps more akin to late summertime, things certainly feel like we’ve jumped into the fire, and the schedule of music happenings is definitely heating up fast. Let’s take a peek at the goings on as we delve into the fun.
First, we shall take a detour into the world of recorded music as Bruce Williams, a founding member of longtime local, popular, punk/funk/rock band NIL8 and a member of several other area groups, released his first solo album, Bing Bong (available at
brucewilliams.hearnow.com), last Tuesday. Created during pandemic down time, the 10-song collection of mostly original tunes with a few jazz and funk covers features Bruce on bass, joined by Dennis Maberry on hand drums and various percussion instruments, plus Jeff Lopinot, a former Springfieldian now living in St. Louis, on theremin and guitar. Congratulations to Bruce and company for getting this out into the world.
Also out this week and available at a release party Friday at George Rank’s, The Lovelorn has physical CDs of Witch House, and special guests Acid Fog will have copies of their latest, Into the Fog, on hand as well. It’s always good to see proof of and know that our original music scene is alive and well, and even flourishing. Yippee and yahoo.
This Thursday kicks off with a bang as we welcome the return of the Levitt AMP Springfield Music Series held downtown at the Y-block, featuring national touring acts with an area opener every Thursday night for 10 weeks throughout the summer. As you may already know, this series of concerts is made possible through a grant from the Levitt Foundation that gets matched by local support. This is done through an application process which allows smaller cities all over the country to participate.
You can thank the folks at our Downtown Springfield Heritage Foundation for securing the concerts through 2025 and know that we are very grateful and fortunate to be able to host these shows. This year begins with Soul and Senior Night, featuring music by the Lilli Lewis Project and Baaad Boyz. Next week it’s bluegrass/acoustic with the Rumpke Mountain Boys and Chickadee Sermon, and the following Thursday gives us Funky Brass Night when the Saint Boogie Brass Band is joined by The Black Ensemble. For the full listing of a summer’s worth of fabulous music-makers in the heart of our downtown, visit heritagefoundationspi.org and say thank you while there.
Our first major downtown music festival happens this Friday night and Saturday all day when the Legacy of Giving (LoG) fest hits the streets around the Old State Capitol with some 60 acts on five stages. Along with the continuous live music shows, experience arts, crafts, children’s entertainment, food trucks and sporting events with all the proceeds benefiting local charities. See the schedule and get the skinny online at logmusicfest.org.
A truly world-famous fest in town goes from Thursday to Sunday (June 1-4, 6 p.m. nightly) when Washington Park plays host to the International Carillon Festival, a truly wonderful event that brings together “the world’s finest carillonneurs” to perform on the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon. You’re welcome to bring a picnic dinner, lawn chairs and blankets to fully enjoy this true joy of an event. New this year, there will be pre-concert events provided by the Reese Carillon Society and the Carillon Belles which includes yard games, kids’ crafts and scavenger hunts, plus the traditional fireworks at dusk on Friday.
Need I say, be sure to check our listings for the many, many other fantastic, terrific and otherwise superb music shows happening around town this weekend.
This article appears in The Pet Issue 2023.
