Well, hello October, how are things? Good to see you again, and keep up the good work of September, weather wise. The inevitable colder days are just ahead, but since we’re gifted with unseasonably warm weather, let’s get out there for our remaining outdoor shows.
Thursdays are still hanging around for now as we see Dave Littrell bringing his signature style of sax, guitar, vocals and looping to the Sangamo Brewing deck and David Alexander with his saxophone and more at the relatively new venue called Vine & Rind out on the far west side. The Stefan Huffman Band fleshes out Stefan’s powerful voice and strong guitar on Red Dirt country and Southern rock, plus a few originals at the Curve Inn, while Carl Bopp and Ed Smith become Sound Decision, doing a wide range of good music played well at Mother Road Diner. Top that off with a Hoogland Center for the Arts show by the traveling music group Verviers (described as “cinematic chamber folk”) with local indie band June Mae opening and we can claim a righteously robust and fairly fulfilling evening in the works.
Friday night music garden gigs (seems a more appropriate name than beer garden to me) give us Roxschool aptly applying their slogan of “party rock for party rockers” at Weebles, Neon Rodeo scootin’ their boots over from Decatur of a night of 90s country hits at the Curve Inn, Jet Trio and Friends taking off at Brookhills Golf Club and Wowie Zowie running the gamut of classic rock at the Tipsy Toad. Concurrently, The Mudhounds hop over from Lafayette, Indiana, to douse us with a dose of hill country, blues rock with a side of Delta-style slide guitar at Buzz Bomb, just as Johnnie Owens with Butter slip on into the patio outside Pease’s at BUNN Gourmet.
Inside spaces deliver us a rare acoustic show from Brandon Santini at Harvest Market, Angel Brown’s Smooth ‘n Blue Duo doing it at Lime Street, Blackout Betty getting country-fried at DH Browns, Toxic Johnny tearing up Crows Mill Pub and touring, cool-country guy Dallas Moore crooning at The Backroom Lounge in Riverton.
Now it’s Saturday and there’s work to do seeing who’s playing where and when, but because there’s so much out there and so little space to cover it all, I’m going to pass. That leaves it up to you, dear reader, to decipher from our extensive listings (you get some 35 choices) what to do. I have the utmost faith and complete belief that all will be A-OK.
Sunday is still rip-roaring along with the regular places presenting an assortment of local talent plus a few added attractions. Special mention belongs to 4&20, an extraordinarily good tribute show to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young presented by Rogers & Nienhaus at the Curve Inn with a little (OK, lots) of help from their friends.
Lastly, let’s announce an inaugural music gathering called New Soil Music Festival happening Nov. 1, a mere month away. Organized by our original rock band, The Lovelorn, in partnership with NPR Illinois, the all-day festival held at Boondocks Pub showcases several area music performers by alternating bands and acoustic acts on two stages. The long list of scheduled artists includes NIL8, Devin C. Williams, The Tangents, Sunshine Daydream, Wolf Crick Boys and Crash Planet, along with a whole bunch of food and item vendors. Check out the NSMF Facebook event page or go to the websites of Boondocks or The Lovelorn for ticket information and the full schedule. Let’s get to it and support this new endeavor, shall we?
Until next time, please enjoy, imbibe and participate.
This article appears in October 2-8, 2025.
