Imagine, if you will, a cozy coffeehouse
atmosphere: wooden tables and chairs, New Age knickknacks all
around. Breathe in the lingering fragrance of incense mixed with
the aroma of pastries and coffee. On a corner stage, tucked between
a window and a wall, a singer strums a guitar and passionately
pours out the accumulated thoughts of a lifetime.
Hey, buddy, wake up! You’re not
imagining anything; you’re at Sun’s Up Koffee Kafe,
right here in town. Tucked into an old A&P at the corner of
First and Calhoun is Julie Kluge’s dream-come-true gathering
place for all ages, all ideas, and all comers.
In-house live music performances have always
been an important part of Kluge’s dream. Now, with a
several-months-old Thursday-night open mic in place and
mostly-once-a-month Saturday-night shows, including this
weekend’s Sisters in Song, the wish is becoming reality. Joni
Laurence, sister No. 1, is a gifted singer/songwriter from
Champaign with upcoming opening gigs for the likes of Josh Harty,
Patty Larkin, and Catie Curtis. She has shows booked in Nashville,
Tenn.; Madison, Wis.; Chicago; and Indianapolis, and she’s
off to the West Coast for most of March. Her songs are provocative
and pleasing, sensual and sensible, yet lasting and meaningful.
Laurence’s slender form and shy persona belie the tough
artist inside who’s willing to take on issues in song with a
demanding delicacy.
Laurence’s musical sibling for the
evening is Jill Manning, known around this town as the girl with
the green guitar. Manning doesn’t play every corner pub, but
she is hitting the ones that count. A friend took
her music to Nashville with the intent of selling some songs. Well,
we’ve all heard that one before, but this time there were
results. Manning’s music is now in the hands of some top-notch,
well-placed players in the big leagues of the Nashville hit machine,
and she’s scheduled to perform at that town’s heralded
Bluebird Cafe, known as a haven to songwriters the world over, on March
15. So wake up and smell the coffee, Springfieldians — big things
are happening in small places, right under our noses.
Joni Laurence and Jill Manning are Sisters in
Song from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at
Sun’s Up Koffee Kafe, 1001 N. First St., 522-5348. Donations
for starving artists are accepted at the door.
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2005.
