Band Spotlight

Whenever Lyman Ellerman returns to the home turf from his songwriter life in Nashville, Tennessee, be prepared for a full onslaught of original Southern rock tunes done Ellerman-style with an attitude that just won’t quit. The Riverton native spent a lifetime writing songs and playing them for folks from Louisiana to Illinois and all parts […]

Our longest-running Celtic-influenced band continues performing like nobody’s business during the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Springfield, albeit with a new lineup in action. Though the band seems to evolve annually, the music remains a constant, with a flair for taking old Irish songs and making them new again plus covers of songs by The […]

Blazing a trail from Toronto across the world in the jazz-fusion-blues crossroads of music, Galen Weston is the guy who gets quotes like “a guitar tour de force, the kind they just don’t make anymore” and “Weston is an impressive guitarist.” With his all-star recording and live performing band comprised of David Woodhead on bass, […]

A man on the move, Rockin’ Johnny has really been rocking in the past year. He relocated to California from Chicago, toured mainland Europe between Halloween and Christmas, promoted a CD, recorded another CD, gigged nearly every night, and now he’s showed up on our doorstep to take the Springfield area by storm while doing […]

Originally from the Taylorville area, Ty took off for Nashville about 10 years ago with dreams of becoming a songwriter in Music City, U.S.A. By that time, he’d been a writer and performer since his youth and was well prepared for his time in Tennessee. Brando quickly established himself as the pre-eminent host at some […]

With a new album out (Dr. Feelgood’s Traveling Medicine Show released on Feb. 3) featuring production work by Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth and new member Arthur Lee Land (guitar, banjo, vocals), the core unit of Chad Staehly (keyboards, vocals), Jim Lewin (guitar, vocals), Brian Adams (bass, vocals) and Will Trask (drums) continues the Great […]

After a year of working out the kinks and playing “sparingly” around town, The Loops are now ready to roll onto the local scene in full force. With names you’ll recognize as familiar faces on central Illinois stages, this combination of Aley Mundstock (lead vocals), Howard Freitag (guitars, vocals), Joe “T” Phegley (bass), John Vickers […]

Since 1993, Martin McCormack (bass, vocals) and Brian FitzGerald (guitar, mandolin, vocals), known as the duo Switchback, have released several CDs of Celtic and Americana music and traveled a good deal of the Western world playing classic folk songs and original tunes filled with extraordinary vocal harmony. Based out of Chicago with deep Iowa roots, […]

Back in 2003, Suzie Stephens decided to get a group together to expand and expose her love of music and performance, creating Ultraviolet in the process. Born a fourth cousin (really) to Bill Monroe, known historically as the “Father of Bluegrass,” Suzy found exposure to all kinds of music as a child – from piano […]

Filled with years of experience of rocking bars all night long while playing in local bands such as Kicked to the Curb, Zack Fedor and the Backseat Drivers, Piston Broke, Porkpie and the Northend Allstars, Stone and Biscuit Band, Miss Conduct, The Mix and Pet Cemetery Road, Last Call’s band members come with well-earned and […]

A talented, hardworking artist of stature, this Peoria native plays steady all year, making a living making music, and he does it by making people feel good. A versatile, multi-instrumentalist on banjo, guitar (six and 12 strings, Dobro and high-strung), harmonica and mandolin, our man Barry does classic covers (Beatles, etc.), a treasure of Celtic […]

After nearly eight years of playing and racking up almost 1,000 shows, the Hipbone Sam Band is ceasing their seemingly ceaseless touring schedule with a final performance on New Year’s Day. During their tenure, the Hipbone Sam Band consisted of the “Let Me Hear Ya Say Yeah” dude himself, Kevin Hawkins (acoustic guitar, lead vocals), […]