Band Spotlight

Chattanooga-born, Chicago-based and award-winning blues guitarist Corey Dennison is on a roll in the big-time blues world. After a decade-long run with Carl Weathersby, Dennison created a “dynamic new Chicago sound,” anchored by bandmates Gerry Hundt, Nik Skilnik and Joel Baer, and played hard, including steady gigs at famed Windy City club Kingston Mines. Both […]

Springfield’s original Celtic fusion band has evolved more than a few times and ways since hitting the scene as Stone Ring Circle in the early 21st century. They’ve travelled many roads and they all lead to fine Irish-influenced music done with a rocking attitude and a rolling twist. Always in demand during the High Holy […]

A recent competitor at the 2018 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, this Chicago-based quartet delivers a funky, dual bass player approach to the world of blues. Susan Williams, known to Springfield blues fans from previous performances at The Alamo on Blue Monday, hails from Chicago where she’s fronted her own bands for 30-some years. Now […]

Jim Scott has added much to our human consciousness in terms of song and substance, very possibly influencing your life without you knowing it. From his work as guitarist with the Paul Winter Consort and co-composer of their celebrated Missa Gaia/Earth Mass, to decades of collaboration and friendship with folk singer and humanitarian Pete Seeger, […]

You fans of funk are in for a treat, as Mike Zabrin, a young, modern master of the bass guitar, brings his entourage known as Funktastic to town. Zabrin, still in his mid-twenties, has toured the country as a bassist for many top names in the Chicago blues biz and has been featured in Bass […]

Relatively new on the Springfield band scene, Ryman’s Way takes their name from the Ryman Auditorium, the renowned building in Nashville that housed the Grand Ole Opry for decades during the heyday of classic country music. The venue again hosts live music, still inspiring thousands of performers and fans, just like it inspires bandmates Larry […]

What’s a chickadee have to do with a sermon? Well, one way to find out is to check out the acoustic folk act named The Chickadee Sermon, appearing downtown at Tacology 101 on Friday. The restaurant doesn’t do much live music, but they have tasty tacos and cool craft beer, plus a nice space to […]

This wife-and-husband music duo of Cole Michael Porter and Kendra Porter hails from Springfield, Missouri, with a startup history that reads like a country music fairy tale. The two met a decade ago at a bar and struck up a match made in heaven while touring as the Cole Porter Band. Since the Porters became […]

This Saturday, ZXO comes strolling over from Champaign to the lower level Radon Lounge (contact info at radonlounge@gmail.com) with several other fine music acts from around the area. Bandmates Ryan Brewer, Garrick Nelson, Gabe Gerhardt and Teddy Lerch in ZXO call their music a “psychedelic slow jam,” placing it in the genre of “cosmic molasses,” […]

Hailing from towns in central Illinois, friends and bandmates Jamie Merideth (vocals, keys), Phil Cooper (rhythm guitar), Dave Primeaux (lead guitar), Aaron Kaufmann (bass) and Jake McNamara (drums), along with contributions on recordings from Jeremy Bobbitt (bass), Jared Headrick (percussion/ programming), Stan Croenne (percussion) and Matt McMillan (percussion), used experiences from playing in other bands […]

This Peoria native is making a splash in the folk-indie-Americana mold by breaking the mold and simply playing good, original music in a sensible and poetic way. Not much on hype and hyperbole, Grabb gets you where it counts (right in the artistic solar plexus) and describes his take on things as “an indie/punk interpretation […]

This Louisiana native headed for Nashville with a dream in mind, and he’s chasing it, reaching it, and becoming a major force in the country music business. Dylan spent his early days hanging around with his dad, a professional backup guitarist to national touring acts, and recently scored a number one hit on Billboard’s Country […]