See some of the Midwest’s top comedians this Saturday during the Best of the Midwest Comedy Showcase. The show features up-and-coming comedians from central Illinois, Chicago and St. Louis. Located just 45 minutes from Springfield, Mason City Limits Comedy Club offers a full bar and routinely hosts top comedians from Comedy Central, “The Tonight Show,” […]
St. Louis
Posted inFood & Drink
Slow Food Springfield St. Louis brewery tour
A batch of Pale Ale rolls off the line at the Schlafly Bottleworks brewery in Maplewood, MO. PHOTO BY HUY RICHARD MACH/TNS For as long as I can remember, St. Louis has been a beer town. And for most of that time, St. Louis was a one-brewery town. Anheuser-Busch ruled the roost; even sighting a […]
Posted inMusic
CaveofswordS
Based out of South City, St. Louis, CaveofswordS travels in otherworldly ways in the sound sphere, spending time in advancing the cause of art, dance, poetry and music. Calling their genre DubWave, band mates Sunyatta, Eric, Zagk and KVN develop sincere electronic music full of mood-manipulating sounds and image-based lyrics. Defying categorization but encouraging participation […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Contrast
Niche in St. Louis PHOTO COURTESY www.facebook.com/nichestl In June I ate a multi-course meal at Niche, one of St. Louis’ most highly acclaimed and innovative restaurants. Each course was beautifully presented, some components having been delicately placed with tweezers. Niche and its owner, Gerard Craft, and executive chef, Nate Hereford, are so committed to using […]
Posted inMusic
ClusterPluck
ClusterPluck Utilizing acoustic instruments in a bluegrass-folk-pop-ish style, the five players in ClusterPluck (don’t you just love saying that name?!) bring it on and score high. Chris Rader (vocals, banjo, guitar), Justin Torres (vocals, bass, guitar), Derek Rutter (vocals, mandolin, guitar), Leah Osborne (vocals, washboard, ukulele) and Matt Gadeken (violin, vocals) go deep in the […]
Posted inMusic
July jam gems
Legendary iconic punk band Black Flag plays Donnie’s Homespun on Sat., July 19. I’m glad I’m not in town this weekend (we’re playing the Belgium Beer and Mussels Festival at Schlafly’s Tap Room in St. Louis – personal plug!) only because the wide and wonderful music entertainment choices are too many and too good for […]
Posted inMusic
Making mid-May music
The Funky Butt Brass Band blows in from St. Louis for a show at The Creek in Chatham on Saturday night. As foretold and promised in recent accounts here in this column, May is heating up musically almost as much as the weather did last week. Even though the current outside temps seem to indicate […]
Posted inMusic
Lowder and Manning
PHOTO BY ANITA STIENSTRA If there was ever a dynamic duo in the performing singer-songwriter world, these two seasoned performers and musicians could most certainly fit the bill. The combination of Jill Manning’s rough and ready, lovely and literate voice backed by the superb and sublime, intense and intentional guitar playing of Jaigh Lowder is […]
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Micky and the Motorcars
Micky and the Motorcars If you’re familiar with Midwest music clubs, then you’ve heard of Mojo’s in Columbia, Mo., Knucklehead’s in Kansas City and Off Broadway in St. Louis, the other venues Micky and the Motorcars play during a roll through the prairie. That says volumes about these guys and the alt/country, roots-rocking world they […]
Posted inMusic
Johnnie Owens can sing
Johnnie Owens, joined by his favorite musician friends, hosts a release party for his CD, Butter!, Sunday, Nov. 10, at the Brewhaus from 5 to 9 p.m. PHOTO BY JOE COPLEY Now a renowned and beloved Springfield-based singer, Johnnie Owens’ voice and talent took him around the world in his younger days. Earlier this week […]
Posted inFood & Drink
For the love of Indian food
It wasn’t love at first bite. It wasn’t even love at second bite. But, when I finally fell in love with Indian food, I fell hard. I’ve always been an adventurous eater, eager to try new things, so it’s strange that I didn’t initially appreciate Indian food, but it was really circumstantial. My first experience […]
Posted inMusic
Josh Catalano and The Dirty Thoughts
A stalwart on the local music scene in performing, writing and recording original, rocking American music, Josh Catalano (guitar, vocals, songwriting) formed The Dirty Thoughts in 2011 with former Damnwell Betters bandmates Patrick Miller (drums) and Jordan Laier (guitar, keys, pedal steel, vocals), then added Keith Voegele (bass, vocals) of the nationally renowned St. Louis-based […]
