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Livin’ Thing: “It’s A… Livin’ Thing”

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This Sunday afternoon we are bringing you the hot new five-track demo for Springfield’s newest punk sensation- Livin’ Thing. Livin’ Thing features members of King Worm, Soap Scum, GUSH, Asthma, Garter, and just about any other Springfield punk band you can think of. Today they are dropping their new five-track demo being called It’s A Livin’ Thing. You can stream that on the player below, or head over to bandcamp to download at your own price. The physical cassette is being released by Rat King Records and can be pre-ordered on the Rat King site right  here.

Livin’ Thing will next be playing at Black Sheep tomorrow night along with Rik & The Pigs, SAP, and DJ Tariq. They also have a show lined up at Black Sheep for March 19th along with The Bug, Pryss, and Moondead.

The Illinois Times: “Thinking Outside The Frame”

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We are a little late to the game on this one, but find it worth noting an article that appeared in weekly publication The Illinois Times a little over one week ago called “Thinking Outside The Frame.” Much like the IT article “Making A Scene” that came out late last year, a group panel of key players in the Springfield art scene was formed by Scott Faingold of the IT (and also local band Epsom). Those of you who remember “Making A Scene” was a discussion on local music and featured Brian Galecki representing Dumb Fest and The Black Sheep. For the arts panel, Clare Frachey was selected to represent both The Black Sheep and Cafe Brio. You can find the whole article online right here. The panel this time around also included Jeff Williams (pictured above) of The Pharmacy and also the local band NIL8, as well as a few others. From the article:

Clare Frachey: At the First Friday art shows we transform Café Brio into a half-restaurant, half-art exhibit and we have different artists each month. Some of these people haven’t ever shown their work in public. These shows are a good way for people to be involved. I’ve never turned anyone away – which can be good and bad. But the point is not just the aesthetics, it’s the act of seeing.

Dollar: It’s the opportunity.

Scaife: And it’s the kind of opportunity emerging artists and local artists are always looking for.

Frachey: It’s a lot more low-key than a formal gallery so that the intimidation factor is not as prevalent – it’s just come in, come out, maybe get a drink.

April 2nd at Black Sheep: Ambient Blast

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Here’s something a little bit new happening at Black Sheep next month! On Saturday, April 2nd we will be hosting an “Ambient Blast,” or a show where all ambient / noise / drone solo artists will be performing. For this show we have solo performer Eric Marvel on the bill. Also Kenyon Deshasier will be performing, who has performed at Black Sheep before back for a show in November of 2014 if anybody possibly remembers that. We have another familiar act- Pretend I’m Not There which is the solo project of BJ Pearce of many bands from the area. Then we have Timothy Donavan Russell, solo ambient artist. You can stream some of Timothy’s music on the player below.

This show will start a tad bit early, at 6:00 pm. Admission is $5. You can find a facebook event for the show right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for an updated list of everything else coming up in the next few months at Black Sheep.

DUMB FEST 4-EVER Announcement #1

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Wow, the day has finally come! We are finally releasing the first wave of bands being announced for Dumb Fest 4-Ever happening here in Springfield on June 10th, 11th, and 12th this year! That’s right, here are 8 bands of what is looking like a 35-band total 3-day fest happening at Black Sheep, Dumb Records, Skank Skates, and Rock N’ Roll Hardee’s. Let’s get into the bands:

UROCHROMES (Western Mass.)
CLOSET BURNER (Galesburg, IL)
LOWERED A.D. (Carbondale, IL)
BIB (Omaha, NE)
GOON (Denver, CO)
HUSH (Champaign/Chicago, IL)
LA LOUVE (Champaign, IL)
MOONDEAD (Springfield, IL)

You can find links to most of the bands’ music by clicking on their names. Check out a track from Urochromes streaming below. Go check out the Dumb Fest 4 facebook event for a closer look at which of those bands will be playing which days. Also check out our Dumb Fest 4-Ever page to view the what bands have been announced so far at all times. Other bands will be likely announced in three more waves, coming at ya throughout the rest of this month!

Black Sheep Art Show March 26th

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It’s been a little while since we’ve had a good art show hosted inside Black Sheep! We want to start doing a big art show on an annual-basis in March, so hopefully this one will be the start to that! We have an art show being planned right now for Saturday, March 26th. We are expanding this one to also cover the walls of Skank Skates next door and also possibly Dumb Records! Here is who we have for participating artists right now:

Erin Asper
Martin Meyer
Rhys Nichols
Brian Galecki
Nick Wood
Clare Frachey
Hannah Skube
Ted Keylon
Kamila Glowacki
Jeff Williams
Tater Cronin
Mark Reynolds
Mike Tirehaus
+more!

This is a community event focused on expanding the creative mind of the masses on many different fronts. If you have contributions you would like to expose to the art world, please message Clare Frachey with details or email clarefrachey@gmail.com. This art show will feature works of all different kinds of media as well as performance acts. There will be a show in Southtown Studios following this event so stay tuned for more details on that! Check out a facebook event for the art show right here. The opening for this will be from 5:00 – 7:00 pm, and some type of show will follow up in South Town Studio. For a list of more shows and going-ons in Southtown, check out our shows page.

Tonight at Black Sheep: Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes, boon, Slave Cable, TANG

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Here we are on a Saturday night and there’s another show upon us tonight! It is going to be a hoot. For this show we have Indianapolis based band Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes who are no strangers to Black Sheep or Springfield in general. The band brings that rock n’ roll goodness that you all crave with that tinge of punk and bright hair coloring. Check out some of their music streaming below. We also have their good friends and Springfield experimental rock band Boon on the bill. Before that is something interesting and that is Slave Cable- a newer St. Louis noise project featuring members of Animal Teeth. Opening things up for the night we have the wild and reckless noise band TANG.

This show will start at 7:00 pm and $5 just like all of the other good old fashioned punk shows. You can find a facebook event for this one right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for a list of more shows coming up at Black Sheep this spring.

Tonight at Black Sheep: Dead Zebbra, Strangefellas, Green Messiah

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It’s Friday! We have a show tonight at Black Sheep, which is currently nice and clean ever since our cleaning and yard crew did a great job with some new projects this week. This one is going to be a rocker. We have long time running Springfield hard rock band Dead Zebbra (possibly their first time playing Black Sheep at least in a while?) on the bill. The touring act on this show is “Strangefellas” (pictured above). Strangefellas comes from the other Springfield in Missiouri. You can stream some of their music on the player below. Opening things up for this one we have the Springfield doomy sludge band Green Messiah.

This show will start at 7:00 pm and admission is $5. You can find a facebook event for this one right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for a good look at everything else coming up at Black Sheep! And it’s also Friday, which means we have a brand new episode of The Black Sheep Radio Show on from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on 88.3 fm!

Our Lady Ask For Help Fixing Van, Release New Song

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With SXSW coming up in Texas later this month, Springfield band Our Lady are planning on touring out to play a showcase as part of the fest, but need our help getting their van back in working condition! The band has launched a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $2,300 to go towards repairs to their van (pictured above). To donate to that campaign, GO HERE. From the Our Lady facebook page:

Recently on our last out of town show the van started shaking uncontrollably before reaching a certain speed. Obviously we were terrified. We ended up having to be on the road for 8 hours as apposed to 5 because we couldn’t get the van above 55 MPH and had to get home. We took the van in to get fixed because we have a tour coming up down to SXSW and back. Its going to cost us about $2,300 to get fixed which is a ridiculous amount. Essentially everything that makes and helps the van’s wheels move straight is broken, or needing repair. We in no way were prepared to receive such a overwhelming estimate. The bill coming back as heavy as it did is beyond crippling to us. We are still in debt on the van and cannot get rid of it or trade it in. I hate to reach out and ask the most amazing people we know for help but, we need it. We never have been in this for personal gain and never will be. We payed for the recordings out of pocket and it broke our bank as a band. We recorded this latest album for everyone including ourselves. Its our attempt to connect with people who are struggling because we are struggling. We’ve been financially recovering ever since. Now with this its just a drop into an already empty bucket. We need your help. This page will only be up for one week because we leave for tour in two. So please, please share it around. Any amount helps. Anything helps. If you can’t afford to donate please share it around. We know some people are not going to agree with us doing this but we don’t have another option. Im sorry to ask any of you for anything but we need your help right now.

To offer some some thanks to fans, even those not donating, the band has released a brand new track called “Circle Around My Neck,” which you can find streaming below. Anyone who donates to the GoFundMe will receive a download to the song. The song is not from any release, but Our Lady does have a full length album coming out soon on Mayfly Records.

March 13th at Black Sheep: Lavender, Old Fox Road, Suction Cups, Undeserving

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We have a show coming up on Sunday, March 13th that we are a little late to the game on announcing! Hopefully that doesn’t stop you from coming out though, because it’s going to be a good one. This show will be the end of a four or five day run for Central Illinois bands Lavender and Old Fox Road. The two will be heading out on the road together and ending the run with this show at Black Sheep. Stream some of Old Fox Road’s music below. Old Fox Road also recently recorded in South Town Studio behind Black Sheep. Also on this show we have the surf-rock Springfield band, The Suction Cups. And opening things up looks like we have the hardcore/emo band Undeserving from Bloomington/Normal.

This show will start at 7:00 pm and admission is $5. You can find a facebook event for the show right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for a good look at everything else coming up at Black Sheep and Southtown in the near future.

Black Sheep Yard Crew Tonight

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It’s hard to believe, but Spring is pretty much here, so we are going to get the Black Sheep yard crew back together tonight to get some serious work done. One result of the Black Sheep roundtable meeting that happened at the beginning of last month was discussion of cleaning things up the best we can here at our space and in our neighborhood! Come out tonight and get your hands dirty and help us clean up our area! Bring your old clothes, gloves, and get ready to get dirty! We also have some stuff to move around inside Dumb Records once the Black Sheep related work is done, so there will be plenty to do! Everyone is welcome to come!

You can find a facebook event for cleanup day right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for a full listing of shows and other events such as this one in the months coming up at Black Sheep. And check out our get involved page for more listings on roundtable meetings and things you can do to get involved with helping run our space.