Did you hear about this great show happening on Saturday, January 17th featuring an awesome five-band lineup? It is happening. This show will feature plenty of Springfield, St. Louis, and Chicago. On this show we have SAP– the indie spook rock three-piece band that are currently working on recording material. Then we have the saxophone-charged punk band Sick Sad World coming from Chicago. You can stream their music below. Also coming from Chicago is a newer indie post-punk band called Person. Person features members of some older Champaign bands Laughboy and Midstress. Next on the lineup is a two-piece band called The Funs coming from St. Louis. They are good. Starting things off is a brand new Springfield hardcore band called WARRS. We have been told that it features members of Loses The Mighty and Soap Scum.

This show will start at 7:00 pm and admission is $5. Check out a facebook event for the show right here. And be sure to check out our shows page where you can find everything coming up at Black Sheep in 2015.

Tonight is a magical night because we are hosting the annual Black Sheep Holiday Show! Bring your hot chocolate, eggnog, and holiday cheer. This show will be the last ever performance by Springfield feel good rock group Big Storm. Big Storm features Brandon Carnes of Looming and South Town Studio on guitar and vocals. They just released a final four song EP earlier this week which you can stream below. Also on this show and coming from Chicago is the experimental-jazz group called Lamp. You are all in for a treat. We also have the indie rock duo, Coed Pageant coming from Champaign for this show. Opening things up are the emo rock three-piece power group Wir Können.

The show tonight starts at 7:00 pm and admission is $5. You can check out a facebook event for the show right here. Also be sure to check out our shows page for a look at everything else coming up at Black Sheep.

It looks like we have captured some rare footage of the birth of a brand new Springfield punk band called Diaper Rash from this past weekend. We have a video of the band’s first ever performance at Black Sheep to share with you all today. This video starts out with a performance by the legendary Nighthawk, and then strange things begin to happen. You’ll have to see what happens next.

Diaper Rash will be playing in Springfield next at Donnie’s Homespun on Friday, December 26th. The band also just released a cassette containing their first three demos, which you can stream right here. Check out the Diaper Rash video below:

Today is a very special on the Black Sheep Radio Show because it is the show’s 100th episode. The Black Sheep Radio Show has been going strong every Friday for nearly two years now. The show has grown a lot since then, and is currently recorded right at Southtown’s very own South Town Studio by Brandon Carnes. Today on the Black Sheep Radio Show we have an all-star lineup of guests including Kevin Bradford (owner of Black Sheep), Mike Tirehaus (King Worm), Brian Galecki (Teen Freak), and Brandon Carnes (everything).

You can listen to the Black Sheep Radio show on 88.3 WQNA fm from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm today. You can also stream the show live online at wqna.org during that same time. Don’t forget to check out our radio page if there are episodes that you may have missed that you want to go back and download.

It looks like the Springfield electronic/ambient project called Night/Hex has released a couple of new songs this month. Those songs are titled “11/6” and “11/15” and we just happen to have both of them streaming below. You can also head over to the Night/Hex bandcamp page where you can find the songs for an at-your-price download as well as all of the band’s past material. Night/Hex features members of the dream-folk band War Magic.

There are no current plans for any Night/Hex live shows, and War Magic does not have anything currently lined up.

It’s another exciting week at Springfield record store Dumb Records, and there are a good chunk of new arrivals in this week just in time for Black Friday. You can check out that list below. Don’t forget that this Friday is Black Friday and Dumb Records is having a big sale for all new and used items in the store. More info can be found on that here. The store will also be closed this Thursday for Thanksgiving. Let’s take a look at Dumb Records’s store hours this week:

Tuesday (today): 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesday: 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Thursday: (closed for Thanksgiving)
Friday (Black Friday): 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday: 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm

New LPs
Bad Brains – Bad Brains
Bad Brains – Bad Brains (Picture Disc)
Dinosaur Jr – Green Mind
Haldol – The Death Drive
Flipper – Blow’N Chunks
New York Dolls – Lipstick Killers
Swans – Filth

New Cassettes
Gazeebo – Demo
Haldol – Haldol
The Holidays – Secret Tape
Milchjunge – Demo 2014
Smallpox Champion – Smallpox Champion
The Stasi – The Stasi

 Used Cassettes
Judas Priest – The Best Of Judas Priest
Sweet Tooth – Demo

It’s another week at South Town record store Dumb Records, and the store is gearing up for more record fairs and acoustic shows this fall. This week there are a few new items in including CDs, cassettes, and records. Check out some pretty sweet featured records from the store on the Dumb Records Record of the Night blog. Let’s look over what Dumb Records’s operating hours are for this week:

Tuesday (today): 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Thursday (show): 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Friday: 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday: 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Used LPs
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Rastaman Vibration
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – American Dream
Donald Fagen – The Nightfly
James Taylor – Sweet Baby James
Joan Baez – Blessed Are…
Seals & Crofts – Diamond Girl
Sly & The Family Stone – There’s A Riot Going On

New 7”s
Hideaway/Cota – Split
Jacket Thor – In Our Blisters
Tyler Bisson – Picture Disc 7”

New CDs
Tom Irwin – Carry Me Home
Tom Irwin – Sangamon Songs
Tragwag – Maybe You Can Relate

Used CDs
Eric Clapton – Unplugged
R.E.M. – Automatic For The People
R.E.M. – Around The Sun
Tom Petty – Full Moon Forever

New Cassettes
Hideaway – Acoustic Sessions
Hideaway/Cota – Split
Sputter – Demo

This Halloween (Friday, October 31st) there will be an abundance of things to do in Springfield. Earlier we mentioned that NIL8 will be playing this year’s Hobgoblinspookadelic show at Donnie’s Homespun along with The Timmys, Bad Banshee, and King Worm. We also mentioned that Empire Board Shop will be switching over to Boof City Skate Shop and they will be having their big grand opening on Halloween starting at 6:00 pm. It looks like we also have an event happening at Black Sheep, and that is this big “Terror In The Field” Halloween Bash! The Halloween Bash will be a hip hop show featuring four different acts. Right now those include MPress (who played at our last hip hop show), RJC, MP5, and HISO Music Entertainment. Along with the music there will be costume contests, so be sure to wear a costume if you plan on coming!

This show will kick off at 7:00 pm, and admission is $6, but $5 if you have a costume. Check out our shows page to stay updated on all the events coming up at Black Sheep and Dumb Records.

We are crazy about Wir Können here at blacksheepspringfield.com today. Earlier today we were streaming the band’s newest release God, It’s Getting Bad on our site. Don’t forget to check that out here. This afternoon we are coming to you with a video of the band’s full set from the show at Black Sheep this past Saturday along with Knives, I’m Dead Inside, Sybassian, and Looming. You can check out the video embedded below. Also find a good chunk of photos from the show that night right here on the AJ Francis Photography facebook page.

Check out our vids/pics page to find an archive of all sorts of photos and videos from Black Sheep and other Springfield shows over the years.