Happy Slimes-giving, ya punk

All of us here at BXS HQ want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! Stuff yourself on tofu roasts and vegan turkey gravy!

Tonight at Black Sheep things are going to get very loud and noisy. Starting things off right at 6:30 pm is End Times Trio, making their return to Black Sheep and playing wild freeform jazz. Then we have Secular Edict, a noise project from Champaign. Then we have a brand new Springfield noise project called “Ylem” featuring Ishmael Holmes. We have no idea what to expect. Coming all the way from Michigan tonight to play noise for us is Forget The Times. And finally we have Groke, who are on tour all the way from Providence, Rhode Island. Wow!

The show starts at 6:30 pm and is $5. Bring ear plugs. You can find a facebook event for the show here. And also be sure to check out what other shows we have coming up over on our shows page.

The Illinois Times have finally released their results from their Best Ofs poll earlier this fall. The Best Ofs feature a wide range of categories such as Springfield local businesses, restaurants, bands, people, and more. You can find all of the results in this weeks publication of The Illinois Times which you can pick up for free at numerous local businesses around town. You can also find the results online in two parts: Part 1 and Part 2. We will mention some of the winners for the music related polls here!

First off we would like to congratulate the Curve Inn for winning the category of the best music venue! The runner up was the Hoogland Center for the Arts.

As far as local bands go, the best new band of 2012 got awarded to Brushfire.  The runner up for that one was Big Daddy Jasper. For best local rock band, first place went to KFD, and the runner up was Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters.  The Debbie Ross Band won best jazz group, and the runner up was Dave Littrell. Hipbone Sam won best blues artist, and runner up was the Debbie Ross Band. And finally for the best country band Still Kick’n won first and Brushfire was the runner up.

We would also like to mention that our neighbors at Clay’s Popeye’s Barbecue won best soul food! Great job everybody!

Experimental metal/rock band Intricate Collapse are streaming the four songs from their most recent EP on their bandcamp and also below.  You can also download the EP for $4 from the band’s bandcamp page.  A physical copy of the EP can also be bought at The Rock Shop or at one of the band’s shows.

We have a little surprise addition to the upcoming Hobgoblinspookadelic show at Black Sheep this year!  Say Something, a new band featuring members of the recently disbanded Don’t Mess With Winkie has been added to the show.  We are not sure what the band sounds like but we have been guaranteed it will get you dancing.  Don’t forget the show is Friday, October 19th.  A facebook event for the show can be found here.

We have a few surprise band pages for you today!  Our list of current Springfield bands keeps growing and growing and growing.  Right now we have two new band pages for you all to check out.

The first is the band that defines Springfield local music for a lot of us.  NIL8 (or N.I.L.8) has a new page up.  The band started in 1982 and will be celebrating 30 years…
~~~~(((((30 YEARS!!!!!!))))))~~~~
…of being a band at the upcoming Hobgoblinspookadelic shows at Black Sheep (October 19th) and Donnie’s Homespun (October 27th).  The Black Sheep Hobgob show will be all ages and will also feature the new band featuring members of Park, Tiger Tank and also The Timmys.  We also plan on having a lot of work done to the inside of our venue  in time for the show.  You can check out the new page here.

The second band page is a new death metal band called Skywalker.  Skywalker features members of the bands Witness It All, All Eyes Upon Adelaide, and Scott Blacula.  They will be playing the show announced earlier this morning on November 30th.  Check out the new page here.

Go to our current bands list to see a long list of current Springfield bands.  We also have a page for past bands.  Do you play in a band that is not yet featured on our site?  We would love to hear from you!  Email blacksheepspringfield@gmail.com with your band name and info and we will work to set a page up for you.

After the passing of Chad Jeffers last month, a number of people have gotten together to set up a show later in October that will celebrate his life.  Pound For Pound will be playing, a band which Chad was involved with at different points during his life.

Come celebrate the life of Pound For Pound guitarist Chad Jeffers who passed away last month. Chad wrote a number of Pound For Pound’s songs and was also responsible for many of the band’s photos before and after his time on guitar.

– Eric Fromm

The show will take place Saturday, October 20th (the day after Hobgob).

This is really old news for a lot of you, but since we have not really mentioned the fact that Henry Rollins is coming to Springfield in October, we thought we would go ahead and share.  From the Hoogland‘s website:

Henry Rollins hits the campaign trail this fall for a two-month tour hitting all 50 state capitals – starting September 6 at Hawaiian Brian’s in Honolulu, HI – and wrapping up on the eve of the Presidential election at the 9:30 Club in the nation’s capital. Titled Capitalism, Henry’s latest talking tour offers not so much a voting guide as an outside viewpoint – an unflinching quest for truth that’s sadly lacking in the profit-driven American mass media.

Rollins will be coming to The Hoogland on October 11th.  Tickets have already gone on sale for $32 in advance and $35 at the door.  They can be purchased here.

The Illinois State Fair is happening this year from August 9th through the 19th.  The twilight parade kicks off tonight at 6:00 pm starting at 9th St. and North Grand.

Go here for a complete schedule of acts playing the Grandstand this year.  Headlining bands and musicians include: Eric Church, Demi Lovato, Toby Mac, Million Dollar Quartet, Brantley Gilbert, Train, Creed, Cheap Trick, Miranda Lambert, and the Steve Miller Band.