Baja & The Blasters: “Alive In Springfield USA”

Posted on November 7, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

Thanks to South Town Studio and recording engineer Brandon Carnes, a live recording has been released of Texas-based band Baja & The Blasters performing right here in Southtown. The band has put up Alive In Springfield USA as a release on their bandcamp page, which you can find streaming below, or right here. The release even features some original artwork from our St. Louis pal Lumpy. It looks like cassette tapes of the recording will also be available soon through the band.

The next South Town Studio show is coming up this week and will feature Secret Tombs from Pennsylvannia as well as No Brainer from Wisconsin and a new Springfield band called The Suction Cups. More info on that show can be found right here.

Tonight at Black Sheep: b00n, Tina Sparkle, Good At Sex

Posted on November 6, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

Tonight at Black Sheep is yet another show- it will be our fourth show this week! We don’t have a show tomorrow or Sunday though so let’s all come out and make this one count. Tonight we have the full band Tina Sparkle coming from Peoria, Illinois. The band features members of The Amazing Kill-o-watts, Jared Grabb Among Theives, and more. It should be a fun time! Also on board for Springfield acts we have the three-piece band b00n. You can find b00n’s latest recorded work, The Southtown EP streaming below. Opening things up we have a brand new band being put together by Brandon Carnes called “Good At Sex.” Who knows what that is all about, you are going to have to come early to find out.

The show tonight starts 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 where you can see what else is coming up at Black Sheep right here.

Tonight at Black Sheep: Fel Fae, Guts Club, Nick Murphy

Posted on November 5, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

We had a nice break from our week-full of shows yesterday, now it’s time to get back to it tonight with this awesome three band indie / acoustic show happening at Black Sheep! Tonight we have the instrumental / experimental two-piece band Fel Fae, from right here in Springfield. The touring band on the show tonight is “Guts Club” – the lofi folk/pop project of Lindsay Baker based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. You can stream some of Guts Club’s music on the player below. Opening the show up is a solo performance by Nick Murphy, who also makes up half of Fel Fae.

The show tonight starts 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 in the near future.

War Magic: “Stranger Station”

Posted on November 4, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

It looks like the indie/dream-folk band War Magic has returned from a little bit of a hiatus to bring us one brand new hit single this week. The song is called “Stranger Station” and you can find it streaming on the player below. Also head over to the band’s bandcamp page where you can download the song for your own price.

War Magic have not played live in over a year now. Who knows if there are any plans if any live War Magic performances in the near future. Members of the band have also been recently been active making music in projects “Night/Hex” and “MLR.”

November 27th at Dumb Records: Black Friday Record Store Day + Show at Black Sheep

Posted on November 4, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

Today is the only night this week where we don’t have a show going on at Black Sheep! Wow! We do have an announcement for a big event happening at Dumb Records later this month on Friday, November 27th. For those of you who are fans of Record Store Day – the annual event in April – the same organization is doing a similar thing for Black Friday and this is Dumb’s first year participating in that. There will be many exclusive releases coming out on vinyl for this day only. Let’s take a look at what releases Dumb expects to get in:

B.B. King – The Thrill Is Gone 10″
Beck – Dreams
Damnation A.D. – Kingdom Of The Lost Souls (white vinyl)
David Bowie – Earthling LP (green vinyl)
Death By Stereo – Day Of The Death (gold vinyl)
The Get Up Kids – Red Letter Day 10″
Farside – The Monroe Doctrine (red vinyl)
Frank Zappa – Feeding The Monkies At Ma Maison LP
Johnny Thunders – Daddy Rollin’ Stone 10″
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama: Live At Rockpalast 2LP
Megadeth – The Threat Is Real / Foreign Policy 12″ (white vinyl)
Mercury Rev/Lost Horizons – Rainy Day Record… 7″ split
Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson – Say Say Say 12″
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody 12″ (40th anniversary)
S.O.D./Deftones – Milk 7″
Spoon – TV Set 10″
The Suicide File – Twilight (gray vinyl)
The Suicide File – Some Mistakes You Never… (green vinyl)
Sunn O))) – Kannon LP (clear vinyl)
Unit Pride – Then And Now (white vinyl)
Various – High Fidelity (Soundtrack) 2LP
Various – Love & Mercy (feat. Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys)
Various – Our Impact Will Be Felt: Tribute To Sick Of It All
Various – True Detective (HBO Soundtrack)
Wes Montgomery – One Night In Indy EP

That’s a lot! In addition to all of those exclusive releases, there will be a 15% off sale for all non-Black Friday RSD items in the store. The store is also opening early that day – at 8:00 a.m., so make sure you get there early!

To go along with Black Friday at Dumb Records there will also be an all-local show happening at Black Sheep. That one is going to feature The Incorporated from Springfield and Litchfield, making their return since the big Hobgob blow-out last month. We also have the pop-punk band that recently put out their first album, Fill In The Blank. Other than that we have a newer industrial project going by the name “A.S.” and another solo/ambient-noise project called “Pretend I’m Not There.” The Black Sheep show will start at 7:00 pm and will cost $5.

Check out a facebook event for all of this right here. Also check out our shows page for a good look at everything else coming up in Southtown this fall/winter.

New Arrivals This Week At Dumb Records

Posted on November 3, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

It’s another week at Dumb Records and the store just announced big plans for Black Friday later this month (we’ll get more into that tomorrow). There are plenty of new arrivals this week including new and used LPs, 7″s, and cassettes. There are a lot of shows this week too so the store is going to be open late to cater to all of you show attendees. Let’s take a look at Dumb’s operation hours for the week and then get into those new arrivals:

Tuesday (today): 12:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Wednesday: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Thursday (show): 12:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Friday (show): 12:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Sunday: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Monday: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm

New LPs
Defeater – Travels
Melt Banana – Bambi’s Dilemma
Negative Approach – Tied Down
Slayer – Seasons In The Abyss
Sunn O))) – Black One
Weezer – Blue Album

Used LPs
Babe Ruth – Stealin’ Home
Back Street Crawler – The Band Plays On
The Beatles – Silver Beatles Volume 2
The Box Tops – Cry Like A Baby
The Cannonball Adderly Quintet – “Live” at Operation Breadbasket
Count Basie – This Time By Basie: Hits Of The 50s & 60s
Dino, Desi & Billy – Our Time’s Coming
Erroll Garner – One World Concert
Jean-Luc Ponty – Imaginary Voyage
Johnny Cash – Hello, I’m Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash – Sings I Walk The Line
The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies
Moby Grape – Wow
Oregon – Crossing
Pat Metheny – Watercolors
Paul McCartney – McCartney II
Queen – Something Out Of The Ordinary
The Ventures – Ventures In Space

Used 7”s
Carole King – I Feel The Earth Move

Used Cassettes
Basia – Cruising For Bruising
Desree – I Ain’t Movin’
Divorce Horse – A Landfull Of Barbies
Doctors Speak Out – Breakthroughs In Preventative Health Care
Mitch Malloy – Our Love With Never Die
Mr. Big – Addicted To That Rush
Nelson – Can’t Live Withouth Your Love And Affection
Nelson – After The Rain
Northsound – The Blues Naturally
Sheila Chandra – Weaving My Ancestors’ Voices
Tribe Of Benjamin – Raize Da Prayze!
Vanessa Williams – Colors Of The Wind (Pocahontas)
Various – Wagon Wheels: Legendary Songs Of The Old West

Tonight at Black Sheep: Garter, Catholic Werewolves, Like… With Jetpacks, Say Something

Posted on November 3, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

It’s time for another weeknight show happening tonight! There are four whole shows this week, can you believe it. For the show tonight we have the Iowa pop punk/emo group Catholic Werewolves– featuring members of Genovia Forever and The Easy Mark who have played here at Black Sheep in the past. You can stream an acoustic demo of Catholic Werewolves’ music below. Also on this show we have the local video game-themed instrumental project called “Like… With Jetpacks“. And we also have the power groove punk band Garter, who just played here at Black Sheep last night. To top it off we have hectic hardcore/punk band Say Something, who also played at Black Sheep last night.

The show tonight will be a 7:00 pm $5 show. 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 this fall.

New Band Pages: GUSH

Posted on November 2, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

Today we are finally bringing you a new band page for one of Springfield’s newer punk bands that popped up at the end of this past summer, GUSH. GUSH features members of Mouthsex, Table Drama, WARRS, and a few other bands. You can stream their demo and find out more about them on their band page on our site, right here. GUSH will also be playing next at Black Sheep along with ACxDC on Wednesday, December 9th. More info on that show can be found right here.

Check out any of our 60+ current band pages on our site right here. Do you play in a Springfield band that has not yet set up a band page with us? We would love to hear from you! Email us at blacksheepspringfield@gmail.com and we will work with you to get something set up.

Tonight at Black Sheep: Set Fire To Salem, Reap And Sow, Noesis, Vacant Skies

Posted on November 2, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

Now that Halloween and all of that jazz is over, it’s time to continue on with our November shows starting with this one happening tonight being called “Day of the Dead.” This show is looking like a pretty solid lineup of a metal show. We have the newer Springfield metal band, Set Fire To Salem. They will be joined by a band touring from Virginia called Reap And Sow (formerly Endeavor). You can stream some of Reap And Sow’s music on the player below. Also on the show is Central Illinois-based metalcore group Noesis. Then kicking things off we have another Springfield metal band, Vacant Skies.

This show will begin 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 what shows are coming up at Black Sheep.

Illinois Times “Best of Springfield 2015” Results

Posted on November 1, 2015 by blacksheepspringfield

Weekly Springfield publication The Illinois Times have released the results to their annual “Best of” polls for the year 2015. Voting was open to everyone starting back in September, and this year the polls were done a little bit differently this time in two rounds with the second round featuring 3 of the top runners up for each category.

You can find the best of local music & entertainment section right here where you can find all of the bands and musicians who were selected as winners. Some notable winners from bands that more frequently play Black Sheep include NIL8 (once again best punk band), and The Locals (best underage band).

This year Black Sheep fit under the category for “small music venue” but sadly we did not even make it to the next round as a runner-up :(. Boondocks (pictured above) got the title of best small venue this year. We were able to win best “all ages venue” in town in 2013, which was the only year in which that category was featured.

We will be kicking off our own annual “Best of Springfield Music” year-end poll here on this site in mid-December.