State Journal Register: “DIY Music: Black Sheep Cafe Marks 10 Years”

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Southtown is in the news yet again, this time around we are the focus of this week’s A&E section of the State Journal Register. The article is called “DIY Music: Black Sheep Marks 10 Years, New Ownership As Alternative Music Venue.” The article talks about the venue and it’s ten years, as well as the recent ownership change with Kevin Bradford moving on to another project in town (which the article gives some more clues on what that is), as well as our Project Southtown Kickstarter campaign. The article interviews active members of the Southtown community Jessica Knight, Brian Galecki, and Brandon Carnes. From the article:

Few gave Black Sheep, which came out of the local punk scene, much of a chance a decade ago, given shifting musical tastes, the short shelf life of musical venues and its novel do-it-yourself concept that included a lack of any financial planning.

But an exploding local musical scene, fueled in part by Black Sheep’s own new recording studio, the insistence on a drug- and alcohol-free environment, an investment in the historic neighborhood and a smattering of national touring luminaries — Screaming Females, Ian McKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat), ska punk godfather Jesse Michaels (Operation Ivy) and The Wonder Years — all have kept the place relevant and thriving.

Check out the full article by picking up today’s copy of The State Journal Register, or see an online version right here. Don’t forget that there are 49 days remaining in our Project Southtown Kickstarter and we haven’t reached our goal yet! You can find the link to donate to that right here.

Kharybdis: “Bloodmoon” Lyric Video

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Springfield metal/deathcore band Kharybdis have unleashed a brand new lyric video for a brand new hit song called “Bloodmoon.” You can see the video right here or also embedded below.

Kharybdis will be playing at Black Sheep next on Friday, May 15th along with Ænimus, WRVTH, Shapist, Noesis, and Animus. Check out a facebook event and more info on that show right here.

Some Things Can’t Be Ignored: “Project Southtown”

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Springfield music blog Some Things Can’t Be Ignored has put up a very nice write-up along with plenty of kind words on “Project Southtown” and our latest kickstarter campaign. Check out that post right here. From the write-up:

Black Sheep has hosted more shows than I can even count.   Everything from local and regional bands, to national and international touring acts.  I think it’s safe to say that Black Sheep is primarily responsible for Springfield’s ever growing and flourishing music scene.  The local music scene here had become pretty stagnant before Black Sheep opened their doors.  Once that happened, a flood of new bands started to move through the venue consistently, which inspired dozens of young, creative people to start their own bands right here in town.

The Project Southtown Kickstarter campaign will continue for another 51 days until it ends on June 25th. Find the link to donate to that right here. Currently the campaign is nine days in and we have already raised $3,700 (about 3/4ths of our goal)! You can expect some updates on Project Southtown to come very soon. In addition to the Project Southtown write-up, Some Things Can’t Be Ignored has also featured an old demo from Back Of Dave, a band that frequently played Springfield in the 1990s. Check out that post right here.

New Arrivals This Week At Dumb Records

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It’s another week at Southtown record store Dumb Records and there are a few new arrivals in store this week! Exciting stuff! Don’t forget that Dumb Records is now open every day from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and open until 9:00 pm nights there are shows at Black Sheep. Let’s take a look at this schedule for this week:

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

New LPs
Acker – Acker
Ceremony – Violence Violence
Deafhaven – Sunbather
Integrity – The Blackest Curse

Used LPs
The Jim Nabors Hour – Tomorrow Never Comes
Lawrence Welk – Reminiscing
Paul Weston – Music For The Fireside
Eddie Layton – Skatin’ With Layton
The Ventures – Play The Country Classics

Used CDs
The Crusties – Rats Revenge
John William Gordon – Just A Wild Guess
Nicholas Payton – Numbers
Moon Jr. – Moon Jr.
Screaming Females – Singles
Skibbereen – Tús
Sublime – 40 oz. To Freedom
Summer Chemicals – Carillon
Tony Rybka – Run With Me
You Knew Me When – We Found Roads

Comics
Brett Freeman – King Crow

July 25th at Black Sheep: Black Sheep Fest 2015

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Today we are coming to you with the official date for Black Sheep Fest 2015- which with be our eighth Black Sheep Fest held at Black Sheep so far! The date for that is Saturday, July 25th– so mark your calendars and plan your summer vacations accordingly! No bands are being announced just yet, the final flier and lineup will likely be made available at Dumb Fest 3D on June 12th and 13th. Don’t forget that you can also pick up your tickets for Dumb Fest 3D at Dumb Records at any time or find them online right here.

Check out photos from last year’s Black Sheep Fest right here.

Epsom: “Damn And Blast,” Pre-Orders for “Ah, Youth”

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Springfield “acid reflux rock” band Epsom have released a brand new song along with a pre-order to their upcoming self-released LP. The song is called “Damn And Blast” and you can stream it on the player below. This is a song from Epsom’s upcoming LP called Ah Youth, which is being self-released by the band and will be limited to 100 copies on vinyl. Find the pre-order for the album right here. Also check out a nice lyric video for “Damn and Blast” right here.

Epsom will be playing at Black Sheep next doing a Modern Lovers cover set as a part of the Black Sheep Cover Show Part Four, happening on Saturday, May 23rd. Find a facebook event and more info on that show right here.

June 19th at Black Sheep: Noesis, Abyss, Blue Skies Beneath Black, A Beginning’s End

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Coming up on Friday, June 19th at Black Sheep we have another metal show lined up for you all. This show features Central Illinois progressive metalcore band Noesis, who have played the past few metal shows that have been hosted at Black Sheep. Next on the lineup we have Abyss, the alternative metal band also from around in Central Illinois. This will be Abyss’s first show at Black Sheep this year. Up before them is a deathcore band from Wood River, Illinois called “Blue Skies Beneath Black.” And the fourth and final band on the bill is “A Beginning’s End” playing metal from the St. Louis area.

This show will start at 7:00 pm and admission is $5. There is no facebook event for this one, but you can still check out our shows page for a look at everything coming up at Black Sheep this summer.

LEECH (Oklahoma City) Added To Dumb Fest 3-D

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It looks like we have one more Dumb Fest 3-D band addition that some of you may have caught when we released the official flier and tickets earlier this week. That addition is a band called LEECH from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They will be playing day 2 of Dumb Fest 3-D. You can find some of LEECH’s music streaming below.

That brings us to a total of 40 bands officially on Dumb Fest 3-D! Dumb Fest 3-D will be taking place on June 12th and 13th at Black Sheep, Skank Skates, Dumb Records, and South Town Studio. You can pre-order tickets online right here or they can be bought at Dumb Records during store hours. Tickets this year are actually 3-D glasses and when wearing them the flier becomes 3-D! Also check out a facebook event for Dumb Fest 3-D right here. Check out the full lineup of Dumb Fest 3-D right here.

Tonight at Black Sheep: Black Sheep Open Mic

11149653_10204268605377641_7006195790856307004_oTonight at Black Sheep is going to be an interesting night because we are putting on a Black Sheep Open Mic for the first time in many years. Hopefully this will give plenty of new musicians and artists a chance to get up on stage, and show us a thing or two! There are a lot of fifteen minute time slots that have already been filled for the open mic. Let’s take a look at what we have lined up:

7:00 – Rhiannon Skye Mclean (spoken word)
7:15 – Brett Freeman (comedy)
7:30 – Sami Walker and Tyler Nelson (acoustic)
7:45 – AJ Francis (spoken word)
8:00 – Ryan Nance (acoustic)
8:15 – Jameson and Dayton (acoustic)
8:30 – Eric Rogers
8:45 – Devon Fluelen (comedy)
9:00 – Pretend I’m Not There
9:15 – Mystery Gift
9:30 – Tammy Cannon and Company (drag/stand up)
9:45 – Honey (spoken word)
10:00 – Green Day Cover Nerds

That’s over three hours of open mic madness right there! This is going to start right at 7:00 pm sharp (don’t be late)! For this show we are also asking for a cover charge of anywhere between $1 to $5 (whatever you feel lis appropriate). Check out a facebook event for the open mic right here. Also check out our shows page for a look at what’s coming up this summer in Southtown.

Videos: HISO TV: “HISO Cypher”

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Today we have a brand new video that was recently shot inside Black Sheep from Springfield hip hop label and collective of local musicians, HISO Music Entertainment. The video called “HISO Cypher” features different performers inside of Black Sheep. Featured artists include AYO, Shady Wayne, Delfino J, Joshua, and LO-FI. Check out the video below.

Check out more music videos shot inside Black Sheep on our “vids/pics” page. If you want to catch some of what HISO has to offer live, be on the lookout for some shows being announced soon at Black Sheep on May 28th and June 27th.