The Buzz: All’s Well In Dumb Town

Posted on December 6, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

Champaign/Urbana weekly newspaper and online magazine The Buzz have an article all about the recently announced Dumb Records coming to our very own South Town. The Buzz interviewed Brian Galecki and also Nathan Landolt of Error Records about the upcoming record store. From the article:

The long-term relationship between the Champaign-Urbana and Springfield music scenes will become even stronger in 2014.

Error Records owner Nathan Landolt will be teaming up with the owners of The Black Sheep Cafe in Springfield to open his second record store in a year.

The store, Dumb Records, is set to open sometime in the early part of 2014 and will be located at 1107 S. Grand Ave. in Springfield.

The idea came about when Brian Galecki, who helps run The Black Sheep Cafe with owner Kevin Bradford and Cory VanMeter, approached Landolt about opening the store after a former art space closed next door to The Black Sheep Cafe.

“The opportunity came up sort of unexpectedly, and we just took the opportunity and ran with it,” Galecki said. “I’ve always felt that Black Sheep needed some type of distro for local bands’ releases and bands that have come through and played our space. Now we aren’t just doing that; we’re opening an entire record store.”

While Landolt will still spend most of his time managing Error Records in Champaign, the owners from The Black Sheep Cafe will operate Dumb Records.

You can find the entire article about Dumb Records right here. If you missed our big Dumb Records announcement last month, you can find it right here. You can expect some more news on Dumb Records coming up very shortly. A date for a grand opening is being worked on right now.

Today on Black Sheep Radio: War Magic

Posted on December 6, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

Today is Friday. That means there is going to be another episode of The Black Sheep Radio show traveling the air waves all over Springfield. Who will our magic guests be this week? It’s War Magic! Alistair and Steve of War Magic will be in to talk to us about their upcoming show this Monday at Black Sheep, as well as talk about their “dream folk” band and their beards. We also might be playing a brand new War Magic song? You will have to listen to hear that.

The Black Sheep Radio show airs from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on 88.3 WQNA fm. You can also stream the show at the same time on the internet at wqna.org. Miss an episode? Don’t worry! We have an archive of all of our previous episodes on our radio page.

The Illinois Times: “State of the Arts”

Posted on December 5, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

The cover story of the Illinois Times this week is an in-depth look of five different perspectives on the current Springfield arts and music scene. The perspectives covered include Allison Lacher (UIS visual arts gallery), Patrick Russell (Legacy Theater), Aaron Phillips (Torch Tuesday), Tom Irwin (Illinois Times), and our very own Black Sheep Cafe. For the Black Sheep, The Times talked to Brian Galecki and Kevin Bradford about Black Sheep being a stop for touring bands as well as an outlet for locals. From the article:

Punk and indie rock music, both on the regional and national levels, are also on the upswing in town, largely thanks to the continuing activities of all-ages venue Black Sheep Café, which in the past few years has made the once routinely bypassed Springfield into a regular stopover for rough-edged independent touring bands, as well as a reliable outlet for locals. Ninety percent of Black Sheep shows are for touring bands, providing a place to do shows between St. Louis and Chicago dates. “Bands sometimes need a place to play on a weekday night and it’s not always easy to find that,” says Brian Galecki, who helps to book shows and run sound at Black Sheep. “A lot of great Springfield bands have been popping up in the past year, year and a half,” he enthuses. “It’s really awesome to see some of these new bands putting out vinyl. There have also been a lot of young kids coming out too – a lot of high school kids in the audience and a lot of high school bands and that’s helped the scene overall. There have been a lot of full-house shows in general over the past year.

You can take a look at the full article online right here, or also by picking up a copy of The Illinois Times this week.

Park Announces Another Springfield Show

Posted on December 5, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

Reunited Springfield/Chicago band Park have announced anther show, making this their second show in Springfield since they announced their reunion earlier this year. This show is happening on Saturday, December 21st and it is going to be at Marly’s Pub downtown. This show does coincide with part of Black Sheep’s holiday weekend, but that is okay because this show is starting later (doors at 8:30 pm). Other bands playing include Looming (who will also be playing at Black Sheep that night) and The Sun & The Sea. This show is $8 and ages 21+ but don’t worry for those of you youngsters! We have caught word that Park will be planning at least one all ages show in Springfield sometime next year. Park has also been busy recently recording a new EP as well as gearing up to record a full-length album.

You can find a facebook event for the Park show right here. Also don’t forget to check out our list of Springfield shows for a look at shows going on outside of Black Sheep.

Skeletal Lightning Fest Announce First Wave of Bands

Posted on December 4, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

It looks like Skeletal Lightning have announced their first wave of bands for “Skeletal Lightning Fest Two,” happening in April of 2014. Last year was the first year the festival happened in Champaign/Urbana, Illinois focusing on DIY music of the Midwest. You may have seen clips of last year’s festival in the Dither documentary, which had a screening at Black Sheep this past fall.

This year’s festival is happening over the course of three days- from April 11th through the 13th. Notable acts playing include Weekend Nachos, The Reptilian, Cloud Rat, Northless, and Thou, but there are plenty more acts that you can see on the flier above or here at the Skeletal Lightning site. There are still more bands and venue information to be announced later on in January, so keep a heads up for that!

Say Something: “I Don’t Like Your Attitude”

Posted on December 4, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

Today we are treating you all with the very first recording of the Springfield punk band Say Something. Say Something formed last year after the breakup of the hit Springfield ska-punk band Don’t Mess With Winkie. Now Say Something are busy recording in the studio and working with Luke McNeil (Hospital Job, The Copyrights) on their first hit album.

The song we are bringing you today is called “I Don’t Like Your Attitude” and it is just a demo. Stream the song below, and keep your eyes and ears peeled for an upcoming Say Something show at Black Sheep.

Our Lady: “Balancing Stone”

Posted on December 3, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

It looks like Springfield emo punkers and Springfield’s “Best Band Under 21,” Our Lady are at it again, this time with a brand new music video for their song “Balancing Stone.” The video features plenty of clips from the band’s most recent tour out to the west coast and back. The song “Balancing Stone” comes from the band’s most recent release, Dawning II, which you can stream in its entirety on the band’s bandcamp right here. Check out the video for the song below:

January 17th at Black Sheep: Looming, The Flips, Bookmobile, Meredosia, Bad Catman

Posted on December 3, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

We hope you all are ready for 2014 because it is going to be packed with shows and records. This show is going to happen on Friday, January 17th and it is going to rock. We have the Springfield super pop band Looming, who just played a show at Black Sheep the other night. This show will feature the five-piece indie rock band The Flips from Chicago. We have some of their music streaming on the player embedded below. Also on this show is a newer Champaign band called Bookmobile. What could they be about? Come find out at this show! If you are a fan of post-rock, come to this show because local post-rock band Meredosia will also be playing. We have new Champaign band Bookmobile playing this show, but we will also have an older and recently re-united Champaign band playing. Bad Catman will be making their first Black Sheep appearance since 2011! Bad Catman feature members of Dino Bravo, Orange Soda, Wolf Luv, Gnargoyle, The Diamond Stretch, Planet Farm, and probably a ton of other bands we are forgetting.

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 to see what other great shows we have coming up in the new year at Black Sheep.

Some Things Can’t Be Ignored: Back of Dave Live

Posted on December 1, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

Springfield music blog Some Things Can’t Be Ignored are at it again with yet another relic of Central Illinois music scenes of the past. This time they are unleashing a live recording from old Springfield band Back of Dave. The recording is from 1995 at The Red Herring in Urbana, Illinois. Here’s what Anthony of STCBI had to say:

You certainly don’t see live Back of Dave recordings pop up too often, so naturally I was extremely excited to get my hands on this one! Even though the recording lasts a good 45-50 minutes, there are only 8 complete songs on here. The reason why is because after they played “Digger”, a guitar amp pooped out on them. Good ‘ol Friday the 13th luck, eh? They tried to troubleshoot the problem, but eventually just ended up borrowing an amp from one of the other bands that performed that night, Spontane (which featured ex-Ostrich Syndrome members), and continued the set. During this lull, the tape continued to run, but was only dedicated to one side of a 90 minute tape, so this is all that exists.

Very cool! Check out the full post and stream the live recordings right here.

Tonight at Black Sheep: Captain Chaos, Kyle Hall, Looming, Lovecow

Posted on December 1, 2013 by blacksheepspringfield

Tonight is a show that we have been waiting for a long time to happen. And it’s December! How did that happen!? We have a great show to kick off December at Black Sheep tonight. It features Captain Chaos, which is the solo project of Chris Clavin of Plan-It-X-Records based out of Bloomington, Illinois. Chris is on tour with Kyle Hall from Chicago. You can check out some of Kyle Hall’s music below. As far as local band goes, we have the heavy-hitting and lovely Looming, this time in full-band form. We also have the acoustic folk-punk allstars, Lovecow.

The show tonight starts at 7:00 pm. Admission is $5. You can find a facebook event for the show right here. Don’t forget to also check out our shows page for a look at what else is coming up at Black Sheep this winter.