Look at what is going on tonight! Coming to Black Sheep and on tour is This Noise, and indie-rock band from Evansville, Indiana. We also have Enta, an ambient screamo band from Champaign playing the show. And opening things up we have Mildred, who were just on Black Sheep Radio yesterday! If all of those bands aren’t good enough reasons to come out tonight then we don’t know what is.
The show will start at 7:00 pm and the door charge is $5. You can find a facebook event for the show right here. Also be sure to check out what other shows we have coming up at Black Sheep over on our shows page.
Exciting things are happening at The Radon Lounge as they have just recently launched a brand new website! If you head over to www.theradonlounge.com you can find a lengthy “about” section, a news feed, a list of upcoming shows, and much more! The great and beautiful website layout may remind you all of another certain site. You can also find a page on the Radon site describing “The Horse Show” on June 15th, which is the Radon Lounge’s big summer event. From the “about” section:
Springfield, IL has a thriving punk scene to go with the cover and country bands and sprinklings of other genres. Although Jeff and Cat personally appreciate most forms of music, their vision for the Radon Lounge is to serve the underrepresented genres and provide a safe, loving, and chill atmosphere for those who really enjoy going to shows to hear the music. In music geek terms, the Radon Lounge is the shoegaze to the established Springfield punk scene, although they may end up being more Flock of Seagulls… time will tell.
Don’t forget there is also a show going on at The Radon Lounge tomorrow night! That show includes Brian Lee & His Orchestra, End Times Quartet, Karen Koenig, and Austin & Austin. You can find a facebook event here. There is a Black Sheep show tomorrow night too, so you will have to pick which one to attend, or go to both! Whatever you do don’t sit at home!
Although this would probably not normally be considered Springfield music news, we feel it is important to mention that Off With Their Heads have recently announced plans to release a new album on March 12th, the very day after they play The Black Sheep in Springfield with Teenage Bottlerocket. You can stream a couple of songs from the upcoming full length entitled Homehere on Epitaph Records site. From the Epitaph Records website:
Produced by Bill Stevenson of Decendents fame at the Blasting Room in Fort Collins, CO, Home retains all the boisterous spirit of the band’s earlier efforts while sonically taking a monumental step forward. The new album embraces authentic punk rock at its core and combines melodic fast paced aggression with mid-tempo pop, while singer Ryan Young’s rough and edgy vocals and genuine lyrics create a sincerity that can only come from a hard working band that lives and breathes it every day.
For those of you interested in going to the show on March 11th at Black Sheep with Teenage Bottlerocket, Off With Their Heads, The Timmys, and Hospital Job, you can find online ticket info here. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. You can also buy tickets from us at Black Sheep at any show leading up to this event. You can also find a facebook event for the show here.
Tomorrow Black Sheep Radio will be on air and we have a special treat for you all! We will be talking to Black Sheep owner Kevin Bradford a lot over the course of the two hour show about how his part in the Springfield music scene came to be and the beginnings of the Black Sheep Cafe. Then we will have a change of pace and talk to Bo, Abby, and Quincy of Mildred. We will talk to them about the band and what shows they have coming up (February 2nd and February 9th). To listen you can tune in tomorrow to 88.3 WQNA fm from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm or also head over to the WQNA website (here) and stream it there. We also have our third episode now up and streaming on our radio page, keep checking back there for new episodes streaming!
As we mentioned earlier in the week, Nephrons will be playing “Mates Fest” in Bloomington on Friday (tomorrow). To go along with “Mates Fest,” the Bloomington-Normal publication The B-N Groove have interviewed Nephrons and other bands playing Mates Fest. Fred and Andy talk to the B-N Groove about how the band started, and their plans for a new album to come out later this year. You can check out the full interview along with other band interviews related to Mates Fest here. Also be sure to check out the B-N Groove website here. And for those of you interested in heading to Peoria to catch the fest, the facebook event is right here.
The past Black Sheep roundtable meeting on Sunday turned out to be a productive one. We discussed a few things and also ended up putting some mix CDs and compilations together to help promote some upcoming shows (pictured above). As far as things discussed, be on the lookout for some big things at Black Sheep in the near future. Here are some of the things that were brought up:
– The current progress on the old South Town redevelopment project
– Plans of attack for possible big shows at Black Sheep in the near future
– Plans of attack and promotion for the 3-11 Teenage Bottlerocket/Off With Their Heads show
– Ideas for events and shows to take place this summer
We plan on continuing our Sunday night bi-weekly meetings at the Harm House. It is important to mention that everyone is free to come to these meetings. We are not a closed group of people at all. Keep checking back on the site for info on the next meeting!
Today we bring you some photos from the Black Sheep show that happened this past weekend. The photos are of bands Obi-Wan Kanblo Mi and Pound For Pound, but we should also mention that Up In Arms played the show (but are too mysterious for the camera). You can check out a few of those photos below or head over to our flickr page and click on the set “1-26-13 at Black Sheep” to see more. We would also like to thank our lovely photographer Claire Smith for the photos!
Do you have any pictures from any Springfield shows that you would like to see featured on the site? Send us an email at blacksheepspringfield@gmail.com!
Today we bring you very very big news for the music scene in our sister city of Champaign Illinois. The record label Error Records along with the help of a few others are launching a brand new all ages music venue. If the launch of the venue is successful, this could mean very big and exciting things for Champaign and also the Central Illinois music scene as a whole. It is important for all of us in Springfield that call Black Sheep our home to support this new venue in one of our neighboring cities. Nathan Landolt of Error Records has this to say:
Since moving to Champaign-Urbana about 7 years ago, I have witnessed first-hand what the local music community has to offer. Not only great new music, but genuine hard working and inspiring people. Making friends through a strong and diverse artistic community has little to no comparison in my opinion. No matter what age you are, or stage in your life you’re at, you take all of these experiences and friendships with you for the rest of your life.
It doesn’t come with some risks, though. Putting on house shows where the cops could show up any minute and shut you down is no worry any music lover wants to carry. Not being able to pay a traveling band gas money because you had to pay X amount of dollars an hour to rent the space you’re throwing the show at also sucks. It’s also discouraging to have to host a show at a bar with an age limit when you know a lot more people could be enjoying the show.
If I wouldn’t have been able to get into some of the all-ages venues in St. Louis, that I did as a 15 year old, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I hope to provide those same opportunities to the younger generation of today. This is why Champaign-Urbana needs an all-ages music venue with an honest business model that doesn’t discourage any person from putting together an event, or to see one.
I look forward to bringing the underground music and art scenes together. For all of the support I have already received from the community, I am forever grateful. I hope that support and desire continues to take us places we never imagined possible.
You can find more about the project here on Indiegogo. You can also watch a youtube video about the project above and also donate to the project on the indiegogo page. The overall goal for the venue is $3000 which has to be raised in 30 days. Along with donating there are a list of incentives including a hand printed screen printed poster designed by Springfield’s Brian Galecki, and also some records from the Error catalogue. We plan on keeping you all updated on the launch of the new music venue, which will likely be opened towards the end of March or the beginning of April. And now a message from Kevin:
This is an amazing thing for Champaign/Urbana. As we all know, all ages venues are rare and extremely hard to keep afloat. I encourage you all to support our friends out there and support this cause. Without our community here in Springfield and Central Illinois it would have been impossible for us to open and stay that way. All of us in the Black Sheep family know the struggle. Good luck to Nathan and crew I am excited to have a sister all ages venue out there.
– Kevin Bradford
St. Louis based project Cave of Swords have recently released an album of remixes featuring various artists including Springfield’s very own Luzhin Defense. You can stream the entire album here on Cave of Sword’s bandcamp with a name-your-price download or check it out below. The Luzhin Defense are also playing Springfield next on February 11th at The Radon Lounge along with Mr Nasti, Runaway, Like… With Jetpacks, and Hushpad.
Look at what is going on tonight! Coming to Black Sheep and on tour is This Noise, and indie-rock band from Evansville, Indiana. We also have Enta, an ambient screamo band from Champaign playing the show. And opening things up we have Mildred, who were just on Black Sheep Radio yesterday! If all of those bands aren’t good enough reasons to come out tonight then we don’t know what is.
Dumb Records 