Welcome to the Ides of October and a bunch of glorious happenings headed your way throughout the month. At times I try to focus on one show, but let’s just take a run at the next couple weeks right now for a head start on upcoming events.
Tonight, Oct. 15, the Bedrock 66 Live!
concert series at the Hoogland pulls another coup hosting performing songwriter and entertainer extraordinaire Tom Russell live and in person. Russell is a celebrated contraire and much more than your average singer-songwriter guy. He’s made several visits to Late Night with David Letterman, compiled books with Sylvia Tyson and Charles Bukowski, sold plenty of his folkstyle paintings and continues to perform and record with a boisterous vengeance. Often associated with his adopted state of Texas, Russell bears many of the attributes of those wonderful storytelling Texas troubadours and now makes his home in El Paso.
Opening the show is area singer-songwriter Jessica Jolly, who started playing rhythm guitar about four years ago to accompany her dad so he could work on his Dobro licks. A couple years back she took up songwriting and got hooked on self-expression through song. Her short-term plans include continued playing with her fellow artists Ashley Riley and Nathan Blesse while finishing up a recording of originals songs.
Remy’s on Monroe (225 East Monroe, 217-787-2919) features the best in local jazz bands on weekend nights from 8:30 to midnight and it’s high time to acknowledge the club’s contribution to live music in the capital city. Catch the Zach Radwine Trio this Friday and the Rob Killam Quartet on Saturday for a good spin of quality jazz music. Saturday is also the grand opening for the latest incarnation of Norb Andy’s with the Frank Trompeter Quartet playing from 9 to midnight to celebrate the occasion. Congratulations to Nathan and Jeremy for re-establishing this Springfield landmark.
Here are a couple of concerts you may like to know about. Brian Wilson, the famed icon from the Beach Boys and considered by many as one of the great composers of the 20 th century, performs at the Sangamon Auditorium on Oct. 21. Why wouldn’t you go? Dave Lerch of Blues Blvd DJ Services keeps us abreast of area blues shows and highly recommends Joe Bonamassa at the Peoria Civic Center on Friday, Oct. 23. Wayne “the Train” Hancock returns to town on Oct. 25 for a Sunday night show at Bar None sponsored by Recycled Records. Wayne, a favorite of Springfieldians, first performed for us way back when at The Alley. He was one of the very first artists booked by the Sangamon Valley Roots Revival.
Another Springfield favorite and alumni of Jacksonville’s Illinois College, that incredible talent and vivacious singer-songwriter Marina V, performs for a benefit at the Congregational United Church in Jacksonville on Oct. 25 and at the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Woodside Road on Mon. Oct 26. Get all the information at www.MarinaV.com.
Adding one more item to this vast and encompassing list of entertainment to-dos, I would like to invite one and all to our celebration of 15 Years of Sundays at the Brewhaus on Sunday, Oct. 18, 7 p.m. to midnight. It’s hard to believe, but me and lots of other musicians have managed to play nearly every Sunday since Oct. 16, 1994, at the Brewhaus, beginning right after the bar opened. So far we’ve had parties for the 300 th Sunday, 10 years, 666 Sundays, and now we’re commemorating 15 years of play time. We’ll have some food and plenty of music while the Brewhaus serves up the drinks, so come on down and say hey. Many thanks to all who have enjoyed the tunes through the years and to Mike Parkes for giving me the steadiest job I’ve ever had.
Contact Tom Irwin at tirwin@illinoistimes.com.
