SVRR turns 10

Jamie’s two rules served the Burns well during the passing years as they moved through a succession of Springfield music clubs after the Alley, including On Broadway (now reopened as Broadway Nights) and the Underground City Tavern in the Hilton Springfield (now a Bennigan’s Bar & Grill), then on to bigger events in the last few years like the Taste of Downtown’s American Music Stage and Old Capitol Blues & BBQs with Downtown Springfield, Inc., and the Bedrock 66 Live! concert series sponsored by WUIS. Even as the venues and events changed, Sean noticed a consistent factor emerge from others involved with the work of the SVRR.

“From Rodney at the Alley, Brian Reilly at the Underground City Tavern, Bill Wheelhouse from WUIS, Landis our graphic artist friend, Todd Egizzi of E & F Distributors – the fun thing about all those guys and others we’ve worked with is they’re fans first,” said Sean. “They take care of business, but they’re fans first. It takes effort but they like music so they do it.”

The list of artists in the Americana genre who performed at the various venues reads like a who’s who these days, but weren’t necessarily well-known acts when booked at SVRR events. Ryan Adams, Robbie Fulks, Wayne Hancock, Rosie Flores, Deke Dickerson and Ray Condo all played at the Alley during the first year or so of the organization’s existence. The move to On Broadway brought bigger names and better draws such as Junior Brown, Del McCoury Band, BR-549 and Mandy Barnett with Harold Bradley. When the Underground City Tavern opened in 2003, manager Brian Reilly specifically designed it to be a live venue for Americana roots music. The Sangamon Valley Roots Revival, as a sure bet and good fit, soon brought Pete Anderson, Dave Alvin, Link Wray, Wanda Jackson, Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys, Jason Ringenberg and many others to the corner stage of the popular bar voted the best live music venue in Springfield by Illinois Times readers for several years in a row until it closed in 2007.

While partnering with Reilly at the UCT, the SVRR booked and produced shows in the Hilton ballrooms, including a spectacular visit by Los Straitjackets, and three years running of a multi-band extravaganza called the Rooftop Roots Festival held atop the parking garage attached to the south side of the Hilton. This was the Burns’ first foray into an all-day event and directly led to the participation with Downtown Springfield, Inc. In 2007 the Rooftop Festival and Taste of Downtown event ended up scheduled on the same night.

“Megan at DSI was a visionary,” said Sean.

“They had been burned by a promoter in the past and she thought bringing us together would be good. We did our best to find quality acts and we still do. That’s what got us to the Blues & BBQs too.”

The bigger events brought bigger budgets, plus higher profile sponsors and, along with the added responsibility, more challenges and more problems. The SVRR name isn’t connected with the several major area events the Burns help coordinate music for, but the spirit of the roots revival lives on. Even though the days of the home-cooked band meals and watching the door count are over for now, the same thrills still pop up when a favorite band is booked and the music magic is right on.

“Lot of people might not think this since I’ve got a reputation for liking only the hard-core roots and hillbilly music, but when I got to sit in on the Romantics rehearsal at Middle Option Music studio (owned and operated by local sound man Ric Major) it was great,” admits Sean. “They’ve been a favorite band of mine for years and here I booked them and got to hang out with them while they ran through songs.”

As other stories poured out about SVRR experiences over the last 10 years, emotions rode the gamut of elation, anger, disbelief, delight, exasperation, pride and hope. They recalled the extremely brief yet riveting 37-minute set (or was it 43 minutes?) of Ryan Adams, who was done “because the vibe felt right to quit right there,” and the infamous last night at the Alley when the Tarbox Ramblers concert was abruptly rescheduled at On Broadway because the Alley had new owners and a new name and no desire to host SVRR shows, but no one had informed Jamie and Sean of the change until they walked in the door.