“This is bigger than hip-hop,” he continues, “in the sense that we’re giving them something positive to do. Lotta these guys, not to throw a dark cloud over it, but who knows what people would be doing if it wasn’t for this? I didn’t start out thinking that way, but some rapper coming out to Torch Tuesday says to himself ‘OK, I’m here this week, next week I’m gonna come back with some new material, write something, go record it, and rehearse it and be ready for next week,’ so it keeps their minds straight, keeps ’em out of trouble.”

Torch sadly recounts the story of one of the original Tuesday performers, George “Flawless” Caples, who was murdered in 2009, in the act of confronting a group of drug dealers who had claimed the apartment building he managed as their turf. In memory of Caples, Tomas is joining forces with Tuesday mainstay DJ C-Dub to bring their musical entourage and positive social message to the Hoogland Center for the Arts on Nov. 23 for an all-ages Stop the Violence / Register To Vote Campaign show.

[SOUND EFFECTS: jazzy break-beat reprise, under]

It almost goes without saying that one of the biggest challenges facing Torch Tuesday and the local hip-hop scene is Springfield’s nearlegendary apathy and lack of support for local music. “A lot of people in town, they have an attitude that if they haven’t seen it before, it doesn’t exist,” says Tomas defiantly. “But just because you haven’t seen it done doesn’t mean it can’t be done, it just means that nobody before had the perseverance to stay with it. The fact that nobody’s doing it means there’s an open lane!”

Get in on the action with the Torch Tuesday crew, 9 p.m. every Tuesday at Bar None, 245 S. Fifth Street.

Scott Faingold first reported on the Springfield music scene for IT in1987. He is currently working on his master’s degree at UIS and can be reached at scottfaingold@gmail.com .