AMERICANA/FOLK BAND
COUNTRY BAND
ORIGINAL MUSIC BAND (ANY GENRE)
Lick Creek
To say Lick Creek floated to the top this year would be an understatement, winning by wide margins in three separate, but somewhat related categories. Our readers aren’t the only ones taking notice of Lick Creek’s contemporary mesh of rock and country musicians that includes, Wesley Ingram (electric guitar), Ryan King (guitar, banjo, mandolin), Steve Gragert (bass), Maddie Brown (acoustic guitar, lead vocals), Brandon Drew (drums) and Lance Stone (lead vocals). The sextet recently won the central Illinois region in a national contest that sends the band to Nashville, Tennessee, in November to compete with nine other groups for a chance to be chosen by celebrity judges for a major record deal. Looks like these folks are paddling with the current, heading for the big river.
Finalists: Americana/Folk Band: The Deep Hollow, Tom Irwin’s Hayburners, The Blue Gs, Ben Bedford Finalists Country Band: New City Road, Broseph Lee, Brushville, Tennessee Borderline Finalists Original Music Band (any genre): NIL8, The Deep Hollow, The Station, Looming ___________________________________
ART STUDIO/GALLERY
Springfield Art Association
Established in 1913, the Springfield Art Association is by far the oldest organization of its kind in the capital city, but everyone would surely agree it’s very nice to see more recently formed art galleries and studios taking root in town. Many of the artists in the other studios would likely give credit to the work of the SAA as a non-profit, visual arts community center for fomenting a credible and creative, long term base for art to flourish in the area. Smartly guided by Executive Director, Betsy Dollar, along with a 25-member, working board, the group reaches over 90,000 people each year, providing classes, exhibits and special events through its School of Art, M.G. Nelson Family Gallery, Michael Victor II Art Library and Edwards Place Historic House.
Finalists: Studio on 6th, The Pharmacy, Christy!Studios, DEMO Project
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BASS PLAYER
Jeff Cunningham
A looming and lasting figure in the local, low end of the music world, Jeff Cunningham is a bass player’s bass player. Not only is he known as a musician of renown, he also supports his instrument of choice by coordinating BassBerg, the annual charity event honoring area bassists. Jeff formed Low Phatt several years ago, the only band around featuring three bass players at once. When you’re good, you get the call to play and JC proves that maxim by being a permanent member in The Station, Los Injectors, Take 10 and the Blue Gs, four very divergent styled bands, and also guests on bass with The Deep Hollow and a few other groups in his spare time, when not teaching a new generation of bassists to be the best.
Finalists: Eric Tinsley, Chris Rogers, Jim McMann, Preston Searl
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BLUES BAND OR ARTIST
Groove Daddies
These guys landed the best of the blues bands, and they can and do play plenty of blues for sure, but the Groove Daddies can also knock out some of the best tunes anywhere by relying on several of the most experienced musicians in town. When Gary Bloom (lead vocals) and Jeff Kornfeld (vocals, guitar) formed the band back in 1990, they sure weren’t expecting to launch one of Springfield’s most enduring and endearing groups that now includes Brian Moore (vocals, saxophone), Gregg Deener (bass), Steve Emmons (keyboards), Sean Simpson (drums) and Jim Crowley (drums). In 2015 they celebrated Gary’s 50th year in music and just this summer they had a reunion of Flock of Tooters, the seminal local band that preceded the GDs. Looks like the best keeps getting better and going longer.
Finalists: Mary Jo Curry, Brooke Thomas, Hurricane Ruth, James Armstrong
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COVER MUSIC BAND (ANY GENRE)
Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack
Shooters
The competition is fierce in this coveted category, making the continued dominance by Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters even more impressive. Based in Jacksonville and sponsored by Coors Light, the Geech Crew heralded 2017 as the Wishful Drinking Tour and promptly made this year the best yet for one of the most popular bands to ever play in central Illinois. With founder and fearless leader, J Bird (drums, lead vocals) driving the beat, bandmates Peter Geech (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Majeeda Geech (lead vocals, percussion), Marc Geech (lead guitar, vocals), Buster Geech (bass, vocals), Joker Geech (keys, vocals) and Kerry Ginder (sound) make their merry way across the Midwest doing the best they can, which is obviously the best it can be to our readers.
Finalists: Off the Wall, Lick Creek, The Shenanigans, Fun DMC
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DRUMMER
Eric Austin
A newcomer to our best of bunch, this young guy can really pound the skins and lots of folks think so, including his bandmates in local hard rockers, RockHouse. Eric is the son of Mike “Mikey’s Entertainment” Austin (as well as a “Husband, Father, Musician, Lover of all things Kiss!” according to his Facebook page) and plays drums with the attitude of a veteran and the energy of a youngster to come up with a great combination that can’t be beat, but always keeps the beat. Along with his full-time playing with Rockhouse, the Athens, Illinois, native and resident, also moonlights with bands such as Broken Stone and others who can depend on Eric to lay down the groove as it should be done whenever needed.
Finalists: Rick Snow, Fred Edmonds, Dion Doss
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GUITARIST
Dave Littrell
This Chatham native blazed a trail in his early 20s touring nationally with The Station, his locally based, jam-fusion group. When not on the road he seemed to gig every night of the week somewhere in town. Now Dave spends more time with his family while focusing on playing with award-winning, acoustic-based, singing trio, The Deep Hollow (members include BoS singer-songwriters, Micah Walk and Elizabeth Eckert). He also plays in the popular cover band, The Shenanigans, while guiding the evolution of The Station (members include BoS bass player Jeff Cunningham and guitar finalist Howard Freitag). Along with his stellar guitar work on both acoustic and electric, Dave is also an accomplished saxophonist and keyboardist, plus an excellent singer on lead and harmony, as well as a prolific songwriter.
Finalists: Howard Freitag, Wes Ingram, Robert Reynolds, Jack Stege
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HIGH SCHOOL THEATER PERFORMANCE - MALE LEAD
Mikey Jimerson - School of Rock
Glenwood High School
This talented young man, who also plays trumpet and is a four-year member of the Titan Fever nationally acclaimed show choir, brought the Jack Black part of Dewey Finn to life on stage in the November 2016 GHS production of School of Rock. The musical, vocally directed by Jeff Gemar (GHS choir director) and produced for the stage by Laurie Barnes (GHS teacher of physics and astronomy), gave Jimerson a challenge in learning how not to sing, but do what he termed “scream singing,” since the Finn character doesn’t do your typical musical songs. He started his theater career as Prince Charming during a seventh grade production of Cinderella and plans on continuing in music, and most likely musicals, while attending college next year.
Finalists: Justin Brandon - Shrek - Pleasant Plains H.S., Evan Ihlenfeldt - Sacred Heart-Griffin, Peyton Knowski Gaston - Williamsville High School, Zeke Kern - Williamsville High School
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HIGH SCHOOL THEATER PERFORMANCE - FEMALE LEAD
Emma Shafer-Ragtime,
School Edition, Springfi eld High School
Presented back in March of 2017 at Springfield High School, Ragtime, School Edition featured several well known local names behind the scenes, including SHS alum Craig Williams, II, directing, with support from Damien Kaplan as musical director, Morgan Kaplan as choreographer, Mark Gifford as vocal director and Kim Carter Parker as the producer. But it was longtime theater participant and SHS senior Emma Shafer who walked away with our hearts for her role of Mother in this Tonywinning musical first produced in 1998.
Emma has appeared in quite a few area theater productions considering she just graduated high school, but her abilities continue to meet her talent needs and that’s a cool thing to see happen on stage right in front of our collective eyes. We foresee more active stage work ahead for this talented young woman.
Finalists: Allison Mool - Beauty and the Beast - Williamsville High School, Brooke Seacrist - School of Rock - Glenwood High School, Annie Gerdes - Shrek - Pleasant Plains High School, Emily Ducaji - Sacred Heart- Griffin
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HIGH SCHOOL THEATER PRODUCTION
Beauty and the Beast
Williamsville High School
These days the local high school musical theater shows just seem to get better and better. Perhaps it’s due to the Hoogland Center for the Arts offering ways for kids to start at a younger age or maybe it’s Disney being everywhere, making singing and dancing an acceptable act among the youngsters. This year, in this popular and competitive category, Williamsville High School’s spring production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, under the direction of Carrie Fields Warren, rather ran away from the rest of the pack, while the finalists stayed pretty close together. Some say it was the sets, some say the fine acting, but most say it was the deft touch of CFW that made this performance special enough for so many of our readers to say it was the best.
Finalists: School of Rock - Glenwood High School, Ragtime - Springfield High School, Shrek - Pleasant Plains High School, Oklahoma - Sacred Heart Griffin
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HIP-HOP ARTIST OR BAND
Fun DMC
An exceptional party and wedding band with a wide variety of material available to perform at any given time, readers felt the hip-hop work of Fun DMC put them at the top of this category. Known for their ability to stick two or more songs together in what they term as mashups, medleys and mixtapes, these guys also hit the hip-hop hard with a famed 12-minute stretch of past hits blended together into one, giant, hip-hop dance moment. The members of the band, Robert (guitar), Aaron (bass), Talon (drums), Katey (vocals) and Albert (vocals) are joined by occasional guest spots from Fred, Liz, Michael and others to make the hip-hop happen along with modern pop standards from Prince to Queen, Adele to Ed Sheeran, Jay Z to Green Day.
Finalists: Devin Hayes, Brandon Austin, Animals with Human Names, Nefarious Cloud
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LIVE MUSIC VENUE - SMALL
Boondocks
2909 North Dirksen Parkway, 679-0145
The good folks at Boondocks say they’re simply booking bands that people like to see, making it easy to see them and having the music sounding good when the crowd arrives. That seems to be a winning combination. The venue began as a regular bar hosting live music, but now they open only for shows and deal mainly in contemporary country acts on the rise. Their audience reach is only part local, with many folks coming from all over the Midwest to see favorite national touring artists hit the Boondocks stage. Recently, owners Pat and Carole began bringing in more popular area acts on weekends, while continuing to book whatever good music works. From Billy Bob Thornton to Gaelic Storm, Charlie Daniels to Turnpike Troubadours, they book ’em and the people come.
Finalists: Curve Inn, Blue Grouch Pub, Black Sheep Cafe, Bar None
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LIVE MUSIC VENUE - LARGE
Bank of Springfield Center,
1 Convention Center Plaza, 788-8800
In a tribute to the quality of venues in our community, only about 75 votes separated our top vote getters in this category. But the results show that Springfield citizens approve the direction the newly christened Bank of Springfield Center is headed. Built in 1978 under the quaint but unwieldy name of the Prairie Capital Convention Center, the building was remodeled between 2011-14 to modernize and expand facilities. In June of 2017 the Bank of Springfield announced they’d purchased the naming rights to the P3C, completing a process that started with the BoS Plaza outdoor music venue dedication in 2014. The 7,700-seat multipurpose arena presents several music events annually, along with trade shows, circuses, basketball tournaments and individual sports games, concerts, local high school and college graduation ceremonies and whatever reasonably works in the space.
Finalists: State Fair Grandstand, The Muni, Sangamon Auditorium, Hoogland Center for the Arts
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LIVE THEATER PERFORMANCE - MALE LEAD
Gus Gordon - Mary Poppins
Andrew Maynerich - Mary Poppins
LIVE THEATER PERFORMANCE - FEMALE LEAD
Mary Kate Smith - Mary Poppins
THEATER PRODUCTION
Mary Poppins - The Muni
815 East Lake Shore Drive, 793-6864
Well, what can you say about this clean BoS sweep other than lots and lots of folks really liked the Muni’s “practically perfect,” midsummer production of Disney’s theater version of Mary Poppins. From the extremely well-designed sets to the flying Mary and other tricks of “magic” necessary for pulling off a show of this caliber, the Muni crew took the good nanny’s saying, “Anything can happen, if you let it!” to heart and to the stage. Under the steady and experienced direction of Craig Williams II, ably supported by producer Whitney Rose, assistant director Seth Wheeler, apprentice director Stacy Kolaz; vocal director Christie Lazarides, choreographer Zoey Zara and a cast and crew of many, the snazzy production proved a sure winner backed by solid players and a known storyline. Popular and experienced local stage stars, Gus Gordon (Mr. Banks) and Mary Kate Smith (Mary Poppins), took the best in the leads, playing their respective roles like they were born for the parts. Andrew Maynerich as Bert came in one vote behind in the male lead voting, so we thought in the spirit of being practically perfect, he should be included in the winner’s circle.
Finalists Live Theater Performance-Male Lead: Owen Beans - Newsies The Musical, Zac Clemens - Jesus Christ Superstar, John O’Conner - Arsenic & Old Lace Finalists Live Theater Performance-Female Lead: Devin Dinora - Newsies The Musical, Sydney Assalley - Grease, Joey McLaughlin - Willy Wonka, Morgan Minsk - The Wiz Finalists Theater Production: Newsies The Musical - The Legacy Theatre, Grease - The Muni, Willy Wonka - The Muni, Aladdin, Jr. - Theatre in the Park
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MUSICAL/CHORAL ARTS GROUP
Glenwood Show Choir
Known as Titan Fever, the Glenwood High School show choir, under the direction of Jeffrey Gemar, has established a national reputation for excellence that also placed them as the best in our community. The group, comprised of 52 singer/dancers and 15 band members, audition for the spots and then work very hard to be the best at what they do. In 2015, Titan Fever came home with the Grand Champion trophy from the Show Choir Nationals and last year’s team won Second Runner-Up. The 2017-18 bunch has high hopes for another successful season of dancing, singing and making music. They perform locally at GHS events, Memorial’s Festival of Trees and the Mt. Zion Midwest Invitational, plus host a GHS-sponsored show choir competition in early March called The Event.
Finalists: Rochester Madrigals, Hoogland Education, Springfield Choral Society, Lincoln Troubadours
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MUSIC FESTIVAL
Old Capitol Blues & BBQ
There’s no doubt about it, despite excellent competition among the many fine local music festivals that have developed in the past decade or so, people around here still prefer the Old Capitol Blues & BBQ by an almost two to one margin to the nearest fest. Now into the second year of management by Barry Friedman (owner of host bar, the Alamo) in partnership with the Illinois Central Blues Club, the popular festival is always on the last weekend in August and features top local, regional and national blues acts, as well as the ICBC sponsored Road to Memphis Blues Challenge. The live music in combination with the savory tastes and smells of several styles of BBQ cooked on the spot in the streets of downtown Springfield makes this fest the best it gets.
Finalists: Downhome Music Festival, Legacy of Giving, Clayville Music Festival, Dumbfest
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OPEN MIC NIGHT PLACE FOR KARAOKE
The Curve Inn
3219 South Sixth Street, 529-5806
Known as one of the most popular “dive” bars around, The Curve Inn, seems to have it all going for it. Well-respected for a list of things such as tasty food, nice help, good drinks, excellent live music, a superb beer/ band garden, award-winning sound guy and late night DJs, the Curve can now add the best “place for karaoke” and “open mic night” to its long list of achievements. The karaoke night only runs during the cool weather months and begins this Nov. 16, but it’s such a good location readers decided it was the best spot no matter what. The Open Mic Night, hosted by Kortney Leatherwood and Sam Draper, does the opposite and usually takes a break during the winter. The wonderful sound system and stage area established by Ric “Skippy” Major gives open mic attendees a fantastic place to perform. But what really makes this OMN so special is the camaraderie among the regular community of musicians that frequent the event.
Finalists Open Mic Night: Donnie B’s, Bar None, Black Sheep, Abe’s Old Hat Finalists Place for Karaoke: Blue Grouch, Burger Bar, Sluggo’s, Third Base ___________________________________
PAINT NIGHT
Paint Nite Springfield, IL
What fun it is to hang with friends and strangers, painting and partying, especially if it’s with Ashley Blake, host of Paint Nite Springfield, IL. Ashley, a radio DJ at 92.7 FM from noon to 4 each weekday afternoon, spends most evenings as a licensed Creative Entrepreneur hosting local Paint Nite groups. The parent company, based in Boston, Massachusetts, has events in over 150 cities making it very popular in other places, as well as being considered the best in our town. The Paint Nite people supply art supplies and an apron, then you drink and eat at wherever the host has booked the event as you paint away. Local favorite spots, according to Ashley’s Facebook page, include Arlington’s, Omar’s Latin Fusion Cuisine and Boone’s Saloon.
Finalists: It’s Scrapicated, Springfield Art Association - Canvas & Cocktails, Lindsay Patterson, Christy!Studios ___________________________________
PUNK BAND
NIL8
Who else but NIL8 could be the best punk band in Springfield? We may never know, but that’s okay because brothers and band founders Jeff (guitar, vocals) and Bruce (bass) Williams, along with current members Damon Soper (guitar) and Wes Selinger (drums) are still going strong and all the finalists are NIL8 fans anyway. In between the 10 or so annual NIL8 shows, Jeff keeps up his groovy-good artwork and Bruce plays in about five other cool bands, while the other guys keep busy, as the rest of the world rests up for another onslaught of high-energy punk with extreme doses of funk, rock, metal and no country at all. Their next gig is the long-running Halloween time show, Hobgoblinspookadelic, held this year on Oct. 28 at Bar None.
Finalists: The Timmys, It’s a Livin’ Thing, Looming, PRYSS
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SINGER-SONGWRITER - FEMALE
Elizabeth Eckert
As a member of harmony-driven, Americanabased, original music trio The Deep Hollow, Elizabeth wrote songs with other members of the group, Micah Walk and Dave Littrell, both award-winning singer-songwriters in their own right. But from the time she first hit the stage at age 5, through her “American Idol,” Hollywood experience, right through her self-penned solo albums, “Liz” has been a singer and a songwriter. For proof positive, she sings many pop songs in the area cover band, The Shenanigans, and was co-writer on the The Deep Hollow song, “Devil,” winner of American Songwriter magazine’s 2014 Grand Prize. Liz and Adam Kohlrus became the proud parents of Cobi this July and we wouldn’t be surprised if Mom hasn’t already sung a few, new, original songs for the new kid in town.
Finalists: Maddie Brown, Ashley Reilly, Brooke Thomas, Liz Gall
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ROCK/POP BAND
Off the Wall
When you’ve got the best pop rockers around in your band, it’s quite logical that you’d get voted the best Rock/Pop band and Off the Wall fits that bill quite nicely and easily. Bandmates Jack Stege (guitars, vocals), Steve Marvel (keyboards, vocals), Fred Edmunds (drums), Kip Nelson (vocals), Ashley Reilly (vocals) and Jim McCann (bass) are more like a family band and they still mourn the untimely passing of founding bassist Rusty Koehler. Staying busy playing nearly every weekend, they pack the joints with an extremely faithful fan base known as Wallers wherever they go. You’ll likely recognize most songs played and be out on the dance floor in a jiffy when this bunch shows up to play. And when they show up, they show up to play.
Finalists: Fun DMC, Big Daddy Jasper, The Mix, After Sunset
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SINGER-SONGWRITER - MALE
Micah Walk
Since making his move from the small town of Girard to the small city of Springfield several years ago, the singing and songwriting of Micah Walk has caught the attention of listeners all over town and the Midwest. He’s recorded as a solo artist, with the Micah Walk Band and currently with The Deep Hollow, a Springfield-based, original Americana trio with Elizabeth Eckert (winner of BoS singersongwriter - female) and Dave Littrell (finalist for BoS singer-songwriter - male and winner for guitarist). His sing-along songs will sneak up on you and crawl inside your head, first for the catchy melodies and then for the potent lyrics. His legacy reaches in other ways as his influence as a guitar teacher is beginning to be felt, with several of his students now making their way into the local scene as singersongwriters themselves.
Finalists: Dave Littrell, Tom Irwin, Ben Bedford, Steve Clark, Jr.
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VISUAL ARTIST
Felicia Olin
The artistic capacity of a city rests on the talent of its artists, and Felicia Olin has raised the level of the Springfield art scene by becoming successful through hard work, perseverance and ability. She’s steadily grown from her local beginnings to branch out to Chicago galleries and regional art fairs and shows. Her art is highly recognizable and now becoming highly sought after. From the peculiar faces of peering women to the obvious nature inflections and subtle humorous perceptions that inhabit the landscapes of her canvases, Felicia is making a statement and folks are getting the message. But perhaps the best part about her and what she does is the constant curious attitude she brings to art and life. We appreciate that and apparently so do our readers.
Finalists: Brandy Fletcher, Thom Whalen, Allison Lacher, Corrin Smithson McWhirter
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