Out of town locals come back
The main focus of this column is to present music performances related to local artists and venues. That generally entails either writing about area musicians playing beyond the Springfield scene or bands from outside this area playing around here. It’s an unusual twist when the bands are from out of town, but the spotlight shines on local musicians.
On Saturday night at City Nights Theater, two former Sangamon County residents show their stuff as members of touring, national acts when Heartsfield and Ragged Jack take the stage in the Capital City Bar & Grill venue.
David Lumsden, a longtime area guitarist, brought the bands to town, accomplishing a personal goal of getting two of his musician buddies who have done well playing in separate groups, together on the same bill. “I tried to do this in June of 2008, but there are a lot of moving pieces with bands,” says Lumsden. “The guys don’t know each other but they will after Friday. I see it as good friends coming together. It seems to make sense.”
Those friends include Springfield native Andon “Ted” Davis, a multi-instrumentalist focusing on guitar who now plays full-time with Heartsfield and Ragged Jack frontman Lyman Ellerman, originally from the Riverton area, who relocated to Nashville, Tenn., several years ago to pursue a songwriting career.
“While the rest of us had to eat, they went out and did what they had to do to play,” Lumsden explains with a laugh. “Lyman is the only guy I know getting paid to write songs and with Ted, when Heartsfield heard him play they just threw a net over him and kept him.” Lumsden plays locally with different bands, as well as picking with Ragged Jack whenever possible. Jerry Turley, one of the area’s finest bassists and a friend and cohort of Ellerman’s for more than 30 years, holds down the bottom end for the five-piece band. The drums and lead guitar spots are filled with a couple of players Ellerman works with in Nashville.
Before relocating to Music City USA in 2003 to take up songwriting as a full-time vocation, the 40-something Ellerman lived in Baton Rouge for years after leaving central Illinois.
He currently enjoys a multi-year publishing deal with Music Central Publishing, writing constantly with top country writers, trying for cuts and hoping for the big hit to come. Locals will remember Davis best for his long run with Cats on Holiday, a favorite central Illinois band in the 1980s and early 1990s, but he played in many other local outfits during his tenure in the capital city. The talented guitarist moved to Chicago in 1993 to pursue other music avenues and found work with alt/country darlings, Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel, and Windy City rockabilly legends, the Riptones, plus performing with several other combos and doing studio work and guitar repairs as well. When Davis joined Heartsfield in 2007 the versatile guitarist found a happy home with a steady, working band. The group, still fronted by original singer and songwriter Perry Jordan, can vouch for record sales of over 2 million, eight singles in the Top 100 Billboard charts, and over 4,500 shows since beginning their music odyssey in 1972. “With both groups using the similar lineup of three guitars, the guys really have at it,” said Lumsden. “We’re all doing extended jams and doubled guitar solos. The music is really good.” Granted the music will be good with a heavy dose of exciting, authentic, Southern rock, but Lumsden sees it as more than just a concert; it’s an opportunity to give Springfield a look at two guys who took a chance by leaving town and are coming back as dream achievers.
“Really they’re both extraordinary musicians I’m friends with,” he said, “who took it up a notch and are out doing it for real.”
Heartsfield with special guests Ragged Jack take the stage on Friday, Jan. 31, (doors open at 8 p.m., music starts at 9 p.m.) at City Nights Theater in the Capital City Bar & Grill (3149 S. Dirksen Parkway). Ticket are $15, available at the door.
