Band Spotlight | Thursday, October 25,2012

Ray Wylie Hubbard

Unfortunately many folks, not from the great state of Texas and not into the intense singer-songwriter-Americana scene that sustains and supports songwriting there as an art to be experienced and beli

Music - Tom Irwin | Thursday, October 18,2012

Call me Black Magic Johnson

By Tom Irwin

Reggie Britton is one of my best friends as well as one of the most admired and respected artists on my personal list. We met in the early ’90s when Reggie showed up at my Thursday night gig at

Band Spotlight | Thursday, October 18,2012

Chicks with Picks

By Tom Irwin

What do you get when three of the best female guitar-playing and singing songwriters in town come together on the same bill? Chicks with Picks is the correct answer. Josie Lowder, Monica Morris and Sa

Music - Tom Irwin | Thursday, October 11,2012

Mix ’n’ matching

By Tom Irwin

First, let me thank Dan Usherwood of the Pleasant Plains Historical Society and all who helped make our first Clayville Folk Festival in 25 years a good beginning for many fests to come. Other than th

Band Spotlight | Thursday, October 11,2012

Porkpie & the Northend Allstars

By Tom Irwin

Born of a jam session as good bands often are, Porkpie & the Northend Allstars began when Hipbone Sam introduced Kirk Lonbom and Craig Wood at a last-Friday jam at Abe’s Southside Pub back i

Band Spotlight | Thursday, October 4,2012

Suit & Tie Guy

By Tom Irwin

This mysterious character lives in Chillicothe, Ill. quietly plotting intricate and intense electronic music while blithely being behind the mask of the ubiquitous suit and tie. Along with his persona

Music - Tom Irwin | Thursday, October 4,2012

Girl-a-Thon the third

By Tom Irwin

For the third year in a row I can, with a true sense of joy, announce another Girl-a-Thon.Once again organizer Gwen Harris has put together an incredible lineup of musicians, guests and sponsors to su

Band Spotlight | Thursday, September 27,2012

Eva Hunter Band

By Tom Irwin

A Fancy Prairie native and Athens High School graduate, Eva got her start in show business with a family band, singing with her sisters. As the emotive vocalist developed into a rhythm guitar player a

Music - Tom Irwin | Thursday, September 27,2012

Blues ambassador James Armstrong

By Tom Irwin

In this day and age of ubiquitous blues, finding a genuine and pertinent purveyor of the genre can be trying. Not to say all the variations of the I-IV-V performed in various instrumental configuratio

Band Spotlight | Thursday, September 20,2012

Mathien

By Tom Irwin

Began in Carbondale and molded in Chicago, the hard driving, pop-rock, soul-funk band Mathien comes back to town on the opening weekend for Donnie’s Homespun nightclub in the Vinegar Hill Mall.