WHAT: Luke Winslow-King
WHERE: Iron Post
WHEN: Tuesday, April 2nd at 8 p.m.
Singer-songwriter Luke Winslow King dabbles in a handful of genres, including blues, jazz, and folk. He’ll be performing at the Iron Post on Tuesday in support of his forthcoming record The Coming Tide, which is coming out later in the month on the 23rd. You can stream one of his new tracks from the new album below entitled, “You Don’t Know Better Than Me.” Check out Andrea’s preview of the show here.
[[mp3 luke_winslow_king_you_dont_know]]
WHAT: Victor Villarreal, State Champion, Single Player
WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s ($7)
WHEN: Thursday, April 4th at 8 p.m.
Stepping out on his own is Cap’n Jazz/Owl/Joan of Arc’s Victor Villarreal. He’s no stranger to C-U, having played here a handful of times in the past couple of years. His latest record, Invisible Cinema, came out last January, and you can stream “Enters” from that record below. Joining Villarreal are Louisville’s State Champion and Sean Neumann as Single Player.
[[mp3 victor_villarreal_enters]]
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WHAT: Gramatik, Cherub, heRobust
WHERE: Canopy Club ($15)
WHEN: Thursday, April 4th at 9 p.m.
From Gramatik’s Facebook page:
Hi. I’m Gramatik. This is my page. I make music sometimes. But most of the time I just like to smoke weed. And then download my favorite CC/AMC/HBO shows. Illegaly. My favorite color is black and I’m not a Vegan. I have a mustache. Do you liek me yet?
What else is there to say? Here’s what you’re in for if you’re going to this show Thursday night, Gramatik’s “Bluestep”:
[[mp3 gramatik_bluestep]]
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WHAT: Cowboy Monkey’s 10th Birthday Party
WHERE: Cowboy Monkey ($4)
WHEN: Thursday, April 4th at 9:30 p.m.
Dubbed “That Boy’s Good” and in honor of Cowboy Monkey’s 10 year anniversary, they’re throwing down a show with some new talent and some old favorites. It’s going to be an eclectic night as acoustic musicians share the stage with hip-hop artists. Here are the artists set to perform: Brandon T. Washington, Black Mage, Young Club, Brittany Helfrich, T. Baby the Freak, Young Boogie, Mike Ingram & Friends, and DJ Delayney.
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WHAT: The Soil & the Sun, Kellen and Me, Motes
WHERE: Mike ‘N Molly’s ($7)
WHEN: Friday, April 5th at 8 p.m.
The seven-piece crew The Soil & the Sun stop through C-U again now that their busy month in March is over. They performed at SXSW along with every other indie band in the known universe, and are supporting their latest record, What Wonder is this Universe! Tracy will be taking a closer look at this show later in the week to preview the whole thing. Stream “I Know It (I Feel It, Too)” below.
[[mp3 soil_sun_i_know_it]]
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EDITOR’S PICK: SKELETAL LIGHTNING FEST
Channing-Murray Foundation & Red Herring — Friday, April 5th & Saturday, April 6th
We love music festivals here at Smile Politely HQ. Seriously, they are the best. We’re really glad to be involved with the inaugural punk festival happening at Channing-Murray & Red Herring this weekend. Skeletal Lightning Fest is curated by the label/distro of the same name here in town, and they’re bringing the heat in a hurry.
They have stacked this bill with nearly three dozen bands, including a handful of locals, to make this thing happen. The fest takes place across two days, with Day 1 headlined by Native and Day 2 headlined by Into It. Over It. (who performed with our very own Braid on their Frame and Canvas tour). Should be absolutely crazy, people.
We’re going to take a closer look into how this all came about with an interview at the end of the week with Sean Hermann, one of the producers of the festival. For now, you can check out the full schedule over at the main Facebook event linked above, where you can get ticketing information as well. Rock on, dudes. Check out some IIOI below.
WHAT: DoCha Festival
WHERE: Orpheum Theatre (free)
WHEN: Friday, April 5th through Sunday, April 7th
The Downtown Champaign Chamber Music Festival, better known as DoCha, is back for another year at the Orpheum Theatre. We did some coverage of the event last year, which you can read over here. You can check out the full list of events and the entire schedule linked above in the title to map out your weekend. Be on the lookout for some photos from us next week recapping the event.
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WHAT: Sun Stereo, Henhouse Prowlers
WHERE: Canopy Club ($8)
WHEN: Friday, April 5th at 9 p.m.
Henhouse Prowlers are a pretty resilient bunch. A pretty shitty thing happened to them last week as they were playing in Oakland. Almost all of their gear was stolen, and if you take a look over here, it was a pretty powerful blow financially. Luckily, they’ve compiled some equipment to perform at the rest of their shows on tour, and you can help them out by paying to see them this Friday at Canopy Club. Not to mention they’re performing with a pretty solid local crew, Sun Stereo. We thought their last record was pretty good. Stream the title track from Sun Stereo’s Rogue Satellite below.
[[mp3 sun_stereo_rogue_satellite]]
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WHAT: Ryan Groff, Daniel and the Lion, Zach Vinson
WHERE: Cream & Flutter (free)
WHEN: Saturday, April 6th at 7 p.m.
Elsinore’s Ryan Groff headlines a night of music where he’ll be debuting some new Elsinore songs that will soon be released on the record the band has been making since October. He’ll be joined by Nashville’s Daniel and the Lion and Zach Vinson (also from Nashville) as they come through this part of Illinois. We spoke with Vinson the last time he came through C-U, which you can check out here. Groff takes the stage before he and the full band take the stage at the beginning of May, as they’re working on completing their new album. Check out the feature we did back in January on Elsinore and the recording of their new record here. Stream Elsinore’s “Life Inside an Elephant” below.
[[mp3 elsinore_life_inside_an_elephant]]
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WHAT: Bruce Rummenie
WHERE: The Iron Post ($3)
WHEN: Saturday, April 6th at 7 p.m.
Local singer-songwriter Bruce Rummenie takes the stage over at the Iron Post this weekend in support of the new EP he’s releasing that night. You’ll be able to pick up your own copy of the four-song EP at the show, and you can stream one of the tracks below, entitled “Tip Top Tap” to get a preview of what to expect Saturday night.
[[mp3 bruce_rummenie_tip_top_tap]]