Alex Smith of the Normal, Illinois, band Constant Velocity took me out for grilled cheese sandwiches at Sunsinger, where we talked about his new CD, Muttonhead; Eric Clapton; and why he can get a gig …
Posts by William Gillespie:
Obamnia
Did he just get snippy with me? Which has never happened in the twenty years we have known each other. Not even almost. I said I was voting for Obama, and he called me “naive.” …
Honoring Chimesmaster Wood and the Altgeld Bell Tower
Stretching a century into the past and 132 feet into the air, the Altgeld Bell Tower anchors the picturesque impression of campus left in the minds of alumni and visitors. Indeed, polls show that when …
Album Review: Fuck Work by The Unemployed Misfortune
For me, one of the only surprises nicer than a fresh good album by a band I didn’t know existed is to discover that the songwriting, performing, production, and even the kick-ass cover art is …
Steel Wheels, Green Fields: A Day on an Illinois Freight Train
We hear them moaning in the dead of night, curse if they cross our paths when we are driving, or make a wish if they pass over us. Freight trains are a part of our …
Opus 120: The Universe in a Dandelion
There seems to be a tradition in early baroque and classical music of taking another composer’s piece and rewriting it to demonstrate your superior writing, deriving masterful variations from the other composer’s weaker theme. The …
Geoff Merritt’s Parasol, That’s Rentertainment and the Decline and Fall of Campustown
“You used to be able to spend an entire day on campus,” Geoff Merritt ruminates with me over coffee. “It’s not a destination anymore.” That’s a shocking realization, but hard to deny, coming from the …
Everything About Song About Everything: Paul Kotheimer and the MP3 CD
If Illinois is Renaissance Italy, Urbana’s Paul Kotheimer is the Leonardo Da Vinci of the home studio. Originally from Chicago, he’s been making his home in Urbana for nearly fifteen years. A little story about …