(Ed. Note — Full Disclosure: A founding member of Smile Politely also produces Pygmalion Music Festival.) As the golden autumn months set in, there is no better time for Champaign-Urbana indie rockers and music lovers …
Tonight at 10 p.m. on WEFT 90.1 FM, Post Historic will perform on this week’s WEFT Sessions program. The sometimes-trio, sometimes quartet will be a duo tonight for the on-air show. The band will also …
When we lost the High Anxiety Music house this past spring, lots of folks close to the music scene let out a collective sigh. The house, located on State St. in downtown Champaign, had been …
Backyard Tire Fire has long been known as a rowdy, shit-kicking alt-country band. Their new album, The Places We Lived, is a soulful departure from their previous work, and one that lead singer Ed Anderson …
Jake Fleischli has been around the Champaign-Urbana music scene for several years now, and his band, Tractor Kings, has built a solid following with heartfelt songs and rootsy arrangements that they call “Cosmic Americana.” The …
The Bottle Rockets with Otis Gibbs Highdive, Champaign, Ill. Aug. 16, 2008 “Happy anniversary,” Brian Henneman shouted as the Bottle Rockets took the stage, launching into the heavy, bitter lament about a romantic relationship gone …
When the line for Lifehouse wrapped around the Canopy Club to the School of Music building on Nevada entered the venue, they fully packed the main floor and filled every seat in the balcony. Every …
When gawking at the enormous steel and concrete structures bursting forth all around you, be thankful that you live in a town where something, anything, is happening. It keeps you thinking. While you’re thinking, you …
Improbably still, the lake rests contentedly as a sheet of glass. A summer by the lake brings feelings of softness and relaxation. Michigan is home to this eponymous lake, as well as one of the …
Everyone wants to be The Beatles. We’ve all seen our fair share of cover bands, album cover tributes/parodies, and even wardrobe similarities. Every “Best Of” list has, and will always, name check an album or …
One of the things about growing up is watching your concept of money change. I remember Bonnie Hunt had a bit when she was a guest on Letterman about how the biggest amount of money …
Read the “sounds like” section on any bands myspace.com profile and you’ll likely get some self-aggrandizing gibberish, something nearly unintelligible, or the drivel of a band member who has no idea what their band sounds …
Lifehouse, the boys who have been sticking songs in heads since 2000, will be taking over the Canopy Club on Thursday with their catchy hooks and romantic ballads. Their successes have landed them on mainstream …
Sometimes, the only choice is the best choice. For Krist Krueger of Southerly, living in Fon-Du-Lac, Wis was a dead end trying to both perform and work within the national indie rock scene. So, instead …
Tune into WEFT, 90.1 FM, tonight from 10:00 – 11:00 p.m. for WEFT Sessions, their weekly live in-studio music show. Tonight’s show features Herb Scher, an acoustic alternative folk performer from New York City, and …
Lurking in a converted basement of an unassuming house in old town Champaign is the motor that drives some of the best-respected bands in indie rock. Bob Andrews, who runs the local office of Undertow …
Way Out West Entrance Generally speaking, Smile Politely tries to cover events in and around Champaign-Urbana. It’s part of our mission statement actually; we believe in the notion that our cities have their own culture. …
The typical method for discovering a new band is going to see a different band, sharing the bill. The bands know about this potential for discovery. In fact, this method is so common that bands …
Editor’s Note: Roving beer and music enthusiast Matt Cohn combines these iconic forces, matching the perfect brew for the perfect band in his new column, Listing to Music. Beer and music are meant to intoxicate, …
Editor’s Note: Roving beer and music enthusiast Matt Cohn combines these iconic forces, matching the perfect brew for the perfect band in his new column, Listing to Music. Beer and music are meant to intoxicate, …
I’m excited about Common Loon. I don’t get excited very often. Pop music still gets the bad rap of being a young person’s folly; and few young people have enough time to absorb the lessons …
AfricanAlbum_Cover_by_UCArts-thumb-200×200.jpg” width=”200” height=”200” alt=”KrukidAfrican_Album_Cover_by_UCArts.jpg” class=”mt-image-right” style=”float: right; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;” />You may think that there’s not much surprise to StreetFest, an outdoor event with food and music, in downtown Champaign. For all we …
The Champaign-Urbana Theater Company opens its production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tomorrow, August 7th at 7:30 p.m. in the Virginia Theater. Tickets are $19 for adults, $17 for students/seniors …
Homegrown talent Kayla Brown will make a departure from Champaign’s music scene in a little more than a week for a bigger scene in Nashville, Tenn. But, before she hits the road, Kayla leaves behind …
Tomorrow night at Biaggi’s (2235 S. Neil St., Champaign), local country-punk songstress Angie Heaton will be playing a solo, acoustic show on the patio. The show is free and is from 6 to 8 p.m. …
On Friday, Mike and Molly’s will become part local venue and part Revolutionary War re-enactment when local metal outfit Bang 76 strikes a chord heard halfway around downtown. The four-piece band rocks out in garb …
Some things are extremely probable. Like the chances of hearing “Don’t Stop Believing” twice in a frat party, or getting hit by a Jimmy John’s “freaky fast” delivery car. But even more probable are the …
Isn’t life decidedly odd sometimes? Before, being cool meant using hella as much as possible. Now it seems that you have to be uncool to be cool. Yup, you heard me right. See those kids …
Adam Boskey, ne DJ Bozak, has been perfecting his art of moving butts in clubs and radio stations around Champaign-Urbana for as long as he has summoned the courage. From humble beginnings torturing turntables and …
For those of us in our late 20’s and early 30’s, Blind Melon is a cultural touchstone. Who can forget the video for “No Rain” featuring the Bee Girl? Soon after their follow-up album, Soup, …
Jay Reatard and King Khan have a lot in common. They each started out in the late 90’s – a teenage Jay with the legendary, obnoxious and moronically brilliant The Reatards out of Memphis, and …
Evidently, Monday nights are alive in downtown Champaign, and you can thank the perseverance of local buzz columnist and musician/booking agent/promoter/kickball fiend/torrent master Mike Ingram. What was once a shot in the dark — an …
Another great outdoor performance to check out tonight is at Mike ‘N Molly’s. They’re featuring two local bands: Mad Mardigan and Hathaways. Since the Cowboy Monkey has stopped having regular concerts, Mike ‘N Molly’s has …
Once again, Krannert Center brings two dynamic performances to the U of I’s Research Park for the second of their three-show series, OUTSIDE. Tonight, Urbana’s Brandon T. Washington and Chicago’s Bandoleros will perform at 6:30 …
Bluegrass is special to me because it is an uncorrupted, undisguised form of music. Artists claiming any affiliation to this genre are almost always based around acoustic string instruments, and consequently, bluegrass is earthy, natural …
As of June 19, another musician joined the pay-what-you-will, or rather free-for-all, reputation Radiohead glamorized with their latest album, In Rainbows. Gregg Gillis, also known as Girl Talk, claimed in an interview with MetroWize (based …
This week, Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to reporters off-camera about local indie pop band, Headlights and their impact on music culture. Rev. Jackson made most mention about the video for their newest single “Cherry Tulips.” …
Cristy: I like to hear music store owners’ viewpoints. It’s a window into how they run their businesses. This is how I came to comprehend how Bob Diener runs Record Swap. “I don’t consider ‘new’ …
This is the first we have heard from So Long Forgotten, a Champaign-Urbana based rockers on a massive two-and-a-half month bad boy of a tour. _“Trips like ours are greener grass left unknown for fear …
It’s so rare that I fall in love with new music anymore. My job demands an ear that is more or less discriminating to the point of alienation; most artists are just a blob of …
July 12th – Day off in Portland, OR: We woke up in Portland at our friends Joni & Mary’s house after a late-night drive from Boise. We spent the day seeing why Portland is a …
A Midwestern band at its core, Shipwreck has invested the past four years into bringing forth classic Champaign-sound rock to a very flat Champaign County. The band is known to sway audiences from a relaxed …
Flying Lotus ’ new album Los Angeles is quite similar to a piece of visual art in that the more time spent with it, the more you get out of it. While Los Angeles grabbed …
Whenever someone mentions how awesome Radiohead is, my mind instinctively turns off. I feel a bit nauseous, my palms get a little clammy, then I regain composure, nod politely, and force my opinion on them. …
The boys of Deconstructing Jim share a striking character resemblance to Clark Kent. By day, the men join the working class with their careers in machinery, public relations and the ever-popular egg delivery. However, by …
Saturday, July 5th: The Blue Fugue – Columbia, Mo: Day 1 of our 35 days out on the road. This tour will be 4 times longer than anything we’ve ever done. We’ll put 7,000 miles …
Monday nights are notoriously empty at bars downtown; it’s easily the toughest night for venue promoters to fill because of the inherent need for those who drink to come down from their weekend swill. If …
Tonight, the U of I’s Research Park is about to break out of the stale cubical feel and slip on something a little more exciting. Krannert Center of Performing Arts along with Fox/Atkins Development and …
On Saturday, local jammers, Zmick will deliver their ground-up mixture of funk, reggae, jazz, and progressive that would surely move the butts of any patchouli drenched, birkenstock-clad audience. Falling just short of the platonic ideal …
