#centralIllinoisMusicScene

#centralIllinoisMusicScene duo Bill Poss and JJ Passalacqua share their project LoveSeat and their new album, Our Way. Bill also organizes the Moccasin Creek Festival at Lake Sara in Effingham, this year June 19-22, and he shares this year's lineup.

Jack McLaughlin and Jordan Shea are joined by Noah Thuma in Scarlet's Darling. I Didn't Mean to Call Your Name, is their Feb. 7, 2025 album release.

The central Illinois band, Crash Planet, has two EPs out — 2023's Subconscious and 2024's False Summit. They play shows in the area and are planning a regional tour.

Mark Barlow and Joe Wallace found each other musically through DIM Art House leading to the formation of Illinois Department of Sound. The result plays in a unique genre of music that has them seeking collaborative art partners.

Reggie Britton is the lead vocalist, drummer, and harmonica player for central Illinois blues band Black Magic Johnson.Reggie discussed the path of his musical journey including playing with Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks and others. He also shares his challenge with cancer.

Kate Schwartz (formerly known as Mark Schwartz) is a central Illinois musician who has recorded over 40 albums under her own name and with bands End Times Trio, Forest Saints, Tin Ghost, Demons on Wheels, and collaborations like Petulant Clark. Kate shares how she recently transitoned and how she facillitates a trans support group at the Phoenix Center.

Chris Vallillo is a musician who combines history and sense of place in much of his work. Forgottonia is an Illinois Humanities Council funded performance project combining music and photography into a memorable take on western Illinois and rural places.

Max Beckman talks about his appearance at Sept. 13 UIS Date Night event and his music with Waxwell Weckman and others. The Date Night performance will feature an electric bass quintet in a way you might not imagine.

Ben's creativity overfloweth. Ben Bedford is a Springfield-based internationally recognized folk musician. Ben stages his first art exhibit of his pen and ink work at Perspectives Art Gallery with an opening reception Sept. 7, noon to 5 p.m.

Finnegans Wake is a band formed in 1974 at the County Cork Pub in Springfield, Illinois. John C. Van Orman, William J. Furry, and Bill Rintz joined together bound by a love of traditional American and British Isles music. They research many of the traditional songs in their repertoire. Even though they now live in different states, they get back together to perform and tour. They perform August 24, 2024, 7:30 p.m. at Salem on Seventh in Petersburg.The three multi-instrumentalists join Community Voices to discuss their music, vocals, and friendship.