The Capital City Bicentennial Celebration will be held over Fourth of July weekend in historic downtown Springfield. The two-day event will celebrate the life of Abraham Lincoln in his hometown on the weekend our nation celebrates its own birthday.
Along with the celebration of the 16th President, there will be the Taste of Downtown, Springfield Jaycees Capital City Celebration, the Secretary of State’s Ice Cream Social and several bands, some with strong ties to Champaign-Urbana.
The Bicentennial Celebration opens Friday, July 3 at 5:00 p.m. with a procession from Lincoln Home National Historic Site to the Old State Capitol led by Abraham and Mary Lincoln in a horse-drawn carriage and serenaded by Lincoln’s Own - 10th Illinois Volunteer Regiment Band at the Old State Capitol.
Friday evening continues with a variety of musical performances on the Americana Music Stage, located in the Taste of Downtown area on Fifth Street near Washington and the Bicentennial Stage on 6th and Adams.
The Springfield Jaycees will also offer a great line up of entertainment throughout the evening at the 5th and Capital Bicentennial Stage. The other stages will feature period musical performances during the early evening.
Friday nights music highlights will be Grammy nominated Bill Kirchen formerly of the 1970s rebel rock band Commander Cody and the Lost Plant Airmen, along with the Moonlighters and Nick Lowe & the Impossible Birds. He is also a critically acclaimed sideman who has played with Elvis Costello.
Headlining Friday night’s American Music Stage will be Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women. Alvin is a Grammy award winner and known as the founding member of the legendary California based roots rock quartet The Blasters and the retro-country The Knitters featuring Exene Cervenka from the band X on vocals. Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women continues Alvin’s love for roots rock with his backing band of seven well respected female musicians - Cindy Cashdollar; Laurie Lewis; Nina Gerber; Christy McWilson; Sarah Brown; Amy Farris; and Lisa Pankratz. The band has recently released their debut on Yep Roc Records.
Saturday night’s line up on the Maerican Music Stage is chocked full of hot acts such as the Pittsburgh garage rockers The Cynics, who have played Champaign numerous times.
Also in the lineup is The Chicago band The Handcuffs who played Champaign not too long ago. The band features the local legend Brad Elvis on drums, which spent many years in Champaign with his former band The Elvis Brothers. The Handcuffs also feature Elvis’ wife, the charismatic powerful singer Chloe F. Orwell on vocals and guitar. The Handcuffs are an excellent throw-back rock band featuring a 60s British pop feel anchored by Elvis’ backbeat drums and Orwell’s pretty pop style. Elvis played at the Taste of Springfield in 2007 in his other band The Romantics.
Also no stranger to the area is Chicago’s own alt-country crooner Robbie Fulks. Over the last decade, Fulks has been critically praised for his albums. Fulks has been playing Springfield and Champaign on a regular basis for the last ten years and has developed a strong following. Fulks has recently released a 50 song offering on his website titled 50-Vc. Doberman. The release has received an enthusiastic review from the New York Times. He will appear with his long time band mates for the full blown Robbie Fulks treatment.
Members of Brian Setzer’s Nashvillians, BR549 and the Blue Moon Boys have come together to for the outfit Hillbilly Casino, which will be headlining Saturday night. The rockabilly band plays loud and fast in the vein of Gene Vincent and the Reverend Horton Heat.
Complete two-day music schedule
Friday July 3 at the American Music Show
The Honeybees (5 PM)
Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun (6:30 PM)
Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women (8 PM)
The Damwell Betters (10 PM)
Saturday July 4 at the American Music Show
The Gordons/Tom Irwin (3 PM)
The Cynics (5:30 PM)
The Handcuffs (7 PM)
Robbie Fulks (8:30 PM)
Hillbilly Casino (10 PM)
*all shows are free to the public
SIDE BAR
In support of their latest release We Make Our Own Bad Luck (Hidden Agenda Records), New Ruins are playing a show on Thursday, July 2 at the Canopy Club in Urbana.
Starting out as a duo with long-time friends Elzie Sexton and J. Caleb Means, New Ruins has blossomed into a quintet fueling their melancholy melody-filled songs on their sophomore release.
New Ruins will be kicking off the Independence Day weekend a little early at the Canopy Club tonight along with Ohtis, Prussia, Junk Culture, and Common Loon. The show will begin at 9 p.m. and cover is seven dollars at the door.