Local Muzak

During the summer of 1999 i was home from college and unemployed in Bloomington, Illinois. I had three months to kill and envisioned hanging with old friends from high school (who I'd rarely seen in the past 3 years), drinking too much, and becoming an accomplished pool shark. But it becomes difficult to do these types of things with no money. My mother, a Political Science/Global Studies Librarian at the University of Illinois, mentioned a summer job opening in the Business Library. I can think of a lot of boring jobs, but alphabetizing microfiche has GOT to rank amongst the most boring in the history of man. Never the less, I took it.

It's a 50 minute drive each way from Bloomington to Champaign, so the radio was GOD. And oddly enough, the station my mother and our car pool companion Elizabeth preferred was the college radio station, 107.1, WPGU. Now before i go on much further, let me state now, my musical taste as an adolescent was horrid. Until college i thought Poison was the greatest rock band of all time. Followed by Bush, Oasis, and Metallica. I was a Top 40 whore. College taught me more than books and life, it also introduced me to the Beatles, Dylan, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, CCR, etc. And thank god for it. I also became a fan of the Dave Matthews Band, in fact the only modern band i could stand at the time (or had access too), mostly because every conversation with a Co-Ed required the knowledge to answer "what's your favorite Dave song?".

So there i was, riding in the back of a car for 2 hours everyday, and hearing music i never thought existed. The Violent Femmes, The Clash, The Kinks and new underground alternative stuff too. And hardly any commercials. I was introduced to Weezer, Hum, The Offspring, and Beck. I found new appreciation for The Smashing Pumpkins and The Foo Fighters. It didn't take 2 days for me to bring along a Walkman to work and from then on it was non-stop new music. Good music. Music i didn't know i had been looking for.

The summer ended. As did college. And I headed out to Colorado for 4 years. There was no WPGU out there, and the internet was certainly not the bastion of new music that it is today. So it was back to U2 and Classic Rock for 4 years. Off to Missouri in '04 and the songs remained the same. But in January 2007 I returned home and was hooked again immediately. Now it was The Strokes, James, Alkaline Trio, The Killers, The Decemberists, Air, Born Ruffians, The Thermals, Sufjan Stevens, Oxford Collapse, The Shins, Stella Star, The Bird and the Bee, David Bazan. And another new band i'd never heard of, Headlights. Their songs Cherry Tulips and TV quickly jumped to the top of my playlist. And then it happened. I heard them described as "local favorite". Local favorite? This band was from Champaign? My hometown? Sure enough. As was Shipwreck, Curb Service, Common Loon, Elsinore, New Ruins, Post Historic, and several other bands whose songs i'd been hearing and grooving too for weeks, but had no idea they were written and preformed in my own backyard. It was a whole new ballgame.

Since then i have gone to every live, local show i can find. And the local music festivals, including the Pygmalion, held every September. Through friends who share similar tastes, my eyes have widened to even more independent, alternative bands. You hear it first on WPGU, then maybe an article in Paste, and a few months later; the cover of Rolling Stone. Long live college radio.

Last night i headed down to Mike and Molly's to see an old favorite. Shipwreck was playing a reunion show. To my knowledge they hadn't played since the 2007 Pygmalion and as it turns out, this would be their last performance. No beat was skipped and every hipster, nerd, punk, indie/alt freak in attendance was soaking up every last chord. When you get into local music, you become part of an unspoken club. It's membership is open to all and free. A knowing glance and occasional head bob the secret handshake. As "A Kiss In The Dark" concluded and the faithful clapped and cheered and whistled, i looked around. Many in the audience were members of other local bands, out to celebrate the end of an era. The rest, like me, were just lucky enough to have wandered into the loop.

Here is your invitation:

Shipwreck - A Kiss in the Dark
Headlights - On April 2nd
Curb Service - The Keeper
Common Loon - Dinosaur vs. Early Man
Elsinore - Yes Yes Yes (Eric Enger Remix)
Post Historic - New Gardens
Angie Heaton - Rollerskate
Jiggsaw - Dance for Me
New Ruins - Book Lung
Headlights - TV
Elisnore - Wooden Houses
Santah - The Crumble