An annual music festival in Macomb gets underway on Wednesday, Sept. 16 with the debut of a brand-new performance space.
Bluegrass band Chicken Wire Empire will be the featured performer for the first event in the grand theater of the Goldfarb Center for Performing Arts at Western Illinois University.
That show will also be the opener for this year’s Al Sears Music Fest.
WIU jazz faculty will perform in the lobby of the GCPA at 6 p.m. before the Chicken Wire Empire show at 7:30 p.m.
The music fest will also feature live music in downtown Macomb from Thursday, Sept. 17 through Saturday, Sept. 19.
“The idea of getting really up close to an artist and watching them create in real time, and being able to participate in the performance, is something that you can’t really recreate in the comfort of your home. You have to go out and experience it,” said Whitney Ashe, president of the music fest and a teacher of jazz studies at WIU.
The music fest will also feature jazz and blues shows at the Western Illinois Museum and The Wine Sellers. Ashe said the diversity of music on the schedule is a fitting tribute to Al Sears, who was born in Macomb in 1910.
“Al Sears started out in the world of jazz, worked his way into the world of early rock ‘n’ roll, became an A&R development person, and did a lot of work in R&B music throughout the 1960s. He had a diverse career, and having a diversity of music celebrates him and his legacy,” Ashe said.
Tickets are still available for Chicken Wire Empire and can be purchased online.
All other events during the Al Sears Music Fest are free.
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Goldfarb Center for Performing Arts
- 7:30 p.m.: Chicken Wire Empire. “The Goldfarb Center is really a spectacular building. It’s going to be exciting to open up this space with this event and tie in with Al Sears,” Ashe said.
Thursday, Sept. 17
The Wine Sellers
- 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.: WIU Jazz Combo.
Friday, Sept. 18
Dance Party at the Western Illinois Museum
- 5 p.m. & 6:30 pm: Dance instruction by Rose Dance Company.
- 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.: WIU Jazz Studio Orchestra.
- 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: State of Mind. “State of Mind is a band that came together at Western Illinois University back in the ‘90s,” Ashe said. “I believe they were all part of the first Jazz Studies major graduating class.”
Saturday, Sept. 19
Spotlight on local talent at Western Illinois Museum
- 12 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.: The Zoë Rose Trio. “They are based out of Galesburg. There’s some tremendous musical talent in Macomb and just a short car ride away from Macomb, and we thought it was important to attract attention to all of that,” Ashe said.
- 2 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.: Jam Session hosted by Jeff Calhoun and the Western Illinois Traditional Music Association.
- 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.: Nico Berbaran.
- The Al Sears Music Fest headliner
- 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project. “He draws some of the really fine jazz talent from the state of Illinois,” Ashe said. “That’s a really fun band. If you’re not familiar with that music, rhythmically it’s super infectious. It’s kind of a nice hybrid of dance music and jazz.”
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.
