Sunny War
Jerron Paxton
Martha Spencer & the Wonderland Band
Tylar Bryant (Black Opry)
Sug Daniels (Black Opry)
Eddie Barbash + KASA & Friends
Miguel Espinoza Fusion
The Lowest Pair
Hannah Juanita
Nikki D & the Sisters of Thunder
Nikki D & the Sisters of Thunder are a family based group from Toledo, Ohio with an unique style of Gospel with Blues riffs and grooves, all punctuated by Nikki D’s wildly soulful and electrifying steel guitar.
Adrian + Meredith
The dynamic duo Adrian + Meredith have journeyed from their humble Midwest roots, to the heart of East Nashville’s music scene, to international showcasing and summer touring. The hard-selling band makes this act difficult not to dance to!
Dallas Ugly
The music of Dallas Ugly shimmers with an iridescent nostalgia. Built on a foundation of mellow interchanges of electric guitar and pedal steel, the rhythm and flow evoke an old-school country version of lofi hip hop radio. But combined with soaring fiddle and heartfelt vocals, it becomes something wholly new—a sound as unique as it is dreamy.
Bandoneon Massacre
Bandoneon Massacre is a tango orchestra collective based in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. They started in 2012 as a reading group made up of tango dancer-musicians who wanted to learn how to produce music in the style for dancing. The orchestra performs regularly at local and regional milongas.
Flamenco Jazz Collective
The Illinois Flamenco-Jazz Collective was founded in January 2020 after receiving a Global Intersections Grant from the Center for Global Studies and the European Union Center. The IFJC has offered flamenco music and dance workshops with coaching from professional flamenco performers.
Hammer and the Hatchet
The Hammer and the Hatchet are born and raised Hoosiers who make their home in South Central Indiana on the Brown/Monroe county line. Their authentic brand of acoustic music blends mandolin, guitar and strong vocal harmonies into a sound that is now reaching beyond their bluegrass and folk roots.
John Till
John Till cultivates folk, blues & country from the farthest reaches of the Great Plains to the Appalachian foothills, down to the delta & back up to Chicago for a sound that’s equal parts pastoral & main street charm.”
Camellia Moon
Camellia Moon is a long-distance folk trio based in both Urbana and Chicago. The three members met many moons ago while studying music at the University of Illinois and have been singing together ever since. The band’s namesake flowers, the Camellia and the Moonflower, represent a creative grounding in presence and appreciation for the small joys in life.
Ther’Up.Y
Not limited to a particular genre of music, Ther’Up.Y plays Reggae, Gospel, Blues, Folk, Jazz, and Country. The unique spelling of the band’s name came from an old saying the band-leader’s grandma used to say when family and friends were looking for him. She would say, “he is, oh, there uppa yonder!” The phrase turned out “Ther’Up.Y” (pronounced Therapy) and the name resonated as a moniker for a band that aimed for a therapeutic music that can be enjoyed by all.
Avalos Solera Duo
The Avalos Solera Duo is an ensemble that is always looking for new sounds and musical propositions. Their first album, Bach en Bandoneón, consists of their own arrangements of selected works from J.S. Bach and their own compositions in homage to Bach. They have just recently recorded their next album of personal arrangements of classic tangos and Argentine folk music with voice.
Fiddle-Sax Fusion
The Fiddle-Sax Fusion Band is an innovative, genre-blending ensemble with crossover appeal, with an exciting sound resulting from the unlikely combination of Old Time/Irish fiddle repertoire with blues-infused jazz improvisation and other folk styles from around the world. They generated innovative arrangements in which the violin and saxophone each function as both lead and accompaniment instruments.
Jordan Kaye’s Django Wrangle
The guy doing all the tunewrangling is Jordan Kaye, long time participant in the CU music scene. He plays guitar, banjo, fiddle, melodica and washboard, but not at the same time! He is a veteran of the 392nd Army Band, Medicare 7, 8, or 9 and the Prairie Dogs. His hobbies are growing onions, collecting toolboxes, his favorite color is rust.
Andrew Duncanson Acoustic Review
The Anxious Bench
A CU trio that draws on influences from folk, Americana, rock, and Irish music to explore the hauntings of history, religion, and family.
The Chickadee Sermon
The Chickadee Sermon‘s sound emphasizes vocal harmony and delicate instrumentation with acoustic guitars, banjo, string bass and melodica. They play original songs about their small town country up bringings, traditional music and cover artists like Jerry Garcia, John Harftord, Emmylou Harris, John Prine and Bob Dylan.
Occasional Cajun Band
A CU band with a local take on straight-up Cajun, Creole and Zydeco music from the dance halls and festivals of southwest Louisiana.
Bourema Ibrahim Ouedraogo and Jason Finkelman
Urbana-Champaign artists who perform original songs informed by Ouedraogo’s musical origins in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Ouedraogo’s work reflects his upbringing in a family of musicians, memory of his home city, and inspiration from diasporic African arts in the United States. Accompanying Ouedraogo on calabash and congas, kalimbas and berimbau, Finkelman hails from Philadelphia where he was first introduced to African and Brazilian percussion by Adimu Kuumba whose handcrafted instruments are featured in several songs.
Los Texano’z
Our own regional Tejano and Norteño band, Los Texano’zmix country, polka, bluegrass, and rock roots into a sound that spreads good feelings.
Snowbird Street Band
A traveling duo in their third year of musical adventures from Alaska to Key West and beyond. The Snowbird Street Band play an Americana blend of Folk, Bluegrass, Blues, and Contemporary cover songs, and are experimenting with new original music.