Blue Heron to play coffeehouse tonight

By Gus Bode

Originally from southern Illinois, Blue Heron members Steve Wierman and Willie Deuel decided to give the acoustic angel a try to their musicianship. The guitar/vocal duo has been together for more than a year, throwing together songs that fall in between blues and folk.

We jammed at a couple of retreats for work, Wierman said. I’ve been in bands before and wanted to try something acoustic, so me and Willie put together Blue Heron.

Blue Heron has already arranged the set list for tonight’s performance, including a melody tribute to Jerry Garcia and two covers in the outline.

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We both write the songs but don’t collaborate, Wierman said. 90 percent of our songs are original.

Wierman said his inspiration for writing music has a lot to do with what is going on in the outside world.

I pay attention to what’s going on in the world as an observer, he said. I think the things I come up with has a lot to do with what’s going on in my head. It’s really psychological.

Blue Heron’s sound falls somewhere in between folk and rock but really touches on blues.

I think our sound is blues-oriented, Wierman said. It’s not really blues, but blue. We both come from a blues background.

Blue Heron doesn’t have any major plans to make a career out of making music, but feels that it is an enjoyable hobby.

If somebody would pay me enough to do it, I would, Wierman said. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

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We have a ton of original songs that we would like to record. Once we get the time and money.

Blue Heron currently has three shows lined up for the spring, including Makanda Fest in May.

We are open to play other places, but the bars are a little to loud for acoustic.

Blue Heron will perform at 8 p.m. tonight at Melange, 607 S. Illinois Avenue. Admission is free.

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