Different genres of music blare from the second floor of the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center and instrument cases scatter the recording studio. Musicians from all around the southern Illinois area set up in the Brand Advocacy Group studio behind a tiny, brown desk in hopes to share their music with the world.
The brown desk resembles that of the well-known white desk at the National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk Concert series – live concerts hosted by NPR at the former desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. From Chappel Roan to the cast of “Sesame Street,” they have a variety of artists in their catalog. Each year they run a contest for unsigned artists to get an opportunity to have their own episode in the series.
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Calling themselves the Tiny Desk Crashers, southern Illinois-based groups Band Advocacy Group and the River to River Community Records collaborated to offer local musical acts free and open studio slots to produce a high-quality video to submit for NPR’s contest. The idea is to help southern Illinois bands get their name out there and advance their chances of being selected by NPR.
This year, the Tiny Desk Crashers made the decision to scale back from last year’s 150-plus recordings, but still aimed to help at least 50 artists submit an entry with a priority of those who didn’t get an opportunity last year. Each weekend starting mid-January leading up to the contest’s deadline on Feb. 11, Nathan Colombo, Max Senteney, Mike Arthur and Rob Rindfuss with Brand Advocacy Group and River to River Community Records were in the studio.
From rock music to the soft strum of a guitar — and even a warlock — the doors of Band Advocacy Group’s studio opened to a wide variety of acts looking for the same outcome. The recording catalog they’ve created is also a testament to the range of artists who call southern Illinois home.
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“What is kind of exciting about this process is that the diversity of the acts that we have that come up here,” Senteney said. “Which is what makes this music scene in southern Illinois so special.”
On Saturday, Feb. 8, in the occasional light rain and overcast skies, several bands filed into the studio to record. In the mid-afternoon, local rock group JC and the Family Band wheeled in their guitars and amplifiers to record their song “Red Carpet Walk” for the contest.
The five-person band consisting of singer Jeannie Armstrong, lead guitarist John Carvell, drummer JC Caraway, bass guitarist Zak Kagy and rhythm guitarist Austin Lee all originate from Carbondale, Du Quoin and Murphysboro. The band was started by Carvell, Caraway and Kagy when Caraway discovered they played guitar and mentioned he had past experience in playing drums. Armstrong and Lee later joined to complete the group after Caraway brought them in with his personal connections.
“This is my family and we’re tight,” Caraway, the drummer and band’s namesake, said. “That’s my favorite part of it.”
The biggest attraction for many rural artists, including JC and the Family Band, is exposure through the contest.
“Doing a video like this that we could put it out to get people, they might not know us or if they heard our name, they might not know what we play, like how we sound,” Kagy said. “So this is a good representation of what we play, we play rock ‘n’ roll… This is how we do it. This is more of an extension of ourselves in a way.”
Heather Hammers visited the studio on Saturday afternoon to record her song “Train to Chicago,” a soft song accompanied by her guitar. The song, written a year ago, is inspired by just that — a trip she took on the train up to Chicago and the relationship with the person she traveled with.
Hammers, a local musician from West Frankfort, has been a musician for a long time. She’s sung her whole life and picked up guitar at the age of 15 and started writing songs. Now, she uploads her songs on YouTube and the experience of recording for the contest will help her in the future with her own videos, she said.
“I make YouTube videos like this by myself at home,” Hammers said. “But, to have a team there helping you and making sure it looks good, it’s just a fun experience and you learn a little bit more about how to make the stuff you do yourself better.”
Dressed in a long, black robe and warlock hat, Kevin Hensold also performed on Saturday. Hensold said he feels as though he was incarnated here but isn’t sure if that is the true origin of his existence, but primarily resides in Makanda, Illinois.
He sang his song “The Master Illusionist Death-Defying Paradoxical Verse,” a spell that is supposed to grant him eternal life.
“Hopefully the spell will have its intended effect,” Hensold said. “ It’s always a gamble with trying to do magic.”
Hensold said his inspiration for his song was his dealings with beings on other planes of existence.
“I died several times and returned to life,” Hensold said. “[I] met a lot of characters and entities along the way to bring me where I am today.”
The Swamp Boys — consisting of Matthew Evans, Josiah Evans and Lara Ashby — took interest in the contest last year but made the decision they weren’t prepared to throw their hat in the ring. This year round, the band narrowed down their song choices and began practicing.
“We played the same song probably a hundred times,” Matthew Evans said.
The brown desk in the studio was covered in rocks originating from southern Illinois and a deer skull while the Swamp Boys performed their song “Brother’s Soul” written by Evans about a brother who spent time in the hospital.
“I wrote the song, he was in the hospital for a while,” Evans said. “It was pretty weird, that’s what brought the song to fruition.”
Their rocks and skull were accompanied by a painting and mandolin for the band’s friend, Fast Molasses, who died last year. He had written the last verse of the song, which was performed by Josiah Evans.
The goal of all of this is to project southern Illinois’ music scene into a national audience. They provide this service for free for bands in the area. Everyone who works on this project are volunteers, who take time out of their day to help their fellow musicians.
“I myself am a musician,” Arthur said. “I grew up playing music around here and I’ve just always been kind of inspired and motivated by this sort of do-it-yourself mentality that always keeps this music scene afloat.”
Reporter Mylee Walker can be reached by email at mwalker@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @myleewalkerwrites. Editor-in-chief Lylee Gibbs can be reached by email at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @lyleegibbsphoto. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.
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