Jane Boxall has been in Champaign-Urbana just long enough to prove her worth as one of our greatest musicians and teachers. She arrived in town over three and a half years ago to pursue her graduate studies in percussion at the University of Illinois. Little did we know that she would soon go on to create some of CU's most interesting rock music, teach drum skills to half the town through local drum shop Skins and Tins and perform more marimba concerts than CU has hosted in the last 10 years combined. With a D.M.A. in hand, Jane will travel to Vermont to teach music to school kids from the first to eighth grade. Last week, Smile Politely had the chance to sit down with Jane, grab a beer and talk about her experiences in Champaign-Urbana.
Make sure to catch Jane's last performance in Illinois, tonight at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center at 7 p.m.
We wish you well, Jane!
This is the first in a series of video profiles highlighting local bands, how they view the music scene and where they think it is going. The interview transcript appears after the jump. Enjoy!
Good Night and Good Morning are a band that rejects all of the stereotypes that traditionally come with being in a band — they aren't loud, they don't dream of playing in large arenas and they don't care about making money. How is it, then, that they can survive in the seemingly stagnant Champaign-Urbana music scene? We decided to sit down with them and discuss their experiences as an acoustic-ambient band, and also, as local musicians in C-U.