Music

Smile Politely is a community magazine, and as such, we rely on a people from our community to contribute. We are always welcoming new writers, photographers, and videographers into the fold, across all sections. Whether …

Bluegrass singer-songwriter Bella White doesn’t have any ties to Champaign-Urbana, but there is a fellow musician in her genre who hails from these parts that she’s highly aware of. “Alison Krauss is an icon!” White …

Our Music section covers a wide variety of genres and areas of local music, and as such, the Music Editor should have a knowledge and understanding of the past and present local music scene in …

Lukas Ligeti is a composer and percussionist who will be giving a lecture at the Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois at 4:30 p.m. on February 14th. His lecture, “Experimental Intercultural Collaboration: Composing and …

The Overture is a rundown of live music and performances happening in and around Champaign-Urbana each week. All of the information is as accurate as we can publish; however, all shows and performances are subject …

CU Folk and Roots has a weekend-long mini festival starting this Thursday. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will feature nine different performances and two jam sessions at the Rose Bowl in Urbana.  There are suggested donations …

Twenty five is one of those milestone birthdays that doesn’t really feel like a milestone (unless you’re super psyched to finally rent a car on your own, I suppose). But in terms of works of …

Friday, January 27th Eat up, Restaurant Week restaurants, all weekend, prices vary Cheers to Restaurant Week! The nine day celebration kicks off today, and the 40+ participating restaurants want to give diners a taste of …

We’re doing some new things in 2023. We launched our new website, a (hopefully) more aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly place for us to continue the work of showcasing the community. There’s an option to donate …