Great music and great food equal good times in downtown Springfield July 8-9, 2011. Join your family, friends, and thousands of community members in celebrating the 12th annual Taste of Downtown. Centered at 5th and Washington Streets, this summer celebration will last from noon until midnight and is sure to please all age groups.

Where to Stay

Great "Get Away" Packages are available for Taste of Downtown attendees at these hotels:

Click here for great hotel packages!

The American Music Show At-A-Glance

FRIDAY, JULY 8

• 6:00 p.m. - Somebody’s Daughter (Decatur)
• 7:00 p.m. - The Damwell Betters (Springfield)
• 8:00 p.m. - The Handcuffs (Chicago)
• 9:30 p.m. - The Detroit Cobras (Detroit)

SATURDAY, JULY 9

• 3:00 p.m. - Moonlite Rythym Ranger (Springfield)
• 4:30 p.m. - Tom Irwin & the Raouligans (Springfield)
• 5:30 p.m. - Lucky Patterson and the Wolk Crick Boys (Springfield)
• 7:00 p.m. - Mike and Ruthy (New York)
• 8:15 p.m. - Elizabeth Cook (Nashville)
• 10:00 p.m. - Ike Reilly Assassination (Chicago)

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The American Music Show is pleased to announce the following line-up

Friday, July 8
The Handcuffs
The Handcuffs blend sixties smarts with a twenty-first century beat to deliver a brand of modern pop/rock that will get you on your feet. Fronted by the sexy, sultry Chloe F. Orwell and features the manic mugging and drumming of Brad Elvis, The Handcuffs write smart original tunes and deliver them with rock and roll panache.
Brad Elvis is best known in central Illinois as a member of the Elvis Brothers or Screams. Both bands were staples on the bar circuit in the eighties and his manic four handed drumming most certainly burned a groove into your youthful mind.
Ira Robbins of the Trouser Press writes: "Orwell sounds more like Debbie Harry on 'Electroluv,' walking the same line between coquettish and defiant, in a broad spectrum of styles. The new lineup includes guitarist/pianist Ellis Clark and bassist Emily Togni (although Canino and others contributed, and the resourceful Orwell adds synth, flute, sax, organ, vibraphone and guitar); the sound is less pure pop and more, dare it be said, adult. Brad's songs tend to cling to tag lines ('Half a Mind,' 'God Is Sure One Funny Girl,' 'I Just Wanna Be Free, Man,' the outstanding 'Gotta' Problem With Me?') in the choruses, but most of the ideas being ridden so hard are clever enough for it not to matter. The peppy 'Somebody Somewhere,' with distorted spoken vocals, is ferocious fun, while Orwell's 'Turn It Up' is another highlight."

Friday July 8
The Detroit Cobras
Punk inspired garage rocking sixties soul. That would be the Detroit Cobras to you buddy. One of the earliest groups to emerge from the Detroit garage rock scene, the Cobras breathe new life in to R&B sides that would have remained in the dustbin of obscurity if not for the Detroit Cobras. The Cobras play raw, raunchy, and primitive rock and roll. The kind of music that would get your band thrown out of a proper school dance in 1965, but then again, who wants to be at a school dance anyway? This is how lead singer Rachel Nagy describes her band’s music, …We play dance music. Party music. We play old-fashioned Friday-night-go-out-and-find-a-pretty-girl- and-dance-with-her-because-it-WILL-get-you-(lucky)music. Go-home-exhausted-sweaty-stained-and-drunk- saying-man-what-a-great-night-let's-do-it-all-again-next-week music. The Detroit Cobras headline Friday night at the AMS.
"Nagy is an unrivaled vocal powerhouse whose interpretations are sometimes even more memorable than her classic inspirations. Her voice is simultaneously serene and fiery, lit up with a saucily boozy and wise-cracking, rude confidence that makes a soul-revising latecomer like Amy Winehouse seem like a shrinking violet. Ramirez prevents the group from coming off as some slickly reverential museum piece by riffing with dirty, punky garage chords, a major reason that the Detroit Cobras are the ultimate rock & soul party band." —LA Weekly

Saturday, July 9
Elizabeth Cook
Sweet, ornery and irreverent Elizabeth Cook is much closer to the Grand Ole Opry stars of yesteryear than her platinum selling contemporaries. Capable of singing a sweet lullaby, Elizabeth can also belt out a bawdy tune.  Her most recent release, Welder, has enough rock and roll spirit to make Keef and Mick proud. Accompanied by her talented songwriting and guitar playing husband Tim Carroll, Elizabeth Cook headlines Saturday night at the AMS.

From allmusic.com

Country singer/songwriter Elizabeth Cook made her Grand Ole Opry debut on March 17, 2000, appearing repeatedly thereafter -- a remarkable achievement considering that, at the time, she was an indie artist with no radio airplay. But such was the excitement generated by her clear, beautiful voice, strong songwriting ability, and live performances, all of which have drawn comparisons to younger, critically respected artists like Kelly Willis and legends such as Dolly Parton.

Cook was born in Wildwood, FL. Her West Virginia-born mother played guitar and mandolin and sang on local radio shows. Her father, a Georgia native, also performed country music and served jail time for running moonshine. Upon his release, he and Elizabeth's mother played in local bands together, eventually marrying. Elizabeth, born in 1972, moved to Nashville in her twenties and quickly got a publishing deal. Demos recorded between 1997 and 2000 comprised her self-titled, independently released debut album, The Blue Album, which showcased her formidable songwriting ability and featured such well-known Music City musicians as Tim Carroll, Kenny Vaughan, and Rick Schell. Atlantic Records signed Cook soon after its release, and she began working on her major-label debut. Hey, Y'All appeared in summer 2002 from Warner Bros. Constant restructuring at the label meant Hey Y'All didn't get the promotion it needed, and Cook left the imprint and released 2005's This Side of the Moon on Hog Country Records. Balls appeared in 2007 from 31 Tigers, followed by Welder in 2010, featuring guest spots from Dwight Yoakam, Rodney Crowell, and Buddy Miller, also on 31 Tigers.

Saturday, July 9
Mike and Ruthy
Woodstock, New York’s Mike + Ruthy have been harmonizing for the past 12 years. Founding members of “post-apocalyptic-stringband” The Mammals, as a duo Mike + Ruthy have refined their sound down to the the very core of acoustic American music, demonstrating an uncommon ability to create songs as lyrically sophisticated as Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen and as harmonically beautiful as Gillian Welch & David Rawlings or Simon & Garfunkel. With an arsenal of fiddle, banjo, guitar, ukulele and their hallmark harmony singing, a Mike + Ruthy concert is overstuffed with soulful songs and stories and a timeless sound that is spellbinding and pure. As the daughter of fiddle legend, Jay Ungar, and country singer Lyndon Lee Hardy, Ruthy is no stranger to roots music and harmony singing. Despite her innate knowledge of American folk and country music, Ruthy opted to steer clear of the musician’s life and in 1997 moved to New York City to pursue a career in the theatre. It was in New York that Ruthy was introduced to Michael Merenda, an aspiring playwright and songwriter from New Hampshire who himself had just recently arrived in the big apple to test his mettle.
With this meeting Ruthy’s interest in music was stoked, with Mike becoming entranced by the deep well of folk music from which Ruthy’s talent poured: the duo began collaborating immediately. A romantic relationship began not long after the musical partnership was sparked and in 2000 the couple resettled just outside of Northampton, MA where they met Tao Rodriguez-Seeger (grandson of the legendary folk singer Pete Seeger) and soon formed the "subversive, acoustic, stringband" The Mammals. The Mammals toured the world for 7 years including trips to Australia, Denmark, and Canada and even a six month stint opening for and backing up the great Arlo Guthrie during his 40th Anniversary of Alice's Restaurant tour which culminated at New York's Carnegie Hall. With the birth of their son, Will, in 2008, Mike + Ruthy, announced a departure from The Mammals to focus on their growing family. During this time the couple rediscovered their joy of playing together as a duo and over the following three years produced three sparkling albums including "The Honeymoon Agenda" (2008), “Waltz of the Chickadee" (2009), and 2010's critically acclaimed "Million to One" all on their own independent record label, Humble Abode Music, based just outside of Woodstock, NY.

Saturday, July 9
Ike Reilly Assassination
Libertyville’s Ike Reilly isn’t trying to impress anyone. Well too bad, impressive and rocking he is. Dueting with Shooter Jennings on last year’s “The War on Terror and Drugs” may have brought Ike some much warranted attention, since 2001 Ike Reilly has been churning out smart, darkly humorous songs about the experiences of everyman. The perfect ending for the American Music Show, Ike Reilly will bring it all home on Saturday night.

For more information, please call DSI at (217) 544-1723. 

Thank you to the following sponsors

		Presents Taste of Downtown Springfield
		Presents the American Music Show

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