Posts Tagged ‘Springfield Missouri’
Most Recent
 
Read More
November 28, 2023

Newly Discovered Songs from Springfield Mo.

“Doubles on Ice is a previously unheard Lou Whitney composition and I always wanted to use the image of a figure skater in a celebration of Lou.

 

A couple of years ago recording engineer Eric Schuchmann was doodling around The Studio, the beloved recording space on the outskirts of Springfield, Mo. He stumbled across a DAT tape marked “publishing demos 98-99.” Schuchmann had been long-time right-hand man for the brilliant bandleader-bassist-singer-producer Lou Whitney.

Whitney was also the spiritual force behind the great American rock n’ soul bands The Skeletons, The Morells, and the seminal [...]

523
 
Read More
July 18, 2022

Revive 66 Campground: A Soft Place to Land

 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.–Out on the west side of Springfield, Mo., there is a new campground called Revive 66. It is along a forsaken stretch of Route 66.  Some dreams died here. Others moved on. The campground is across the Chestnut Expressway from the Orchard Hills pharmacy and flower shop. The campground is adjacent to the Redwood Motel, a separately owned transient lodge where a sign suggests “Try Jesus.”

Revive 66 is a landing place for the homeless.

It is one of the most innovative projects to serve the homeless in America.

People sleep in one of 43 new solar-powered teardrop campers. It is the first solar-powered RV park in the United [...]

826
 
Read More
April 6, 2022

The Camelot of Cassettes

National Audio Company projects (D. Hoekstra photo)

 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—Rewind.

The National Audio Company near downtown Springfield does more than backtrack the past as the largest manufacturer of cassette tapes in the world. Vintage maple desktops in the company’s first-floor office have classic pink “While You Were Out” notepads. Employees still come to offices and answer phones at National Audio,  just a country heartbeat from the birthplace of Route 66.

Company president Steve Stepp is a model train buff and sings the praises of songwriter Neil Young, a long-time Lionel train collector, [...]

336
 
Read More
May 14, 2018

“The Center of Nowhere” premieres in Nashville

Ozarks portrait courtesy of Jim Mayfield.

I learned many things from nearly 30 visits to Springfield, Mo. over the past ten years. but paramount is the way to live through the spirit of music. Unfiltered rhythms of life are everywhere in the “Queen City of the Ozarks” ; in the bars, the cars, the art , the photography, the food. Music cannot escape these influences.

Our 90-minute documentary is called “The Center of Nowhere, The Spirit and Sounds of Springfield, Mo.” It premieres May 20 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Robbie Fulks appears May 19 in a songwriter session and his performance [...]

480
Loop Sidebar Left
Loop Sidebar Right
Compare
Go