Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area. It is included in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area.
The Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, also known as Champaign–Urbana and Urbana–Champaign as well as Chambana (colloquially), is a metropolitan area in east-central Illinois. As defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the metropolitan area has a population of 222,538 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, which ranks it as the 207th largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. The area is anchored by the principal cities of Champaign and Urbana, and is home to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system.
Hum is an American alternative rock band from Champaign, Illinois, United States. They are best known for their 1995 radio hit "Stars". After initially disbanding in 2000, Hum was largely inactive until reuniting in 2015 for a series of short tours. On June 23, 2020, the band announced and released Inlet, their first album of new material in over twenty-two years.
The Beauty Shop was an Americana rock / alt country band, led by singer-songwriter-guitarist John Hoeffleur, based out of Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1999, they released two EPs and two full length albums before disbanding in 2008. Hoeffleur described their music as "influenced by old-school punk and old-school country with a dash of singer/songwriter ".
Sarge was an indie rock band from Champaign, Illinois, in the United States. They released three albums on Mud Records.
Poster Children is an American indie rock band formed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1987. They have issued nine studio albums and two EPs. Known for their strong DIY ethic, the band members continue to drive their own tour bus, create their own artwork and T-shirt designs, and operate their own record label. Poster Children were also pioneers in several forms of electronic technology relating to performance art, including enhanced CDs, webcasts, and blogs.
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band is Ringo Starr's first official live album, and the first album recorded with his All-Starr Band, recorded in 1989 during his successful comeback tour and released in 1990. It was also Starr's first release of unheard material in seven years.
Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Volume 2: Live from Montreux is Ringo Starr's second official live album and was released in September 1993.
Brendan Gamble is an American singer-songwriter, producer and engineer.
Parasol Records is an American independent record label based in Urbana, Illinois. The label was founded by Geoff Merritt as an outgrowth of the catalog Parasol Mail Order. The Parasol Records banner also includes the smaller labels associated with it, including Mud, Spur, Hidden Agenda and Galaxy Gramophone. The majority of Parasol's releases have been indie pop CD and 7" vinyl singles. Artists signed to Parasol Records include: 16 Tons, The 1900s, 7% Solution, Absinthe Blind, Acid House Kings, The Action, AK-Momo, Mark Bacino, Bikeride, Brian Leach, Bruno, Matt, Budgie Jacket, Busytoby, C-Clamp, Doleful Lions, Elsinore, Honcho Overload, Hot Glue Gun, Lanterna, The Moon Seven Times, Neilson Hubbard, Hum, Jack & the Beanstalk, Jenifer Jackson, Ryan Groff, Sugarbuzz and others.
Lanterna is a musical project led by guitarist Henry Frayne, formerly of Lodestone Destiny, The Syndicate, Ack-Ack, Area and The Moon Seven Times. Their tracks are evocative soundscapes, usually instrumental, that focus on Frayne's melodic guitar work awash in effects.
Joe Strell is an American bass player and songwriter. He was a member of The Imports (1980–81) and ¡Ack-Ack! (1984–86). In 1986 he founded Dansbane Eländet recording studios and began releasing cassette albums under the name Split Heavens.
Laura Kabasomi Kakoma, known by her stage name Somi, is a Grammy-nominated American-born singer, songwriter, playwright, and actor of Rwandan and Ugandan descent. Somi is the first African woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award in a Jazz category.
Adam Schmitt is a singer/songwriter from Urbana, Illinois. He recorded two albums, World So Bright and Illiterature with Reprise Records in the early 1990s. He recorded albums in his Mixolydian Studios, working with artists such as Hum and Uncle Tupelo. He released his third album, Demolition, in 2001 after signing with Parasol Records, and continues to record and produce albums for other artists, including Velvet Crush, Three Hour Tour, Robynn Ragland, and Destroy The Heart. He has worked with Tommy Keene, Eric Voeks, Richard Lloyd, Common Loon, Megan Johns, Unbunny, The Dirty Feathers, Elsinore, The Hathaways, and Shipwreck.
Michael Hubert Kenyon, also known as the "Illinois Enema Bandit", is an American criminal. He pleaded guilty to a decade-long series of armed robberies of female victims, some of which involved sexual assaults in which he would give them enemas. He is also known as the "Champaign Enema Bandit", the "Ski Masked Bandit", and/or simply the "Enema Bandit".
Absinthe Blind was an American shoegaze and dream pop group from Urbana, Illinois. The first group was formed by brothers Seth and Adam Fein and Tristan Wraight in 1996, by merging Adam Fein's group and Tristan Wraight and Seth Fein's The Dr. Johanson Band. Dr. Johanson Band bassist Mike Zolfo was then asked to join the group. As the Champaign-Urbana music scene gained national attention, due to groups such as Hum and Poster Children, Absinthe Blind, along with three other groups, formed a collective entitled Toast Music. The brothers' younger sister, Erin Fein joined the band during the recording of Music for Security while she continued to study sociology and political science at the University of Illinois. In support of Music For Security, the band embarked on a national tour, performing at The CMJ Music Marathon along the way. For their fourth album, The Everyday Separation, the band signed to Mud Records, distributed by Parasol. Zolfo left the group in 2002 to attend music school, and was replaced by Brett Sanderson. The group released one more album, Rings, in 2003, before Adam Fein announced that he was leaving the band. A farewell tour followed, culminating with a hometown show at the Canopy Club in Urbana, Illinois on September 13, 2003.
Kenneth Tse 謝德驥 is a Chinese American classical saxophonist. Tse was mainly self-taught as a youth until he met world-renowned saxophone artist and pedagogue Eugene Rousseau in 1989. He then studied at the Indiana University School of Music with Rousseau from 1993 to 1998, where he received his BM, MM, and Artist Diploma. Rousseau has called him "a brilliant saxophonist, worthy of any stage in the world." Tse earned a doctorate degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying under saxophonist Debra Richtmeyer.
The Vertebrats were a musical group formed in the twin cities of Champaign-Urbana (CU), Illinois, initially active from 1979 until 1982. They are credited with being one of the originators of a local CU DIY music scene that still exists. The Vertebrats gained notoriety due to their energetic live performances, on-stage chemistry, numerous original compositions, a fiercely loyal local fan base, and, as time went on, other bands covering their songs.
American Football, also known retrospectively as LP1, is the debut studio album by American rock band of the same name, released on September 14, 1999, through Polyvinyl. It was recorded shortly after the band released their debut self-titled EP through Polyvinyl in October 1998. The group, consisting of vocalist/guitarist Mike Kinsella, guitarist Steve Holmes, and drummer Steve Lamos, recorded their debut album at Private Studios in Urbana, Illinois, with production from Brendan Gamble.
Don Gerard is the former mayor of the city of Champaign, Illinois and musician.
