Misplaced Pages

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) The topic of this article may not meet Misplaced Pages's notability guidelines for companies and organizations. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "The Black Sheep Cafe" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "The Black Sheep Cafe" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Black Sheep Cafe was an all ages music venue in Springfield, Illinois. The Black Sheep opened for its first shows in September 2005, and since then has become a notable venue in the Springfield, Illinois music scene. The venue was a drug and alcohol free space and was also entirely volunteer-ran. The Black Sheep hosted many shows each month, and a few big annual events including Black Sheep Fest and Dumb Fest in the summer. The Black Sheep closed in 2018.

Founding

The Black Sheep Cafe was founded in 2005 under four owners, Roger Smith, Kevin Bradford, Martin Viola, and Crystal Eairheart, in aim of creating an all-ages music space in Springfield. By 2006 the venue had lost all but one of its owners, Kevin Bradford and fell back on "DIY ethics" to keep it afloat. Kevin Bradford remained owner of the venue for the first ten years until announcing his departure in 2015.

Shows

The Black Sheep hosts many shows every month at the venue. The venue is open to shows of all genres including rock, noise, acoustic/indie, hip hop and R&B, most shows however are known for being predominantly hardcore and punk. The venue is also home to a few local music festivals including "Dumb Fest" in June and its namesake festival "Black Sheep Fest" in July. Black Sheep Fest has been an annual festival at the venue since 2008, as it had Black Sheep Fest 7 in 2015.

Expansion

The Black Sheep Cafe has caused a number of other related businesses and projects to start in the Southtown neighborhood of Springfield. In late 2013 the Black Sheep announced that it would be teaming up with Error Records in Champaign, Illinois to open up Dumb Records- a new record store in the Southtown neighborhood. Also in December 2013 Brandon Carnes opened up South Town Studio directly behind The Black Sheep. Later on in 2014, Empire Board Shop (a skate shop) moved in above Dumb Records, and later became Boof City Skate Shop. In 2015 the group of businesses making up the Southtown neighborhood launched a new "Project Southtown" to form a new non-for-profit group to focus on neighborhood cleanup and restoration.

References

1. "About The Black Sheep | The Black Sheep Cafe". Blacksheepspringfield.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
2. ^ A. Marie Ball. "Inside Springfield's punk scene". Sj-r.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
3. "FAQ | The Black Sheep Cafe". Blacksheepspringfield.com. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
4. "Events". Illinoistimes.com. 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
5. "Black Sheep History". The Black Sheep Cafe. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
6. "Recording Studio". The Black Sheep Cafe. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
7. "Empire Board Shop Moving To South Town". The Black Sheep Cafe. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
8. "PROJECT SOUTHTOWN". The Black Sheep Cafe. Retrieved 2015-11-08.

39°47′15″N 89°38′28″W / 39.7875°N 89.6410°W / 39.7875; -89.6410

• Music venues in Illinois
• Music venues completed in 2005