Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Thursday April 03, 2025 - Springfield, IL

Road Blog
April 3, 2025
Springfield, Illinois

I left my motel in Indianapolis around noon and quickly found myself in a hellscape quagmire of construction, closed exits, and confusing signage. Karen Jacobsen - The GPS Girl was no help, and Siri was right there with her, mocking my every move abd telling me to take a left into a brick wall and take an exit that has clearly been closed for months. After my 3rd loop around the northern suburbs I finally shot through some barrels onto an offramp heading west, nearly cutting off a vintage F150 and narrowly avoiding taking out a construction crew. On my way west I was diverted from one freeway to another on a county road and as I passed farm equipment vehicles and semis through rural Indiana I saw a giant bald eagle sitting about 30 feet off the road in a recently plowed field enjoying a healthy roadkill lunch. On a better day, if I’d had time to spare, Id’ve turned around and grabbed a pic, but I was tired, grumpy, and stressed from the construction debacle and just wanted to make up some time. I took it for the good omen that seeing a bald eagle usually is for me when I’m on the road.

I stopped in at my motel dropped off my luggage and headed into Springfield, Illinois. I’ve never been to this city, but not for lack of trying. It’s been on my radar for decades, and compounded by track 1 from Slobberbone’s Slippage LP – Springfield, Illinois. I couldn’t help but to hum that jam as I drove up to the old capital building and parked in front of The Wakery, the venue for the show. The Wakery is a non-alcoholic bar/coffee house that sits on one of the main downtown drags. I’ve played an occasional coffee shop in my day, but never a branded “Non-Alcoholic Bar” but hey, that’s cool. The owner and staff were friendly, they had a cool little stage in the corner, and it was an old, comfortable vibe. I set up my gear and merch, did a quick soundcheck, and my pal from Dekalb, Daryl, and his sister Dawn came in. We said hey and got caught up for a minute before heading our separate ways, them for some food and me to meet some pals around the corner.

Around the corner I met up with my pal Joe Murphy, who’d driven in from Champaign, and had a good group of friends with him. This joint Anvil & Forge Brewing and Distilling was packed and hot and I couldn’t get a drink so I went to the dive bar next door and had a whiskey with ice that tasted like a dirty bar rag, and I was good to go.

I went on a few minutes after 7 and played for about 90 minutes, taking requests from Daryl and Joe, and hitting some things I’d never played acoustic before. They were few in numbers, but the audience’s engagement was full and appreciated as I did my best to play the fun, upbeat stuff along side the quieter stuff I don’t always get to play in rowdier situations. I wrapped up, took a few pics, sold some merch, said goodbye to my friends, and hit the road, with a quick detour down to the current capitol building – checking another one seen off the list. I am very grateful to everyone who was there last night – it feels good to go into a new city and have some faces to play to rather than an empty room, which still happens occasionally.

On the way back to the hotel I called TrooperGirl22 back home who was trying to rest up before her big, annual Tigers opening day celebration in Detroit today. She was in good spirits; storm damage wasn’t too bad, and last weekends leftover nachos held her over through Thursday. I got back to the room at the lovely early hour of 10:30pm and had time to enjoy a nightcap, change the strings on my guitar, and get caught up on work before falling asleep to some borderline unwatchable late night talk show.

Today I’m heading south to Marion, IL where I’ll play a couple sets at one of my favorite joints John Brown's on the Square. The Tucos have played there a few times and it’s always a gas. John will be celebrating the Cubs’ opener at Wrigley and I’ll go on shortly after the game for a couple sets. Might try to grab me some Taco John's at some point too. Thanks to Elizabeth and her staff at The Wakery and all my friends for coming out last night! See ya again Springfield! Xx