For the 16th year, the Live From Bloomington program is offering a diverse mixture of the local bands' music through its Club Night and compilation CD. The project features country, blues, rock and roll, folk and punk music from community musicians to benefit charity.\nThis year's title, "Feed the Hungry \nthrough the Power of Music," expresses the essence of the project, which donates all proceeds to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, 615 N. Fairview.\nJunior Martin Gimenez, program director, said the charitable efforts of Live From Bloomington make it an exceptional project.\n"A lot of college campuses do a compilation CD, but few have the distinct goal of helping a local food bank, which is the primary goal of LFB," he said.\nHe said working with the food bank is a personally rewarding experience.\n"We get to really help society," he said. "It was most fun when we talked with Dan Taylor of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, who is so grateful for everyone's help. You can see the manifestation of our effort and gain a direct feeling to what it's about."\nBut it's the power of music that helps to feed the hungry. Gimenez said the variety and power of Bloomington's music is evident in the CD.\n"Diversity is incredibly important because it chronicles our music history," he said. "Knowing where we come from and where we're going is the thread that holds this all together."\nWorking closely on the project allowed Gimenez an intimate look into how students expand upon their sound, he said. Giminez said he realizes the average person won't be able to understand this first hand, but those who come to Club Night will gain a better understanding of the talent in Bloomington.\n"It's a night all about the music," he said. "Let your hair down and just enjoy some awesome music."\nZEB GOULD\nAssociate degree student Zeb Gould is the only solo act involved in Live From Bloomington. He describes his music as American finger-style guitar with a folk rhythm.\nGould, 24, has played the guitar ever since he noticed his father's acoustic guitar at age 12.\n"But I also started because my friend had an electric guitar, and I thought 'That's what I'm going to do, be a rock star,'" he said, laughing. "He taught me every Metallica song, but a year or two later, I heard fingerstyle blues guitar, thought it was really cool and started doing that."\nThe audio-engineering major said his biggest motivation in making music is to heighten his self-expression.\n"It's so odd to just be here," he said of his growth as a musician. "When I picked up the instrument, I knew the impact of music, and it expanded from there … the idea of the guitar, I felt like I understood it right away."\nAssociate degree student Sam Crawford said he finds a lot of meaning in Gould's music. He met Gould while taking a class together. Crawford said their similar interests in music drew them together. Crawford helped produce Gould's song featured on the Live From Bloomington CD.\n"It's a unique sort of sound; it's got this wash that floods over you when you listen to it," he said. "It's almost like listening to an ensemble piece, but it's just one person … As a guitar player, Zeb blows me away every time I see him play."\nCrawford said Gould's music adds a solid, different element.\n"He has a real affable personality that comes across really well when he's playing," he said. "Aside from the instrumental pieces, he writes a lot of lyrical pieces. He covers the whole gamut of music."\nGould said while he's excited about his involvement with Live From Bloomington, he's also excited about the cause of the event.\n"When you're playing more for the music (than money) it'll be more fun in general -- it increases the overall excitement of playing music," he said.\nIll Capitan\nIll Capitan has been making music since attending Brown County High School together. \nLindsey Evans, an alumnus and the lead singer of the band, described Ill Capitan as a three-piece rock and roll band.\n"It's the most we can do with that, a lot of energy to that," he said. "We have punk, alternative, blues and country influences."\nSince the band's inception several years ago, they have evolved and improved, Drummer Chris Phillips said.\n"We've gotten better at unspoken communication while playing; we're feeling more comfortable and we're not afraid to try something different," Phillips said. \nEvans said in addition to showing off the energy of Ill Capitan, he is happy to be able to help those in the community.\n"The food bank helps out a lot, and I myself have been needy at some time, so I know what it's like," he said. "It's good to help out people who are less fortunate -- it's great that the community is profiting off of this, and not just one person."\nEvans said the band has experienced several difficulties, which makes performing now even sweeter. Evans said the unity of Ill Capitan is something he values and differentiates their band from the crowd.\n"All three of us have had incidents, natural or self-inflicted, that have caused us to be apart from each other," he said. "But we've become better friends because we've had to help each other through that. And through all of that, the music has persevered. When the three of us perform together, it is like an energy release."\nThe Dew Daddies\nThe Dew Daddies are not fresh-faced to the ways of Bloomington.\nIn fact, although the five-piece band has been together for six years, four of the members are lifetime Bloomington natives who have known each other for decades.\nAndy Ruff, 38, said he remembers when his brother first played early Live From Bloomington recordings -- on vinyl.\n"For someone who is a lifetime resident here, born and raised, is probably going to have a different take on any event," the singer and songwriter said. "To me, I see it as a tradition. I can step back and see all of it … I have a different sense of what it means to the community."\nHe describes his band's music as "straight, traditional, classic honkey-tonk American country music."\nRuff, a city council member, said he has followed the 16-year development of the project, which makes it special for him.\n"When we found out we were in, I gave a loud woop and a holler," he said. \nBut Ruff said the song featured on the CD, "I've Had It," is not representative of their best artistic efforts but rather their style.\n"It's not artwork, it's just a hardcore, kick-you-in-the-butt traditional country song, which is my favorite kind of music," he said.\nGimenez said he disagreed. "I've Had It" is unconventional and fresh, he said.\n"It's a hyper-fast country ditty," he said. "Instead of just being a sappy country song, it's cynical and amusing."\nSenior Andy Bruce, who is the only member still in college, sings harmony for the group. \n"We put out a self-produced CD, which shows we're not looking for a record contract, but that we are doing it because we just want to make the music," Bruce said. "If people like it -- great, if not, the music is for us."\nRuff said to come to the show with an open mind.\n"That garbage you hear on the radio is not what we're talking about here -- we're about playing this music the way it's supposed to be played."\nOnly Infinity\nAlumnus Jay McKenna said he believes Bloomington's music scene surpasses that of Chicago.\n"The (adjacent) states don't have a quality of musicians that Bloomington has, due to the fact that we're next to the IU School of Music," he said. \nMcKenna, the drummer, said he would have to define Only Infinity's sound by its major influences, which range from the Beatles to Dave Matthews Band, Snoop Dogg to Stevie Wonder.\nLuke Petty, the guitarist, said he was thrilled to be able to record their heavily influenced, but also original, music. Their song, "Marbles and Stones," is featured on the Live From Bloomington CD.\n"It was exciting to record the song," Petty said. "It was our first time recording and was definitely a positive experience that helps you grow musically and form as a group. You get a lot tighter in the studio."\nMcKenna said although the band is tight-knit, their individual strengths are evident.\nThe ebb and flow of the band's variety of music is best experienced live, McKenna said.\n"The best thing is when the crowd and the band are in lock and key," he said. "When the audience knows what journey Only Infinity is taking them on, they'll jump up and down with us and that means they're in the groove. And when they're in the groove, you can get into the beat just a bit more than if you're in a practice room."\nSCHEDULE OF EVENTS:\n10:15 p.m., Bluebird Nightclub, 216 N. Walnut St.\nMode Street\nSally Anthony\nDanagas\n9 p.m., Cellar Lounge, \n123 S. Walnut St.\nUtopia Blue\nThe Dew Daddies\nZeb Gould\nCrooked County
10: 45 p.m., Kilroy's Sports Bar, 319 N. Walnut St.\nIll Capitan\nOnly Infinity\nThree Minute Mile\n10:30 p.m., Second Story Nightclub, 201 S. College Ave.\nBarber Bros. Jazz Quintet\nHunting Miles\nAlma Azul\n9:30 p.m., Vertigo, 107 W. Ninth St.\nNo Reason Given\nBlue Moon Revue\nYOU\nTickets are $3 or $2 plus two cans of food for all five venues. All proceeds go to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. The Live From Bloomington Project 2001 CD is available at local record stores for $6.
