John Anderson has filled a record store niche in the Twin Cities with an eclectic mix of genres at Reverberation Vinyl, his store on Main Street across from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.

The Something Brothers guitarist Edwin Pierce said it was surprisingly easy for band members to create and record new music together despite a nearly 30-year studio hiatus, and missing a key band member.

The woman who fronts the Hot Jazz band Sweet Megg & the Wayfarers with Normal native and saxophonist Ryan Weisheit said a desire to tap into her folk and country roots was the impetus to morph into a different lineup with a new name.

The last time singer-songwriter Neko Case played the Castle Theatre in Bloomington, the sold-out crowd missed out on her new album. The recording "Hell-On" was still a few months away from release.

Musicians not prone to wade into politics are showing their hand more often in the current political climate.

Bloomington singer-songwriter Kyle Yap said his father raised him on a steady diet of his classic rock LPs. You can hear the influences during a live Yap show.

The husband-wife team behind the Madison, Wisconsin-based Harmonious Wail says their resolve to play uplifting music was tested when their son died three years ago.

GLT Summer Concert headliner Shemekia Copeland said she was caught off guard when the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois officially declared her to be “The New Queen Of The Blues” at the 2011 Chicago Blues Festival.

Independent singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco has been tackling difficult social and cultural issues for three decades. So it’s no surprise songs she wrote years ago are still relevant, and still stir strong emotions. For example, the title track to her 1999 album “To The Teeth.”

The Bloomington-Normal music scene has seen a resurgence over the past five to seven years. As GLT reported last year , many give kudos to the Castle Theatre as the catalyst for that surge. But other venues and players are making their own noise.