Photo: Robbie Perez
September 2025 • Volume 51, Number 11 • www. illinoisentertainer. com
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THE BARBARIANS OF CALIFORNIA t first glance, the Barbarians of California seemingly appeared out of nowhere. For Aaron Bruno and Eric Stenman, this has been decades in the making. The hardcore scene is one of Bruno’ s first loves. He discovered the music during a pivotal time in his life as a 14-year-old punk skater. He was not only obsessed with the music but also with the subculture that surrounded it. He cut his teeth playing in bands like Insurgence and Home Town Hero, experiences that would prove invaluable when he launched AWOLNATION in
Though he found breakout success with AWOL- NATION, Bruno always wanted to return to his hardcore roots, but the time never seemed right. Unbeknownst to him, AWOLNATION engineer / collaborator Eric Stenman was sitting on a collection of compositions he was unsure about releasing. After convincing Stenman to open his vault of unreleased riffs, Bruno knew they were onto something special. Thus, the Barbarians of California were born.. IE’ s Ashley Perez-Hollingsworth spoke to Aaron Bruno about their surprising success and their appearance at Riot Fest in Douglass Park on Friday, September 19.
BILLY BOB THORNTON AND THE BOXMASTERS
The Boxmasters— featuring musician / actor Billy Bob Thornton and guitarist J. D. Andrew- plays an amalgam of twangy country music, jangling rockabilly, and infectious pop, with large doses of Americana and British Invasion influences. Although most people are primarily familiar with Thornton as an actor, music was his first love. See Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters at Joe’ s Live in Rosemont on Tuesday, September 16. Kelley Simm’ s spoke Thorton new music about the details of performing in the Windy City.
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Spins
The Black Keys, The Cranberries, Leper and more.
CinemaScopes
Spinal Tap is back and more.
Media
John Owens’ Dick Allen passion project.
Calendar
1400 shows and 3800 bands, it’ s IE’ s live music calendar.
Classifieds
Music services, musicians and more.
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Publisher John Vernon
Contributing Editors Curt Baran Tom Lanham Lori Vernon
Design Team Notion Pool Dragon Design Teknigram Graphics
Calendar Editor Aubrey Vernon
Classified Advertising David Gedge
Founder Kenneth L. Voss
Publisher Emeritis
David Roberts Publisher John Vernon
4 illinoisentertainer. com april 2019 Contributing Editors Curt Baran T L h illinoisentertainer. com september 2025
Advertising Sales Scott Assmann Mike Engel
Advertising Director John Vernon
Website Direction Notion Pool
Senior Columnists
Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
- Sweet Home Rick Kaempfer- Media
Kelley Simms- Caught In A Mosh
David C. Eldredge- East Coast
Advertising Sales Scott Assmann Mike Engel
Ad ti i Di t
Contributors: Andy Argyrakis, Guy Arnston, Penelope Biver, Patrick Conlan, Deena Dasein, Jaime de ' Medici, Andy Derer, Jeff Elbel Terrence Flamm, Steve Forstneger Michael Gallucci, Michael C. Harris, Max Herman, Tom Lanham, Aubrey Vernon Carter Moss, Michael Obrecki, Greg Olma Arsenio Orteza, Rodney Pawlak, Steven Kikoen Bruce Pilato, Matthew Pollock, Jason Scales, Kelley Simms, Ed Spinelli, Riley Vernon, Tim Shockley, James Turano
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