The Blank Canvas Project will be recognizing Artists from all around. Here are the current Featured Artists, if there is a website shown next to the name please visit it. Also be sure to check back soon for articles on the artists as well as new additions.

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Featured Artists...




The Abominable Twitch:

The write-up for The Abominable Twitch is not yet availible. Please check back soon.

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Sexfist aka The henhouse Prowlers:
website: SexFist.net

Guitarist Butch Ripton and banjo player Chuck Oakton met each other in early 2001 when, during the talent portion of the Mr. Universe pageant, both contestants played the same song. The song was Bill Monroe's 'Real Life Blues' and embarressing a moment though it was, an instant friendship was formed. They began playing as a duo until out of spite and jealousy, Ripton's lilfe partner and dobro phenom Michael Wildwind insisted on being included. Then in the summer of 2002 Jeffrey Chesnut, with whom Oakton had worked in the adult film 'Shotgun Charlie,' began sitting in on fiddle. Finally, in May 2003, bass fiddler Bradley Longwood blackmailed his way into the band and Sexfist was born.

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Peter Adriel:
website: PeterAdriel.com

"Peter Adriel is a performing songwriter, traveling photographer, inventor and generalist. In a world where icons and legends are thick as trees, he is a sparrow. With a kick drum."

"something that comes from the soil and strives to unite us..."

"real life stuff"

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Dj Phonetics:
website: MySpace.com/Phonetics

The write-up for Dj Phonetics is not yet availible. Please check back soon.

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Perfect little Monster:

The write-up for Perfect little Monster is not yet availible. Please check back soon.

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Tangleweed Bluegrass Band:
website: Tangleweed.org

Tangleweed is a band of five forward-looking musical reactionaries from Chicago, Illinois. They play acoustic Americana music. Their brand-new record, Most Folk Heroes Started Out As Criminals, is out now. Their previous CDs, Where You Been So Long? and Just a Spoonful, have received glowing reviews and airplay in 22 countries. Visit the about section to learn more about the band.

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Billy Zygote:
website: Billy Zygote's Myspace



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Black Collar :


The write-up for Black Collar is not yet availible. Please check back soon.

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Templo Uno:
website: MySpace.com/TemploUno

The write-up for Templo Uno is not yet availible. Please check back soon.

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Dan Hubbard:
website: DanHubbard.net

Dan Hubbard is a singer/songwriter from central Illinois. He was the lead singer and main songwriter of The Hubbards from 2000 to 2006. The band released two full length albums: "No Worries" in 2003 and "I'm Still Here" in 2005.

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Zach Warm:


The write-up for Zach Warm is not yet availible. Please check back soon.

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Creek Road Ramblers:


The write-up for Creek Road Ramblers is not yet availible. Please check back soon.

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Jason Johnson Jazz Quintet:


The write-up for Jason Johnson Jazz Quintet is not yet availible. Please check back soon.

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100 Year Picnic:
website: 100YearPicnic.com

Blending Power Pop hooks with Americana storytelling, 100 Year Picnic serves up delicious pop melodies and smart lyrics about the complexities of trying to live a simple life. The latest 100 Year Picnic record, Tales Of A Modern Splash (2008), feeds the soul like a great party with your closest friends. The song "Looks Are For Free" was a 2nd place winner in the Fall/Winter 2008 Indie International Songwriting Contest.

"Bloomington duo 100 Year Picnic delivers a stunning collection of songs on Tales Of A Modern Splash. Friends/neighbors Jeff Greeneberg and Edwin Pierce revel in family and the everyday humdrum of life lived to the fullest while channeling The Beatles and Wilco."

Illinois Entertainer, February 2009

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11 Minutes to Circle:
website: 11MinutestoCircle

Started in 2008, 11 Minutes to Circle is an inspired four piece blues/rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Looking for an outlet to combine blues and rock, guitarist Ryan Coe (The Ryan Coe Trio) and percussionist Brad St. Leger (The Soda Jerks) called upon singer/songwriter Bob Gill (Divided Highway), and bassist Dave Kaktis (The Arrivals), to form the group. Influences of the band can range from Jimi Hendrix to Dave Matthews Band, while their originals combine classic rock feel with basic blues structure. In 2009, the band recorded original tracks at Flashpoint Academy in Chicago, and plans on releasing their first single from those sessions in April 2009.

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Rodeo Ruby Love:

Rodeo Ruby Love began more or less as a group of friends who wanted to lighten the mood of the central Indiana music scene, which was smothered in hardcore and metal. What began as a side project for the now defunct post-rock Away with Vega, Rodeo Ruby Love quickly gained momentum as fun-loving, seven-piece pop band. Since its conception, the band has toured extensively throughout the Mid-West, the east coast, and the southern United States. They have put out two full lengths and a couple of EPs on Crossroads of America Records. As the group has grown from a small college sensation to a full-time working band, many members have come and gone. But the energy and the intimacy of these friends remains intact. Rodeo Ruby Love wants you to have a good time because they are going to with or without you.

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Seaby and The Rules:

Seaby and the Rules is a quirky folk pop project based out of Normal, IL lead by Seaby Bess. The music is characterized by Bess's baritone coupled with acoustic guitar and anything from 808 drum machine to glockenspiel to anything else that might be lying around Bess's apartment. Songs about dying alone in bed, a near-fatal ladder accident, and preferring loneliness over staying in an empty relationship to name a few, confront serious topics while keeping a sense of humor.

The live incarnation of Seaby and the Rules includes a revolving cast of friends playing Bess's songs. Sometimes under-rehearsed and often drunk, the live set still remains a highly entertaining and enjoyable event for all involved.

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Ground Control:

Ground Control was started in 2008 by singer/songwriter Jon Lange. Jon has been performing in Bloomington and Chicago as a solo performer since 1998. He had always wanted to channel his energies into starting a band but was waiting for the right opportunity. Last year Jon and his brother Jonah started working on Jon's songs and from there the band was created. They have played at CJ's Bar in Downtown Rockford, IBC in Bloomington and Paulies.

Jon has a BFA from Columbia College and would rather make music than direct movies.
Jonah (Bass Guitar) spends his days in the kitchen at the Olive Garden and once met Kirk Hammett from Metallica at Eastland Mall outside of the Hot Topic.
Chris (Drums) is a painter and a student and has been in 57 punk rock bands and was the starting quarterback in his high schools football team.


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Krafted in Korea:
website: Krafted in Korea's Myspace

The St. Louis based band, Krafted in Korea, was formed in the month of November 2001. With sustaining cohesiveness the group has been blending picturesque melodies with demanding motifs and involved progressions. The lyrics and music combined has become a modern soundtrack for the crumbling late night south city scenery.

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Ohtis:
website: Ohtis' Myspace



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New Ruins:
website: New Ruins's Myspace



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Husband & Wife:
website: Husband & Wife's Myspace



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Alexander the Great:
website: Alexander the Great's Myspace



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Mike Beck:
website: ChicagoMike.com

Mike Beck has been performing for more than fifteen years. Possessing a diverse repertoire of more than 500 songs, Mike has developed a loyal following on two continents. Whether performing solo, with his acoustic duo Big Eyed Beans From Venus, or with his full Electric Beans Rock & Soul Revue, audiences return again and again to enjoy his high-energy live performances.

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