EIU Media Relations

EIU’s Doudna planning for “Rock & Roll Takeover” November 6

(Charleston, IL) – Eastern Illinois University’s Doudna Fine Arts Center is hosting a “Rock & Roll Takeover: A Free Concert & Television Taping” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, November 6.

The Doudna Rock & Roll Takeover delivers exactly what it promises. This television show and free live music showcase melds the excellence of EIU’s Doudna Fine Arts Center with the wild local sounds of the area’s best rock and pop bands.

The Black Box Theatre at Doudna will host the premiere showcase on November 6 with three original bands who will each be filmed live to tape by Cavetone Records. Each episode will then air on WEIU-TV.

The night begins with Jeremy T. McConaughey and the Band You’re About to Hear from Charleston/Benton, churning out carefully crafted Americana indie pop. Olney’s endlessly charming scuzz-rock trio Matty Till Dawn will follow, with Mattoon’s high-octane grunge machine Sons of Cain closing out the night.

“Original, local bands always have the most original and interesting sounds. They’re the reason why we got into pressing records,” said Executive Producer and Head of Media at Cavetone Records, Scott M. Walus. “Developing this show at a place like Doudna is the reason why we are getting into television.”

The series itself has been scheduled to air in January 2020 on WEIU-TV as the lead-in program for “Austin City Limits”—a national public television broadcast that features a variety of diverse and talented musicians. The EIU show will feature the live performances as well as backstage segments in the vein of 1960s rock & roll cinéma vérité.

This collaboration between the Doudna Fine Arts Center, Cavetone Records, WEIU-TV, and the Television & EIU’s Video Production bachelor of arts degree program is the first of its kind. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Engagement in American Communities program.

“Doing a club-style series of concerts for original bands has been something we have been looking to do for a while, and it would not have been possible with so many members of the EIU community coming together,” said Dan Crews, director of Programming, Publicity, and Promotion at EIU’s Doudna Fine Arts Center.

The concert and television taping also features host and hype man Colin St. Michael, a live Hit-Mix 88.9 remote broadcast from 6 to 7 p.m., and refreshments in the concourse.

The show is free to attend, and while the sounds may, according to event coordinators, “induce wild fits of dancing,” the lyrical content is TV-PG.

The Doudna Fine Arts Center is located at 1860 South 7th Street in Charleston on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. Convenient free parking is located near the fine arts center. To arrange accommodations for those needing special assistance, contact Doudna Fine Arts Patron Services at (217) 581-3110 or email doudnatix@eiu.edu. 

For more information about EIU, or to learn more about its growing assortment of programs and services, visit the university’s website at www.eiu.edu, or call EIU’s public information office at (217) 581-7400.