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“Back in my old neighborhood/Where I thought I could change the world/Nothing ever seemed to get me down.”
– Lyrics from the song “Back in My Old Neighborhood” by Brian Krumm
If any musician deserves a warm welcome back to Champaign-Urbana, it’s Brian Krumm. The 53-year-old singer-songwriter graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1993 and remained a fixture in the local music scene through the late 1990s.
During his years in C-U, Krumm played guitar for the arty, experimental outfit The Suede Chain. He also toured in 1996 and 1998 with the ethereal rock band Lanterna—a stint that even crossed paths with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck while on the road.
When Krumm returned to town on May 3, 2024, for an intimate show at the Gallery Art Bar, he brought along the soulful, sentimental tracks from his solo album, Just Fade Away. Many of those compositions were penned during his C-U days or written with his former college town squarely in mind.
“I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Champaign-Urbana,” says Krumm, who balances his music with a career as a author, editor, and project manager. “So much great music has come out of C-U, and so many great people. The area inspired me. I still have memories of living there that pop up in my songwriting today.”
For the May 3 performance, Krumm was joined by multi-instrumentalist Brian Leach, who contributes keyboards and guitar to Krumm’s solo backing band, Brian Krumm and His Barfly Friends. Leach, a former member of The Last Gentlemen, also plays alongside Krumm in The Great Crusades, the long-running Chicago rock group in which Krumm serves as frontman and guitarist.
The spark for Krumm’s solo debut, Just Fade Away, came during the height of the pandemic. Establishing a daily ritual, he poured a shot of whiskey at 5 p.m. every evening and set out to write a new track—eventually cranking out 25 songs in 25 days. His ambitious, one-song-a-day routine during lockdown proved to be a stroke of inspiration. Krumm shared the raw demo files with his Great Crusades bandmate, drummer and producer Christian Moder, who brought the project to full fruition. Just Fade Away was released in June 2023.
The album’s predominantly acoustic arrangements carry a comfortable, laid-back charm. Guided by a timeworn, soulful vocal delivery, Krumm reflects on the past with fond, occasionally alcohol-soaked nostalgia for old friends and late nights. Beneath those reflective lyrics sits a rich tapestry of instrumentation: subtle keyboard work, weeping slide guitar, resonant percussion, and graceful female backing harmonies.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Crusaders
Long before his solo work, Krumm—who also plays alto saxophone—co-founded the gritty, hard-partying rock band The Great Crusades in Champaign with bassist Brian Hunt. The band signed with Mud Records and released their fierce 1997 debut, First Spilled Drink of the Evening, recorded locally with producer Adam Schmitt.
The band relocated to Chicago in 1998, where Krumm settled in the Irving Park neighborhood—fittingly, just down the street from the loft space used by Wilco.
Hunt and Krumm’s bond runs deep, stretching all the way back to kindergarten. When hanging out with Krumm and their tight-knit circle of childhood friends today, Hunt says the dynamic hasn’t changed a bit.
“In many ways, we’re all still the same elementary school kids,” Hunt says.
Hunt has watched Krumm evolve over thirty years from a talented guitarist into a formidable songwriter, vocalist, and mentor who keeps his lifelong musical companions close. That shared journey includes extensive European tours and a performance on Rockpalast, the legendary German television show whose archives feature icons like U2, The Smiths, INXS, and The Police.
Before their time in The Great Crusades, Krumm and Hunt were key members of The Suede Chain, releasing two adventurous mid-’90s albums, Ripplemark and Piloted by Ghosts. Local music fans from that era will likely remember “Daisy Dawn,” a Smashing Pumpkins-inflected track that earned heavy regional airplay.
The Suede Chain’s distinctive sound was anchored in part by Mary Weingartner’s atmospheric violin and cello—a style Krumm playfully describes as “a bit of an identity crisis,” noting how the later tracks on Piloted by Ghosts hinted at an early shift toward Americana. Krumm still holds a soft spot for the band, wishing they had recorded one more album and hoping new listeners discover their catalog on streaming platforms.
Like Krumm, Hunt holds deep reverence for the Champaign-Urbana music scene and the influential figures who built it.
“We were all sad to learn of Mark Rubel’s passing,” Hunt says, referencing the beloved local producer and studio owner. “We’ve lost far too many great people who made the C-U music scene one of a kind.”
Photo provided by Brian Krumm