The Extraordinaires: The Sound Of Street Music

When the Extraordinaires were in Bloomington last fall, they performed their eclectic music for unsuspecting pedestrians on a downtown street corner.

The Extraordinaires

Photo: Annie Corrigan/WFIU

The Extraordinaires list their influences as everything from ragtime and country to the Muppets.

Event Information

The Extraordinaires

Also performing are Born Gold and Fluffer.


The Bishop

Thursday, October 6 at 9:00pm

$5.00

The Extraordinaires MySpace

The Bishop

When the temperatures are a little more friendly, the streets of downtown Bloomington can sometimes host impromptu jam sessions.

This was the case in September 2010, when The Extraordinaires parked their van in a prime location and turned a street corner into their own concert stage.

While on tour, the group booked a last-minute show at The Bishop with no advance notice or publicity. As such, they were playing their music on the corner of Kirkwood and Grant Streets in the hopes of convincing some passers-by to attend the show that evening.

I asked them to give me their pitch.

We have flyers and he has a sword fish guitar. I play the trumpet. We have a gun with 9MM blanks that we like to fire off during the show. There will be confetti. And we also play music!

The Extraordinaires are from Philadelphia. They list their influences as everything from ragtime and country to the Muppets—and maybe 1990’s R&B artists and fellow Philadelphia natives Boyz 2 Men. Their rendition of Boyz 2 Men’s 2003 hit “Motown Philly” was the most popular request of the afternoon.

The Extraordinaires will be back in Bloomington for a show at the Bishop on Saturday, March 5. If the weather is nice, consider taking a stroll downtown that afternoon. Perhaps you’ll catch the band performing another informal set on an unsuspecting street corner.

Annie Corrigan

Annie Corrigan studied oboe at Bowling Green State University and Indiana University. In addition to performing with various orchestras around Indiana, she produces programs for Indiana Public Media. To fulfill a New Year's resolution, she recently became a member of her local co-op. It's about time.

View all posts by this author »

What is RSS? RSS makes it possible to subscribe to a website's updates instead of visiting it by delivering new posts to your RSS reader automatically. Choose to receive some or all of the updates from Indiana Public Media Arts & Music:

Support For Indiana Public Media Comes From

Search Arts and Music

Stay Connected

RSS e-mail itunes Facebook Twitter Flickr YouTube

What is RSS? RSS makes it possible to subscribe to a website's updates instead of visiting it by delivering new posts to your RSS reader automatically. Choose to receive some or all of the updates from Indiana Public Media Arts & Music:

Most Popular

Recent Culture Stories

Arts & Culture Events RSS icon

More Events »Submit Your Event »

Arts & Music is on Twitter

Find Us on Facebook

More IPM Pages on Facebook »

This Week on Earth Eats

New York Pilots City-Wide Compost Program

Dimly lit apple core sits in front of a black backdrop

New York City throws 1.2 million tons of food waste into landfills every year. Mayor Bloomberg hopes the city's new composting program will change that.

Read more »

Earth Eats is a podcast, radio program and blog of the freshest news and recipes inspired by local food and sustainable agriculture.

More from Earth Eats »

This Week on Focus on Flowers

A Reformed Snob

reformed snob

Adversity has taught this gardener to cherish every flower that blooms, no matter what its color or its smell.

Read more »

Focus on Flowers is a weekly program about flower gardening hosted by master gardener Moya Andews.

More from Focus on Flowers »