Old Shoe formed in 2011 when their vocalist, Joe Day, migrated to Illinois after living life as a musician in Alaska.

At that point in time, Day said his band mates were forming a new band and looking for another member to complete their quartet. 

Day, who had never known life outside of the Alaska, said moving to Chicago (where the band resides) opened his ears to the infinite styles of music in existence. 

“It’s a big hub of creativity; you have art and music everywhere,” Day said. 

And while the band members lead lives outside of the band, Day said they’re still working to build a musical career for themselves. 

“We’re trying to make this our dream,” Day said. 

Old Shoe has played at venues all across the country, but Day said their performance at Summer Camp, a music festival in Chillicothe, Ill., laid the groundwork for their professional career. 

“It started to set the procedure for the kind of places we want to play at,” Day said. 

Day said it is almost a battle of the bands to obtain a spot at the festival. 

“It’s really hard to get a spot and play there. There are so many bands vying for an opportunity to play at that level,” Day said. 

Day said the band has been invited to play at the festival again. 

Day said his band’s music retains an imprint of the zeal of the city. 

Moving to the city exposed him to his favorite bands and styles of music. 

“I’ve gotten to see my deepest influences, which gives me the experience of improvisation,” Day said. 

Before, Day accessed his favorite bands through a set of speakers.

Watching live music inspired him and the band artistically, Day said. 

“It (live music) gives us perspective as to what we need to do in our progression,” Day said.

But being able to listen to the bands that have inspired him without the use of a stereo has been gratifying for him personally. 

“In Alaska, you don’t have access to some of these bands because they’re not willing to travel all the way there,” Day said. 

Touring constantly has worn him and the band out while touring from place to place. 

“It can be physically demanding, touring for hours at a time,” Day said. 

He and his wife construct the set for each show they play.

“We build a light show from the ground with every performance, and that, as well as the performance, can wear a person out,” Day said. 

Through their various performances, Day acknowledged that the band has pulled performance techniques from other bands to further enhance to their own stage presence. 

“You learn so much from other bands while you’re out touring, about chord progression and how to alter something onstage so that it sounds better,” Day said. 

Though already playing in the big league festivals, Day said the band is still in a point of transition since its members still want to capitalize on their success and make music their living. 

“We have a lot more we want to do, and there a lot places we hope to get to in the end,” Day said. 

Old Shoe will be performing at 9 pm. Friday at the Uptowner. Tickets cost $5.

Jaime Lopez can be reached at 581-2812 or jlopez2@eiu.edu.