Karl McNaught 10/16/25 Karl McNaught 10/16/25

Jay Lauver

Rural artisan crafts guitars and repairs instruments in basement workshop.

Jay Lauver is a musician and guitar tech that works out of Kirkwood, IL

Not your high school wood shop. Jay spends his time crafting fine guitars for local musicians. Zoe and Karl spent an afternoon with Jay talking about life and taking care of your creative community.

I came into possession of a guitar Jay had made and fell in love immediately. I cannot say enough good things about the guy’s ability to fix anything involving musical instruments.

Jay was the guitar tech on my bands third album and has fixed any gear issues I’ve had from repairing amps to fixing the keys on my synth.

If you have any kind of musical repair needs contact Jay!

Karl McNaught 10/16/25 Karl McNaught 10/16/25

Michael Buebe

Somber songs performed in the void of the Swanky Manor basement

Michale Buebe is an artist and teacher based out of Southern Illinois.

He is a poet, painter, and just so happens to be an incredible musician.
I had the privilege of catching him long enough to film some song on one of his trips through Galesburg, IL.

When I met Michael he was wearing a “Everything is beautiful and nothing hurt” Kurt Vonnegut shirt. Been a fan ever since.

His music can be found on his bandcamp…

https://michaelowen1.bandcamp.com/

…and the rest of his art here.

https://www.instagram.com/michaelbuebeart/

Karl McNaught 10/16/25 Karl McNaught 10/16/25

The Inhumans!

Getting spooky doodling for the boys in The Inhumans!

A Horror Punk band based out of Galesburg, IL.
The Inhumans! commissioned us here at BACONLAKE to illustrate the cover for a new album “Killer 3-D”

*The Inhumans! “Killer 3-D” album cover illustrated by Karl McNaught*

Of course we needed reference material to make the magic happen so we asked if it was possible to sit in on a practice and take some photos to draw inspiration from.

Heavily influenced by old horror movies and video-games both myself and the band quickly reached an understanding for the direction we would take with the album cover.

Couldn’t be happier with how the piece turned out and look forward to working with The Inhumans! again in the future.

You can find their music on their bandcamp page.

https://theinhumans.bandcamp.com/album/killer-3-d

Karl McNaught 5/28/19 Karl McNaught 5/28/19

A Site Beyond

Local heavy metal band braves cold for cool photos.

*From left: Nathan Weik, Corey Disbennett, Ryan Canier, James Simpson*

A Site Beyond is a Heavy Metal band based out of Galesburg, IL. In the dead of winter and just after a decent little snow storm I was invited to snap some photo’s of these guys to help promote some upcoming shows.

We started out in their jam space where they played through a very juicy set and then we hit the streets to get some pictures in some back alleys and one of the historic churches just off the town square.

*From left: Ryan Canier, Nathan Weik, James Simpson, Corey Disbennett*

The cold eventually got to us and we called it a night and parted ways.

You can listen to their tunes at their bandcamp and find them on most social media.

https://asitebeyond.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/asitebeyond/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555552357227

*From left: Ryan Canier, James Simpson, Nathan Weik, Corey Disbennett*

Karl McNaught 5/28/19 Karl McNaught 5/28/19

Devin Flannigan

Chill dude plays acoustic set at local restaurant.

The multi talented Devin Flannigan gave me a call saying he was playing an acoustic set at Craft in Galesburg, IL and I was lucky enough to have the day off when he hit me up.

He just wanted to have a drink and chat between sets but the lighting in this place was too good and I had to get some photos.

Devin played a smooth set of popular covers with some originals mixed in.

Devin also produces and records music both live and in the studio for local bands spanning every genre. I met Devin doing a video session with local indie band Young Strangers. He also recorded their EP “Also The” which can be found on their bandcamp.

https://youngstrangers.bandcamp.com/album/always-the

Karl McNaught 5/28/19 Karl McNaught 5/28/19

SoColossal

Reggae band keepin it real at run down mall.

Socolossal is a Reggae band based out of Galesburg, IL

I was between day jobs and hurting for some money. Within minutes of posting online looking for work I was hit up by Josh Dixon of SoColossal.

I had worked with Josh in the past doing photo and video work for some of his previous musical endeavors. We met up at the defunct Sandburg Mall parking lot and got some fun photos in the surrounding area before making our way to their jam space.

It was great getting to sit in on their practice and hear what they have been working on. The band has great energy and is currently working on producing their debut album.

In the meantime follow them on socials to find out about any upcoming shows and when the album will drop.

https://www.instagram.com/socolossalband/
https://www.facebook.com/socolossal