Thanks to owner, Sean Kenny, The Friendly Valley Tavern has turned into a musical summer oasis for Peoria.
There’s live music outside on the spacious grounds with a state of the art stage, sound system and lights. They have an open mic night and a brand new summer series has just started. It’s called Campfire Songs and it’s hosted by Alison Hanna and it’s a songwriter showcase and series.
It sound like a lot of fun, so that’s tonight’s destination!
Here we are at the aforementioned Friendly Valley Tap. They have live music shows every weekend in the summer and this Saturday you can see the wonderful Talking Heads tribute band, Heads In Motion. I saw them here a couple years ago and you should check it out if you can!
Okay, let’s go inside and start our Monday night at The Friendly Valley Tavern!
There’s the bar and Alyssa, the pretty and friendly bartender on duty quickly served me up a beer.
Bridie was seated at the bar looking fabulous and Alyssa took a picture of the two of us. Bridie is co-hosting a St. Jude Race For The Cure music event this Sunday here at The Friendly Valley. Check out all the details by clicking right here.
Okay, time to head outside where all the action is tonight!
I love the outside of The Friendly Valley Tavern in the summertime. There’s a nice beer porch with tables and chairs, the giganzo Budweiser cap, the cool painting on the side of the building, volleyball teams in action and a cool outside bar complete with a weed fund jar! Perfecto!
Here’s Mr. and Mrs. Friendly Valley in person! It’s owner Sean Kenny with his beautiful wife, Hayley! Always great to see both of them and I want to thank Sean for the miraculous work he’s done on this unique Peoria tavern.
I’ve been coming here since the ‘70’s and it was always one of my favorite dive bars, but when Sean took it over he transformed this place into something that no one could have envisioned! He kept the quonset hut spirit alive here, but fixed up the bar and turned the outside into a summer festival setting where fun and original things happen every day and night of the week!
Between The Friendly Valley Tavern and Kenny’s Westside Pub, Sean has really added a new level of fun, excitement and musical entertainment to Peoria and I thank him for that!
There’s the beautiful outdoor stage here at The Friendly Valley and they’re doing a soundcheck right now.
Musican Roy Ponce is the sound engineer for these shows and there he is with two of the guest stars of the evening, Michael Miller and Max Kamm!
Here’s this evening’s host of Campfire Songs, Alison Hanna!
Alison is a talented musician and songwriter and I’ve photographed in concert for the blog in the past, but we’ve never had the chance to meet in person.
It was wonderful to meet and chat with Alison before the show. She’s had some health issues that have been challenging, but she told me that things are improving and it’s wonderful to see her performing again!
And now, on with the show!
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Campfire Songs - 6-16-2025
Alison was the host of the show and started the evening off with one of her beautiful songs.
Check her out in concert on YouTube from a couple years ago!
Next up, Alison introduced the first guest star of the evening, Sarah Marie Dillard.
Sarah is all over Peoria’s music scene and she hosts Peoria’s only Mobile Mic Show, The Listening Room and she also entertains with her band, Sarah & The Underground.
She’s sounding fabulous tonight, as always!
The next talented musical guest featured was Michael Miller. In addition to his solo work and songwriting, Michael is also a member of the band, Easy Riders.
Max Kamm was the third musical guest to be featured this evening. In addition to his solo work, Max was also a member of the band Golden Fleece.
The music this evening by all the musicians on stage was magical and fabulous!
I noticed a woman painting over to the side of the stage and I loved the fact that live art was being produced in tandem with the live music.
Natalie is the artist creating this fantastic work of art and you can see more of her artwork on Instagram.
There was a short break while a storm passed over, but the crowd wasn’t going anywhere!
Before you knew it, the wonderful and entertaining Campfire Songs was back in business and it was such an entertaining show!
These are four of Peoria’s most talented musicians and songwriters and it was so wonderful to see them all performing together on one stage!
I ran into my friend Roxy later in the evening! Always wonderful to see her pretty and smiling face!
Roxy is a big part of Peoria’s musical scene and check her out on the radio at 105.7 The Rocks!
As the evening wore on it got dark out and the campfire was lit!
Here’s some night time campfire shots of the musicians creating their wonderful and original music live on stage!
This was a fun, musical and magical evening! I don’t think I’ve ever had such a fun Monday evening in my life! This series is happening every Monday through the summer and I highly recommend you stop by The Friendly Valley Tavern and check out Campfire Songs, hosted by Alison Hanna!
Thanks to Alison, Sarah, Michael and Max for the wonderful show and music! And thanks to The Friendly Valley Tavern for putting the show on!
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3708 N. Meadowbrook Road
Peoria
309-672-3886
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Related Post: Happy Hour @: The Friendly Valley Tavern.