Shoegaze fans, stand in solidarity; Kalamashoegazer is back. Now in it’s eighth year running, the show is West Michigan’s yearly bloodrite to the dreamy swells we know and love as shoegaze.
Combining their passion for music, Nicole LaRae and Brian Hoekstra partnered up to create dizzybird records, a Grand Rapids-based record label that aims to bring good music to music lovers.
If you hadn’t heard, Holland got dealt a bummer at the end of August: Lemonjello’s will no longer be hosting live music following a final show Sept. 20.
After an 11-and-a-half-year run, owner Matthew Scott has decided to move on, citing a fizzling interest from bands and smaller turnouts for shows.
ArtPrize turns up the volume for musicians with structural changes aimed to increase their exposure. “Half of the time when I would tell people about the piece they would say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know music was a category.’ So then I had to explain that to them instead of talking about the song or what I’m about and what I do,” said Bouwsma-Schultz, who won the $2,000 St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) award in rock/blues for her song, "In my Heart (To the Moon)."
Suddenly, at the blink of an eye, August is here and summer is fast approaching its end. With autumn drawing closer in, excitement forms as new expectations are made of what the next season will bring. Here to help with the transition is the track of the week, preaching adventure, change and moving forward.
Go ahead and holster your witty comparisons to Jack Black and the movie School of Rock when you are around James Hughes — he’s heard them before.
A fresh face in the punk scene, local rockers Bike Tuff produce authentic indie/emo/punk music that’s a little more thoughtfully crafted than is usually the case. Their latest effort, Into Shore, displays a songwriting craft and general musical ability that can be elusive for the genre.
The Red Handed's album combines the lofty aspirations and knotty compositions of prog with the earnestness and accessibility of indie rock: the playing is competent yet not overblown, the vocals are clean and simple (think Between the Buried and Me, not Dream Theater), and the songs are concise and compact, yet packed with enough detours to keep all the music nerds happy.
For the past three years, LadyfestGR organizers Jes Kramer and Steffanie Rosalez have scoured West Michigan communities to find some of the best females to include in their lineup.
Call it the circle of life for any local music scene — some venues are forced to shut their doors, while others invite musicians to an open stage.