West Michigan's Arts & Entertainment Guide
Now, here’s a combination as peculiar as salt and pepper on top of chocolate ice cream: jazz, metal and world music fusion. But one particular ingredient serves to spice up this delectable array of oddly paired musical genres, and that’s the sweet sounds of an acoustic Spanish guitar.
We all remember back when Katy Perry was experiencing her first same-sex kiss, couldn’t wait to tell the world with a giggle, a flourish of blushing, hair twirling and that she’d actually liked it.
Amid a sea of sweaty dude bros and popping jugular veins, it’s more than a little refreshing to encounter a ballsy female fronting an aggro-rock muscle band. The front-woman in question here is Elizabeth “Lzzy” Hale, and along with her band Halestorm, she’s been spending the past decade-plus carving out some pretty badass territory for herself.
Singer Songwriter Best Bet: Crystal Bowersox
Written by Emma Kat Richardson | Friday, 25 July 2014 14:23 |As a Michigander, native or otherwise, you might be often tempted to wonder what Ohio has done for us lately. OK, sure, it has produced a handful of presidents and astronauts, but that was then, man. I’m all about the here and now. Well, rest assured, you feisty Mitten dweller, that our friendly neighbor to the immediate south has been working its oddly shaped keister off to bring us one of the most exciting singer-songwriters since Chrissie Hynde first busted out of Akron.
You might call her the country and western Jenny Lewis, if you were so inclined. Or maybe even one half of the twangy, hetero version of the Indigo Girls. Whatever artist or sub-genre you’re tempted to compare Jennifer Nettles to, don’t.
Ah, Bobcat. What exactly would the modern American comedic landscape look like without the significant contributions of the feline-monikered mic-master?
Blues Best Bet: Kalamazoo Blues Festival
Written by Emma Kat Richardson | Tuesday, 17 June 2014 16:17 |Get out your whiskey flasks and toss out those fake IDs, kids! This year, the Kalamazoo Blues Festival is finally turning 21, so it’s safe to expect the 2014 incarnation of this grand Western Michigan tradition to be significantly less, well, blue.
No longer the mop-headed kid singing "Soy un perdedor" on his '94 breakthrough, Mellow Gold, Beck's gotten inventive in recent years. He's gone from being an anti-folk punk to making sad white boy songs to releasing an album of just sheet music.
Oh, Tegan and Sara. Where would our ears, minds, and hearts be without you? Call me crazy, but I’d almost rather be sleeping with the fishes than living in a T&S-free world.
As a recent Kickstarter success story, the lads and one lady of Fire Iron Frenzy have shattered records and fan expectations with an unprecedented flood of fundraising from enthusiasts hungry for a comeback.
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