New and exciting happenings in West Michigan businesses since 2007.
We're quickly coming to the close of summer and entering into the film industry limbo that arrives between the summer blockbuster and holiday film season. But not to worry, film fans. Independent cinema is still booming in West Michigan.
Summer may have shaken its last mighty fist. Maybe. But this September is all about ritual, reimagining and reusing. Tinker like a magpie in a junkyard, cuddle a species more ancient than yourself, celebrate fishy frolics and find reverence for the instruments of yore, via the sounds of today.
It’s still (technically) summer, but the fall months are definitely upon us. Why don't we celebrate rather than lament the change of seasons with a trip to a nearby winery — and a swap of your cold beer with a tasty glass of red or white? You don't have to travel far to sample the many varieties our region offers.
Con Artist Crew, an eclectic group of West Michigan artists, is giving audiences universal accessibility to shows. The group has developed ArtLustr, an interactive electronic still program that can be used anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection.
If you have a conversation with Dann Sytsma, one thing becomes apparent very quickly: the guy loves improv. Like, a lot. So much so he became the sole proprietor of Crawlspace Theatre Productions, a Kalamazoo-based production company focused on the art of improv.
Cage the Elephant's 2013 album, Melophobia, was approached a bit differently than previous records. As opposed to a strict collaborative effort from the very beginning, each of the band's members started writing music individually.
After a long journey, Elk Brewing has finally opened its doors to thirsty beer lovers in Grand Rapids. To owner and headbrewer Eric Karns, the road to open was a trying one that took three years, but it only made the opening and the following success sweeter.
Any true-blue punk rocker worth his or her weight in metal-studded leather cuffs has to be trembling with anticipation over this most unlikely of reunions. Oh sure, seminal West Coast punk band X has been touring again as a united force since the early 2000s, but after a series of lineup changes and its eventual disbandment in the ‘90s, many hardcore fans had given up hope of ever seeing X’s original members ruling the punk-rock realm together on the same stage.
For such a tiny band, The Black Keys sure are capable of producing a massively huge sound. And that’s exactly the thing the group’s fans love it for – the keen, sly ability to create so much with so little.