For Lindsay Lou, the past is never far behind. Michigan-born and Nashville-based, Lou’s music is deeply rooted in the people, places, and traditions that came before her—from her late grandmother to Michigan’s historic bluegrass scene. 

• Touring Music
• The Big Room

Now a father of two, Isaac Brock—frontman of Modest Mouse—has gained a new empathy for what his parents were going through when he was a child.

With her debut solo album Destroy Everything (due out Oct. 3), singer-songwriter Emilee Petersmark embraces her Korean identity, confronts illness and self-doubt, and discovers that sometimes breaking everything apart is the only way to become whole.

There was a time when The Red Clay Strays measured success by much smaller milestones.

• van andel arena

For years, Jameson Botwinski saw Grand Rapids the way too many young people do: as a place to leave.

Ever since 2020, live music has been on a rollercoaster. The dip during the pandemic was so bleak, it felt like concerts as a whole might just be over, forever. Six years later, it’s clear how silly that fear was. 

Every great road trip starts with the right soundtrack. Whether cruising the Lake Michigan shoreline or heading out in search of something new, this annual playlist celebrates the best of West Michigan music in 2026.

• local music

On June 22nd, Pink Martini, the cross-genre band formed some thirty years ago in Portland, OR, returned to Meijer Gardens, playing a show that was loose in terms of humor, storytelling, and crowd interaction, but impeccably tight in musicianship.

• Touring Music
• Frederik Meijer Gardens  & Sculpture Park
• Web Exclusive

For more than three decades, Goldfinger has thrived on a joyful chaos—the kind that leaves stages soaked in sweat, horns blaring, guitars buzzing, and crowds bouncing like it’s 1996 again.

• The Intersection
• Touring Music

On June 12, 2026, Wilco made their Meijer Gardens debut, playing 31 songs over nearly three hours. Truth in advertising: this was indeed an evening with Wilco. And for the packed audience—the show was sold out—that was cause for celebration.

• Touring Music
• Frederik Meijer Gardens  & Sculpture Park
• Web Exclusive