A few years back, musicians Bruce Ling of Hawks and Owls and Mark Stoltz of Benzie Playboys were lamenting the sort of lull that winter typically brings to the music scene. While venues may keep their stages warm with the shows they can, festivals seem to disappear altogether. So Ling and Stoltz reached out to longtime member of the Wheatland Music Organization, Marilyn Hummel, to see what could be done about bringing a little slice of Wheatland to the winter months. So began the Winter Wheat music festival, now in its eighth year.

The revival of the Third Street corridor in Muskegon is well underway with the opening of Third Coast Vinyl in October 2016. Owned by Pete Pretzer, the store brings new and used records, as well as refurbished stereo equipment. 

Pretzer hopes that avid collectors and beginners alike will feel welcome in his new location. One can anticipate a collection of classic rock, soul, funk, newer indie releases and hidden gems galore. 

Pretzer spoke with Revue on Muskegon’s rebranding, opening Third Coast Vinyl and changes in the vinyl industry.  

College is the perfect place for many people to discover new music, expand their horizons and explore new sounds.

But for the more entrepreneurial, like Winspear Records co-founders Ben Wittkugel and Jared Jones, college is the place to be the ones spreading that music to everyone else. 

In 2014, during Wittkugel’s freshman year at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., Winspear started as a way of booking shows at friends’ houses in the area.

“Winspear first existed only to put on shows,” Wittkugel said of the label’s beginnings. “We didn’t start with too many goals. Jared and I were just happy to be doing something.” 

If one new band has been making waves — dreamy, synthy, bassy waves — in Grand Rapids this year, it’s PARTS.