Local rock artist Shane Tripp is the kind of musician who creates simply because he’s got songs trapped inside his head, eager to escape out into the world. 

And he’s been that way for almost as long as he can remember.

Every year, West Michigan seems to overflow with great releases from homegrown musical talents, and 2017 has been no exception.

This list is just a taste of some of the absolutely fantastic and wildly diverse records that make our home one of the best places for original music.  

This time last year, Jake Kiszka had no idea what was about to happen for him or his band, Greta Van Fleet. 

Yet, in just the past 12 months, the band went from the relative obscurity of its Michigan hometown of Frankenmuth to one of the hottest acts in the country — selling out two headlining tours in advance and having its debut single, Highway Tune, top both the Billboard Mainstream and Active Rock charts. 

There’s nothing quite like Kalamashoegazer. The festival feels like a celebration in more ways than one — an honoring of its host city’s diverse yet devoted music scene, and of the beloved cult subgenres of shoegaze, twee and dreampop first popularized by such iconic bands as My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive in the late ’80s and early ’90s.