
The Local Commuters: Country Roads, Driving Home

The Fray: How to Save a Band

On Wednesday, Sept. 2 O.A.R., along with special Guest Allen Stone played at Meijer Gardens. Here are a few photos from the concert.
September 2015 — This monthly playlist is a collaboration between WYCE, AMI Jukeboxes, and Revue West Michigan. Play this mix as a playlist on AMI Jukeboxes, read about it on revuewm.com and stream it on wyce.org — from Grand Rapids to the world!
There are plenty of Michigan-based record labels that are churning out some great music. The following is a rundown of those labels.
“Your Turntable’s Not Dead” is a slogan Detroit-born Jack White came up with for his Third Man Records label — but it could also be assigned to the entire state of Michigan. The mitten is littered with brick-and-mortar shops, stocked with those rarities even Amazon.com can’t offer. Here are just a few worth digging into.
James Forrest Hughes, director and owner of Triumph Music Academy on Wealthy Street in Grand Rapids, said he wants his music school to be a destination where aspiring musicians of all ages and walks of life can come to learn how to play, produce and master “real music.” He took another step towards this effort with his most recent announcement
Even as the legend of his band Lord Huron continues to grow, Okemos-native Ben Schneider will never forget the natural beauty of the state that first inspired him to write music. “That part of the world will always have this sort of mystical mystery for me,” Schneider said. “I think it will be a well that I can hopefully draw from for many years to come.”
Before breaking out of L.A. as one half of the enigmatic indie-pop duo In The Valley Below, Muskegon native Angela Gail Mattson began her long, strange trip to stardom with a single, burning step.
Back in late 2009, the future of Aerosmith was uncertain. The band’s iconic vocalist Steven Tyler and guitar-legend Joe Perry were at each other’s throats – Tyler even left the band momentarily.
Revue has the looks, WYCE has the songs and AMI has the jukeboxes. Each month, you’ll be able to read, stream and hear the latest mix in playlist form on AMI Jukeboxes, in print and online at Revue and at WYCE.org. Here is the first installment. Bon Appetit!
The Beach Boys, along with founding vocalist Mike Love, returned to Meijer Gardens Friday, July 31 for a sunny and sold-out night of ‘60s surfin’ and hot-rod tunes.
When The Pyramid Scheme opened its doors in April 2011, the atmosphere its co-owners had in mind was clear. They wanted employees who cared about their establishment, their neighborhood and, above all, the music. If they had that, everything else would fall in to place.
When the Grand Rapids-based Division Avenue Arts Collective lost its home at 115 South Division two years ago, the organization that for a decade helped give voice to countless local artists and musicians faced an uncertain future. But while it’s been a bumpy ride, the DAAC has managed to avoid fading into obscurity.
If Jeff Haas is a cocktail pianist, he mixes a heady cocktail. The Traverse City-based pianist and composer has been swirling the music of Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and other jazz legends with his own original compositions, along with fresh takes on the Great American Songbook, at two jam-packed summer gigs in northwest Michigan all summer.
One listen to American Authors’ smash hit single, “Best Day of My Life,” and it’s easy to think the band has only seen sunshine and good times. But talk to lead singer Zac Barnett about his band’s road to success and a deeper different story unfolds.