Last summer’s much-expanded Cowpie Music Festival didn’t work out the way organizers hoped. Plagued by heavy rains on the festival’s opening day at Shagbark Farm south of Grand Rapids, the turnout for the 43-band lineup covering 17 genres fell far short of expectations.

One of heavy metal music’s veteran ambassadors has set out to prove there are still new ideas to explore in what’s becoming a mature genre. 

As the former frontman of Pantera and the current vocalist for the New Orleans-based supergroup Down, Philip H. Anselmo could have tapped into one of his many creative wells from the past 25 years in the music business for his debut solo album Walk Through Exits Only, which dropped on July 16.

After nearly 10 years on Division Avenue, volunteer run music venue and art gallery The Division Avenue Arts Collective (The DAAC) is being forced to close its doors on Aug. 1 due to a change in building ownership.

Like with her music, ZZ Ward follows a classic style by incorporating fedoras into her wardrobe, paying homage to her blues heroes like Robert Johnson, while adding a twist of her own. "I have, like, 60 fedoras," Ward said.

"I started singing in a blues band when I was 12 and I would always wear a fedora because it would remind me of the blues. So I wear a fedora to pay homage to the blues artists that I grew up listening to."