Max Lockwood didn’t make his first solo record so much as he grew it. Instead of hiring studio musicians to execute a defined vision, the Big Dudee Roo bassist simply took the 12 original songs he’d written for his senior thesis project at the University of Michigan and sowed them throughout his circle of friends.

Shoegaze fans, stand in solidarity; Kalamashoegazer is back. Now in it’s eighth year running, the show is West Michigan’s yearly bloodrite to the dreamy swells we know and love as shoegaze.

Most of us came to know Joan Osborne with her 1995 Grammy-nominated hit single, "One of Us." Since then, the singer-songwriter has enjoyed continued success with multiple studio albums exploring a variety of genres, from the 2006 country album Pretty Little Stranger to the more bluesy offerings on her 2012 record Bring It On Home.

Combining their passion for music, Nicole LaRae and Brian Hoekstra partnered up to create dizzybird records, a Grand Rapids-based record label that aims to bring good music to music lovers.

Sometimes the best partnerships in music are forged in friendship. Just ask George Clark and Kerry McCoy, the core duo behind Deafheaven. While many other band members have come and gone, Clark and McCoy have remained a constant driving force of the band.

If you hadn’t heard, Holland got dealt a bummer at the end of August: Lemonjello’s will no longer be hosting live music following a final show Sept. 20.

After an 11-and-a-half-year run, owner Matthew Scott has decided to move on, citing a fizzling interest from bands and smaller turnouts for shows.

The Nashville-based garage rock trio The Whigs pride themselves on their live performances. Accordingly, they're on the road pretty consistently, be it hitting the late night talk show circuit or sharing the stage with acts like MGMT, The Black Keys and Kings of Leon. 

For melodic punk veterans Taking Back Sunday, second time's the charm. The group’s standards of success have risen dramatically with the release of their latest album, Happiness Is. This time, however, artistic freedom was more accessible than ever.

ArtPrize turns up the volume for musicians with structural changes aimed to increase their exposure. “Half of the time when I would tell people about the piece they would say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know music was a category.’ So then I had to explain that to them instead of talking about the song or what I’m about and what I do,” said Bouwsma-Schultz, who won the $2,000 St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) award in rock/blues for her song, "In my Heart (To the Moon)."

Cage the Elephant's 2013 album, Melophobia, was approached a bit differently than previous records. As opposed to a strict collaborative effort from the very beginning, each of the band's members started writing music individually.