The last time Chicago-based Veil of Maya visited Grand Rapids was in late 2011, when its latest full-length album Eclipse (2012) was looming on the horizon. The band returns to town at the onset of spring, and it will find itself in more familiar territory than geography alone. 

For Jonathan Meiburg, lead singer and songwriter for Shearwater, choosing a career as a rock musician over a lifelong commitment to academia has paid off. While he may look the part of someone who holds a master's degree in geography and specializes in ornithology (the study of birds), Meiburg's truest passion is for music.

Each album in the Glowfriends' extensive catalog tends to hug a central theme, but, the Kalamazoo-based band's vocalist April Zimont insists that this is not intentional.

Future Islands is a band that's not shy about examining the human condition. Since 2006, this synthpop trio out of Baltimore has churned out three albums exploring the complexities of love, the truths found in memories and even the deep emotional scars left behind by breakups.

Call it an obvious fact, but outer space is complex and big; so is the dense, dynamic style of the progressively evolving technical metal group Between the Buried and Me. This past fall, the band toured and played the entirety of its latest album, The Parallax II: Future Sequence (2012). The shows were complemented by imagery contained within the album's booklet, which illustrates and lyrically guides listeners along the spiritual, intergalactic journey.

When you live in Beer City USA, sometimes, you just gotta toast to the weekend. One band is providing an anthem for such an occasion. The band Head, out of Grand Rapids, released their most recent album Three Cheers about a month ago at The Pyramid Scheme. For fans and followers of this local trio, it was a long awaited, highly-anticipated release since the band’s last album back in 2011.

• Head
• Benjamin Hunter
• Joe Botwinski
• Mike Luxford

We may still be in the dead of winter, but Frederik Meijer Gardens is thinking summer, with three acts announced for its summer concert series. The series has recently partnered with Fifth Third Bank, and boasts a new title: Fifth Third Bank Summer Concert Series at Meijer Gardens.

Kalamazoo-based Fox is a blues/rock band with history. The band's members (Chris Sinclair, John Lawrence and Carman Goodrich) met in middle school. They took that friendship one step further, adding instruments to their repertoire and creating what is now known as Fox.

• Fox
• Chris Sinclair
• John Lawrence
• Carman Goodrich

Ari Lehman isn't your normal, run-of-the-mill former child actor. After playing the first Jason in Friday the 13th, he's currently in a band playing with the likes of Chimaera, Gwar and even horror movie icons, Goblin. He doesn't just play some lousy guitar, though. Ari Lehman plays his keytar, the Electric Machete.

The Reptilian has been a staple in the Kalamazoo and West Michigan music scenes for, oh, about 300 years (we're estimating). But to be more precise, this band has been around for the better part of a decade.

• The Reptilian
• Chimney Wizard
• Count Your Lucky Stars Records