There is no place like West Michigan for Jason Singer – founder/songwriter/lead vocalist of indie-rock band Michigander.
Although the rising star has since relocated to Nashville in the pursuit of pushing his musical project to the next level, he expressed joy at the idea of returning to his home state for two special pre-holiday shows this month.
“We’ve been trying to do it for the last two or three years,” Singer said about setting up Michigander’s huge homecoming show at Elevation (inside The Intersection) Dec. 7, and an exclusive VIP gig at Tip Top Deluxe Dec. 6.
“We did a small show at Tip Top a couple years ago,” he said. “That was just really fun, and sweaty, and we thought it’d be cool to do both. It’ll be cool to just play a tiny show, and then play a big show. Like, the first-ever Michigander shows were in houses in Grand Rapids on the West side. And so now to go from playing for like eight people in a living room, to playing for close to a thousand people at Elevation, that’s pretty special. And I was even born in Grand Rapids, so it just kind of feels like home.”
Singer started the solo musical project that would become Michigander in Kalamazoo in 2014. Raised in Midland, he moved to West Michigan to chase his musical dreams. He broke through on college radio, and online, with his first single, “Nineties,” released in 2016. He and his band then began to build a strong fan base by playing opening slots for other bands on tour, and made the jump to the festival circuit by joining the likes of Foster The People and alt-J at the Mo Pop Festival in Detroit in 2017, before playing to massive crowds at Lollapalooza in 2021, Electric Forest in 2022, and Austin City Limits in 2023.
Touring nearly nonstop, Michigander released four EPs – 2018’s Midland, 2019’s Where Do We Go From Here, 2022’s Everything Will Be Ok Eventually, and 2023’s It Will Never Be The Same. With radio charting singles including “Let Down,” “Misery,” and others racking up millions of streams, the band’s continued to climb.
That is until Singer himself suffered a tragic fall, breaking his leg during the music video shoot for the song “Superglue” in the California wilderness in 2022.
That injury set back plans to start an annual holiday show in West Michigan, as he recovered and took time away from touring.
“I’m hoping this will be a yearly thing in Grand Rapids,” Singer said. “West Michigan is where Michigander started, and I will end up there again one day. I love West Michigan so much… We don’t play there as much as I’d like to. And I think this is the best way for us to do it. And I’m just excited to see where it goes in the following years.”
A milestone moment for the band, the holiday shows will also serve as a prelude to the long-awaited full-length debut album from Michigander, due out Feb. 7. 2025.
“It’s kind of crazy because I’ve been at it for like 10 years, and I finally feel ready to put out a record,” Singer said of the upcoming self-titled album. “It feels like I’ve worked my whole life towards this moment, to have a whole record out, and I’m biased, but it feels like it’s a perfect set of 12 songs. I wrote 40 to 50 songs for the record, and I narrowed it down to 12. So I’m really happy with how it is going, and where it’s at, and I’m really excited for people to hear the whole thing.”
This past summer Michigander released the album’s lead single, “Giving Up,” which cracked the Top Ten on the Billboard Adult Alternative chart. It was followed up this fall by the moving new single, “Emotional,” which Singer wrote with producer Jeremey Lutito, who produced the whole album.
“It’s a combination of all my influences, and emotions, and sounds that I’ve experienced up until this point,” Singer said, describing the new album. “I wasn’t sure what it was going to sound like at first... But I feel like the 12 songs that ended up on the record are the 12 best. And I feel it’s just my best work, entirely, so that feels really cool.”
Earlier this year Singer overcame a sudden and debilitating anxiety attack that sent him to the hospital. Entering therapy, and receiving medication, he has now become an open advocate for mental health awareness.
“It’s been a new thing for me to navigate, which is interesting,” he said. “I feel it’s important to be vocal about it because I’m sure other people are probably experiencing it and not knowing what it is. And that was my whole thing, too. Not really realizing how to cope with those kinds of things. So I really felt like it was important to talk about it.”
With the release of the debut album set for Feb. 7, Singer said Michigander plans to get back out on the road more next year, and release even more new music. And although it might not be until next December before he can return to West Michigan, he’s never far from home.
“I think I’m my truest self now in my work,” he said. “And I feel like my truest self is a reflection of my upbringing, and my formative years. And so I think that is where Michigan shines through. And it’s cool to just go places, and meet other people from Michigan. It’s kind of like a special bond. I really feel that way.”
Michigander
Wsg. Oliver Hazard, Trauna
Elevation (Inside The Intersection), 133 Cesar E. Chavez Ave. SW, Grand Rapids
Dec. 7, 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show, All Ages
$23 Advance, $61 (includes admission to Dec. 6 VIP show at Tip Top Deluxe, 760 Butterworth St. SW)
Sectionlive.com, michiganderband.com
