Any room with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion playing is a tough room. Civilization takes a back seat. So imagine two decades-plus later to find that a talk with Russell Simins, the drummer from the JSBX, explores the Oscar Niemeyer architecture of Brasilia and the ramen joints of Fukuoka, Japan.

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• Pyramid Scheme
• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
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• drummer
• JSBX

Bands with any sort of depth tend to sprout from unorthodox beginnings. The Ramones perfected its stage show at the gritty CBGB. The Velvet Underground preferred to get weird with Andy Warhol at The Factory. For La Dispute, its genesis can be traced back to one particular DIY spot: the Division Avenue Arts Collective (DAAC).

With LadyFestGR gearing up for its fourth year, the time to celebrate female-badassery is nigh. The annual springtime rite is both a tribute to women in the community as well as a chance for female artists in the region to support a nonprofit of their collective choosing.

• local music

Get your Irish on this month with these festive events before and during St. Patrick's Day. 

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Following in the footsteps of her idol, Eartha Kitt, Rene Marie seldom plays by the rules. Since emerging as a voice to be heard at the age of 42, the jazz vocalist has captured a worldwide audience as well as multiple awards and nominations. Most recently, Marie earned her first Grammy nomination in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album for her 2014 release I Wanna Be Evil (With Love to Eartha Kitt).

 Electropop artist Lights knows what it takes to create good, catchy tunes. The 27-year-old has been at it since her teens, writing songs that have found their way to television, an Old Navy ad campaign and success on the charts including two certified gold albums in her native Canada.

Being in Electric Six is like being an average Joe working the shifts. Record the next record the first half of the year, put it out in the fall. Tour three months a year. Rinse and repeat. Might as well keep a home in the ‘burbs and buy a minivan.

The rocker, motivational speaker, writer and party king Andrew W.K. is coming to The Pyramid Scheme on April 24 to celebrate the venue's fourth anniversary. 

Grand Rapids native Rob Jordan isn’t new blood in the music scene ‘round these parts. He’s been writing and performing tunes in one capacity or another for more than a decade.

Despite its deep and dark subject matter, Jason Isbell’s latest album is a celebration of second chances. Completely clean for the first time in his career – that includes six hard-drinking years with alt-country rockers Drive-By Truckers, and another six with his backing band The 400 Unit – the Alabama-born Isbell headed to Nashville.