It's all about the music. Unlike the Grammy Awards' la-la land of red carpets and celebrity sidewalk stars, Grand Rapids' Jammies are the no-hype awards. That's what makes it one my favorite nights of the year.

Detroit still has a pulse! That's one of many factors that drew Shara Worden to the city. The mind behind My Brightest Diamond planted her roots in Detroit soil after living in New York, preceded by a year in Moscow.

With a history dating back almost 30 years, 1964, The Tribute has been bringing Beatlemania back to both old and new fans alike. Sporting the attire, instruments and stage presence of the early touring Beatles, whose music grabbed the attention of an entire planet, this group is as authentic as any tribute comes.

While the Detroit area has long been a bastion for music and has produced many a fine rapper, the west side of the state — and Grand Rapids specifically — is getting national recognition for its hip-hop music. Much of this is due to the work of William Jackson, better known as Willie the Kid.

Willie the Kid, who grew up on the southeast side and attended Ottawa Hills High School, is the younger brother of Wu-Tang Clan affiliate LA The Darkman.

Eccentric, off-beat music has never been so accessible as it is when performed by Grand Rapids folk outfit The Northern Skies. With a barrage of fiddles, violins and ethnic percussion blended in with a modern alternative sensibility, the band exemplifies everything new and everything old at the very same time.

As 19-year veterans of the ska scene, Huntington Beach Calif.'s Reel Big Fish can attest to the underground success of today's brand of ska.

Hailing from Chicago, Born of Osiris is headlining The Discovery Tour to celebrate the album of same name, released earlier in March. Veil of Maya (fellow Chicago and Sumerian natives), Carnifex, Structures (Sumerian), Betraying the Martyrs (Sumerian), and GR locals No Sleep for Panama will share the stage.

One of metal's most aggressive female voices will shake Grand Rapids awake in the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour 2011. Preceding the breakdown infused headliner Of Mice & Men, Iwrestledabearonce is on its second tour after releasing Ruining It For Everybody in late July.

A familiar culprit of this grizzly era, it was financial shortcomings of previous years, which brought what Board Chair Byron Mazade called the "agonizing" decision to not move forward with the 2012 Muskegon Summer Celebration.

Spastic, uncontrollable energy has always been a part of the formula for Grand Rapids-based rock band The Skies Revolt.