Live Music Log, June 2019

6 14-16 19 BUTTERMILK JAMBOREE: Monte Pride #2/ESCAPING PAVEMENT/CHANNING & QUINN/BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN/CHIRP/NIKKI HILL/FUNKTION/Last Gasp Collective #2/Seth Bernard (#8) & Jordan Hamilton (#3)/Samantha Cooper #3/Appleseed Collective #2/Jive At Five #3/SAMANTHA CRAIN/Roosevelt Diggs #2/Dacia Bridges Project #6/Earth Radio #4/Max Lockwood #4/Kaitlin Rose #12/Jen Sygit #3/May Erlewine #17/STELLA Circle Pines Center, Delton  Once again, the little festival right around the corner delivered the goods, with a much more diverse lineup than its cornpone name would suggest.  Forwent attempting to camp this year, instead just drove home each night.  (Will probably have to next year now that I moved further away.)  It was hot Friday and rainy Sunday, I think?  Either way I did not get enough sleep and zombied right through a bunch of acts, hope I can piece something together. On Friday afternoon, Monte Pride opened things up with new songs of delicate beauty, with guest vocals by Sam Cooper.  Highlight:  If I Had Known.  The line was "I hear them all," but my brain stubbornly interpreted it as "I hear the mall." Escaping Pavement was mighty fine original folkiness from a couple with sublime harmonies:  the run of the mill, if the mill is a good one.  Good cover of "Watching The Wheels." I finally saw a full set from Channing and Quinn, a quirk filled set of tunes, complete with piece of wood to tap dance on, and an old timey sound, like a double Dooley. Very Burns and Allen, with Quinn playing the straight man to occasionally murderous wackytimes, featuring clever use of looping on the vocals. Highlight:  a stalker anthem that only sounds cute because it's sung by a woman.  Double standard?  Discuss! Full Circle would sound great done by Channing's other gig, the Verve Pipe. Beth Nielsen Chapman has written a lot of songs you know, and has a fine Carole Kingish voice when singing them herself. Chirp was Guster-style complicated pop played by reasonably funky white boys out of Ann Arbor.  Highly ballsy cover of "A Day In The Life" which stuck the landing. Nikki Hill:  what if Fonzie was a black woman, and also sang songs? She came highly recommended, but the rockabilly blooz sounded strident in the night festival atmosphere.  Willing to try again though.  Funktion is Andrew Schrock, a lot of other members of his current Mainstays, and a lot of other folks in what is apparently an older funkcarnation with its own following.  Terrence Massey is a bull-god.  In my notes, no context:  "Where's my intro, bitch?"  Last Gasp Collective had that big band hip hop sound that the kids love, but I was too tired for it to register.  Drove home, slapping my face a lot.

My Saturday began with Seth and Jordan doing their duo thing, electric guitar and electric cello, achieving a cavernous sound with just the two of them. Seth's gentle screeds and Jordan's classical/rap complement each other better than you'd think.  Samantha Cooper plays the gentlest possible rock n roll;  still fairly unknown, but she attracts the very best players to her band.  Big things coming soon, carrying positive vibes, like her rewrite of Chaplin's Smile:  no more cheer up or else. The Appleseed Collective is a union of dazzling musicians who are evolving beyond knees up hootenanny into something stranger, thanks to its members' many extracurriculars coming home to roost.  Highlight:  a jazzy Bad Habit. Jive At Five:  reliably fun big band, but with fewer coots, some young ringers sitting in (but no Youngman).  Dig that jazz flute, daddyo. Samantha Crain was an applecheeked chanteuse who was having some serious vocal issues;  she ended up canceling Harvest, hope she's ok. Highlight:  Outside The Pale. Roosevelt Diggs:  bro bluegrass with ants in their dapper pants, and an excellent, mature new album to tour.  Highlight:  Don't Count On Me. The Dacia Bridges Project kept the dance alight, making the rafters shake on the Sugarbush Pavilion as the crowd, ranging from little kids to extreme coots, shook what mama gave em.  Sad in retrospect as the last time I saw her before her shocking early death. Earth Radio sounded eerie as hell on the same stage, space funk echoing out into the  dark forest like an extraterrestrial rite of passage.

Sunday started with Max Lockwood, playing a little louder than his solo shows often go, with the other Dudees and an Appleseed on board. Has quite an arsenal of tunes now from the two solos and the band. The ever restless Kaitlin Rose trod the boards in the beer tent, with her trusty secret weapon Jim Beebe lighting fires on electric and resonator guitars. Not quite as haunted a sound, but that's no doubt better for her sanity. Jen Sygit can be summed up by her own line:  "Not too many things I won't try."  Unpretentious songs delivered with panache.  May Erlewine in the rain is getting to be a Buttermilk tradition, her big band bringing the somber sweetness with minimalist skill.  Great new song, Find My Way Home.  Many of the Second Sight songs got a spin here before the October release.  I finished my fest with Stella, a fun trio of women who take themselves unseriously while playing circles around each other.  With no tent to pack up, I got out with minimal trouble, avoiding the big mudhole.  A good, exhausting time.

6 21 19 Molly #4/The Go Rounds #6 Creston Brewery, Grand Rapids  This was the release show for Molly's long awaited solo EP debut, in the beautiful new Golden Age banquet space above the brewery she co-owns.  One of the things that makes the former furniture showroom gorgeous is the tin ceilings....that really mess with acoustics.  The music was great, but it was sometimes hard to tell, especially during the more unhinged Go Rounds moments.  The pairing looks strange on paper, but they've been allies since the Vox Vidorra days, and after some songs played solo or just with husband Scott backing her, the Go Rounds became Molly's backing band;  their own set came second. Molly is a force of nature, but she hasn't had time in her busy life to write more songs yet.  That is changing, I have heard now (in December), as they are recording again at Goon Lagoon, where VV's triumphs went down. This is soul music with a conscience and a personal spin.  The Go Rounds....I have seen them fill dance floors; tonight was mostly confused milling.  Come back from outer space, boys!  Hide Graham's effects mic!  There is a lot of power and skill here to admire, however.  Highlights:  Mike Savina yowling into his strings, and Code, a throbbing island of melody in the maelstrom.  I miss Vox Vidorra very much, they were the second band I got into after the Crane Wives, but things change, and I want to follow where she goes next.

6 22 19 GRAND RIVER WATER FESTIVAL: Aspen Jacobsen #2/JAHSHUA SMITH/NOBODY’S DARLIN’ ALL GIRL STRING BAND/Dede and the Dream #6/Drew Nelson #2 Riverside Park, Grand Rapids  I always seem to attend this day festival in the park when I'm exhausted for some reason, and no one gets my full attention.  I remember nothing at all about Mr. Jahshua Smith, for example. Between acts were speeches and presentations about the omportance of clean water to our state, and the actions we can take to keep it that way.  Vendor and info booths were ringed around the the central area. Aspen Jacobsen, a preternaturally poised young musician, played a great set of original tunes, with the venerable Bruce Ling at her side.  She is waaaaay too young to sing "Jolene," however. The All Girl String Band was a hoot, like a gaggle of Erma Bombecks armed with orchestral instruments. Dede and Josh were having fun, especially when all the little kids from the craft tent came up to sing on a number.  Drew Nelson, a venerable pop rocker turned grizzled folkie whom I saw a lot 20 years ago, had a good performance with his high lonesome anthems. Sheila (my dog) hates live music;  there was more to come, but we had to go.
 

6 27 19 Emilee Petersmark #8/Joshua Powell & The Great Train Robbery #2 GR Live, Home at the BOB, Grand Rapids  Now that I'm working days, I have my nights free to attend many more shows, but I won't be able to see these noon broadcasts any more.  They were often a special way to see my favorite people up close with a tiny audience. Like here:  I try to move heaven and earth to get to Emilee solo performances, and it's always worth it.  The band is rocking hard these days, but the folk roots are still traceable when she's alone.  And she played a near-brand-new song, for the first time, live on the radio.  Joshua Powell, from Indianapolis, is also great, a self aware digital hippie who might open for the Black Crowes if they still existed.  After the show we all went out for Indian food.  I will miss these kinds of opportunities.

6 28 19 Jack And The Bear #7 Rockford Brewing, Rockford  The full four piece band, three siblings and a bassist, came out to the A frame for a hootenanny.  Going forward, Brandon has said he wants Jack shows to be full tilt extravaganzas, that's gonna be the brand, so I feel privileged if this is one of the last low key bar gigs.  Great new song called Preserves.  Looking forward to the next batch of unusual tunes from the Unusual Brothers in the new year, but at this one, with Christina in the house, we were treated to more great older songs than usual.  In my notes, no context:  BEWARE THE COWS.

6 30 19 ALL STAR JAN SESSION: Political Lizard #2/OH BROTHER BIG SISTER/Olivia & The Aquatic Troupe #27/The Crane Wives #70/The Accidentals #12 Park Theatre, Holland   Great big show for a great cause:  Jan Kautman, big local music booster and festival fixture, is battling cancer, and a bunch of her favorites organized this benefit.  Olivia put a lot of work into the venue prep, and the Accidentals' name really got butts in seats.  Oh Brother Big Sister were the new ones to me, and they were great:  sibling harmonies, Jesusy without being overbearing, big bold voice on the sister, lighthearted fare.  (Until, oh god, he started beatboxing,  Just.  Just don't.)  Political Lizard, as a four piece now, have come great strides in confidence and stage presence:  it's twee pop with a backbone, like the Sundays or the lighter end of emo.  Sigh:  I have shoes older than that girl. This was the first full-ass Troupe perfomance I had seen in yonks, with Bleu trucked down for the event, with the beloved big, boomy, doomy sound.  Little did I know that the smaller, quieter Via Mardot act was on its way. The Crane Wives were fabulous, I absolutely love the growing confidence to speak their truths about life and its difficulties from the stage.  And then the Accidentals are just the consummate professionals in all they do. The songs are getting more personal, the instrumentation is always intricate without overpowering the songs, and I do love the band-geek-gone-huge vibe that they oddly share with Lizzo.  My friends Renae and Julie came to the show, it was great to sit in the balcony with them and with all the acts waiting to perform; since the Park has no green room, it was a fun opportunity to see a lot of cool folks mingling. Get well Jan, the kids did good by ya.