Live Music Log, January 2024

1 1 24 Olivia Vargas #38  Tip Top Deluxe, Grand Rapids

1 4 24 That Thursday Thing with Justin Avdek and Eric Engblade  Rake Beer Project, Muskegon 

1 5 24 Midtown Open Stage, with Chris Olsen, Bruce Matthews, Dan Lynn, Aidan Rockwell, Dan Terry, Sophia McIntosh, Michael Robertson, Ben Robertson, Carlton Macksam, Steve D, and Nathan James  Midtown GR, Grand Rapids

1 6 24 GENNA & JESSE  Book Nook & Java Shop, Montague

1 10 24 BLUE WATER RAMBLERS/Josh Rose #14  SpeakEZ Lounge, Grand Rapids

1 11 24 Sierra Skye Baker #8  Horrocks, Kentwood

1 12 24 BRI BARON  Rake Beer Project, Muskegon

1 13 24 Blake Elliott #8  Wonderland Distilling, Muskegon

1 15 24 Olivia Vargas #39/Audrey Pearson #4/Marsfade #3  Tip Top Deluxe, Grand Rapids

1 16 24 Allison Russell #2/Kyshona #2  St. Cecilia Music Center, Grand Rapids

1 18 24 That Thursday Thing with Justin Avdek and Eric Engblade  Rake Beer Project, Muskegon 

1 19 24 Ralston Bowles #5/Hearth and Hymn #3/Ben Traverse #14  The Stray, Wyoming

1 21 24 The Insiders #4  Salt of the Earth, Fennville

1 22 24  August #40  Tip Top Deluxe, Grand Rapids

1 24 24 Cole Hansen #26/Sophia McIntosh & the Sages #3  SpeakEZ Lounge, Grand Rapids

1 25 24 Molly #9  Grand Rapids Public Libary Main Branch, Grand Rapids

1 25 24 That Thursday Thing with Justin Avdek, Eric Engblade and Bri Baron  Rake Beer Project, Muskegon 

1 27 24 MELISSA DYLAN/Nathan Walton #10  The Stray, Wyoming

EHG press release attempt

Earthwork Harvest Gathering is a different kind of festival.  See, we don't even use "festival" in the name, because while it includes musical celebrations, so much more goes into the community we share: workshops, activity tents, markets for farmers and artisans, and so many opportunities to make, say, write, and dream so many things while communing with nature in the beautiful farm fields and forests of Northern Michigan. The artists and attendees who come back year after year agree:  there is something special about Earthwork Farm and the positive vibrations it emanates. We return to our patch of earth September 20-22 this year, but early bird tickets can be purchased from now until April 1, at which point the piper gets paid a little more.  If you're interested in joining our troupe of dedicated volunteers, hold off on that purchase:  registration starts March 1. Potential vendors, performers and sponsors:  please pay us a visit at earthworkharvestgathering.com and click Contact Us, and we'll get you where you need to go.

Artist/activist/steward of the land Seth Bernard founded Earthwork Harvest Gathering back in 2001, on his family farm, as a way of preserving old ways of connecting with the land and each other, and to forge new connections on our collective path forward into a more sustainable future. Quoting Seth: "It's never too late to take back the future."  And with open hearts, engaged minds, and three stages pumping out the finest in live music, at least three days of our future will be spent living our best lives.  Come on up to Lake City, and we'll grow together. 

Live Music Log, December 2023

12 1 23 Laurel Premo #9/Red Tail Ring #3  The Alluvion, Traverse City

12 2 23 Seth Bernard #27/Rachael Davis #13  City Opera House, Traverse City 

12 7 23 LIZ PHAIR/KATE BOLLINGER  State Theatre, Kalamazoo

12 8 23 Pillar To Post #3/ABE SAVAS & THE NEW STANDARDS OF BEAUTY/Brian Koenigsknecht & the Dirty Work #32  Bell's, Kalamazoo 

12 13 23 Via Mardot #49/Stephie James #4/GAL MUSETTE  Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids

12 14 23 May Erlewine & the Motivations #33  Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids 

12 16 23 A Very Merry Jingle Jam:  Kyle Rasche #15/August #36/Travis Atkinson #2/Sarena Rae #5/ASTRO JACKSON/MARK SALA/Hannah Rose Graves #6/Matt Gabriel #7  Butcher Block Social, Caledonia

12 17 23 The Schrock Brothers #6  Salt of the Earth, Fennville

12 21 23 Drive The Cold Winter Away:  Ben Traverse #13/MR. AND FRIENDS  Old Dog Tavern, Kalamazoo

12 21 23 Jes Kramer #5/Payton & Annabelle #2/KYLIE BROWN/ODD SPACE  Dormouse Theatre, Kalamazoo

12 22 23 Something Borrowed, Something New:  Jessi Phillips #6/KEENER FAMILY/Mechele Peters #2/Samantha Cooper #12/RAYMOND LITTLE/CAM THE CRYPTID  Clover Room, Kalamazoo

12 23 23 Olivia Vargas #37  Lucy's, Grand Haven

12 23 23 Sophia McIntosh & the Sages #2  The BOB, Grand Rapids

12 28 23 That Thursday Thing, with Justin Avdek, Eric Engblade, Carlton Macksam, Nick Houseman, and more  Rake Beer Project, Muskegon 

12 29 23 Jes Kramer #6/Fiona Dickinson #7  Scorpion Hearts Club, Grand Rapids

12 30 23 Squatch #2/POCKET WATCH  Tip Top Deluxe, Grand Rapids

12 31 23 Kalamazoo New Year's Eve Fest:  Joel Mabus #2 at First Presbyterian Church/Megan Dooley Trio #26 at KNAC/The Nathan Moore Affair #4 at First Congregational UCC Church/Grace Theisen Band #30 at FC UCC

Salt of The Earth intros 3/18/24: Pride, Hansen, Wright

 Monte Pride does not deal in volume. His strummed melodies and hushed, haunting vocals rarely rise above the decibel level of a rushing brook. But you lean in, and you listen, and you learn something about yourself. These are lush and complex songs, but the dynamic is Extreem Introspection, not Party Time....not that you won't enjoy being baptized in Monte Pride's ambient soundscapes. Available from the Lansing artist: Hawthorne Morning Sound (2016) and Even In Absence (2020).

Cole Hansen threads a very fine needle:  her songs are open and optimistic without ever being untruthful or naive. Cole marries fire-tempered imagery to water-cooled melodies, and delivers the elemental fusion to us in an uncommonly pure crystalline voice. These are songs where love never dies, dragons are not necessarily monsters, and your house loves you more than you know. After 20 years of songwriting, Cole is hitting her stride with her best work yet.  Available:  Just In Case (2020), Vote For Love (2022), and a new one later this year.

Aaron Wright sneaks up on you, plants his song seeds in your ear, and sneaks away before the sprouts take hold.  That sounds kinda sinister, but these marvelously clever tunes have a narrator that is unreliable, though reliably hilarious or touching, depending on where Aaron wants to steer you from moment to moment. 30 years of songcraft, dating back to his days with Kalamazoo rockers Slow Drag, have left Aaron in a position to go anywhere his imagination will roam, and find a way to take you along.  Most recent album A Little Stronger showcases his wit, his way with a twisty melody, and his time-tested humanity.