Bacon/Agen SOTE

This world is full of sad songs, and there are a few happy songs too.  Annie Bacon understands that songs about grief draw from both these worlds:  sadness at the loss, happiness at the memory of the love that was there. There is no right or wrong way to feel about the events that shape our lives, but the journey we take to get to whatever comes next is where the songs of Annie Bacon live.  Often performing with a rotating cast of sympathetic sidemen she calls her "Oshen," tonight we get her here alone on a stool with a guitar and a few tools to pry open the hardest of hearts. 

Addison Agen was born in the 21st century, but she carries around a bit of the 19th in her bearing, her high plaintive voice, and her songs, which draw from old sources of whimsy and melancholy. Native to Indiana, resident of Nashville, and ambassador of the kitchen rug to the world, Addison travels the country, often accompanied by her partner Mike Gronsky, to remind people to look within for the seeds to their own resilience. Folk with a tinge of gospel, Addison's music will leave you thinking about calling your mother. 

Charlie Millard SOTE

Charlie Millard's music has been described often, maybe too often, as cinematic.  We're not sure what else to say about songs that tell their stories with such a masterful sweep, such a diversity of swirling sound generated by only three players. He has also been compared often to Elton John, which is a little lazy as piano based rock bands go, but also a little true:  the Charlie Millard band exists in the headspace of an early song like Madman Across The Water, riding the tension between beauty and madness. As for me, I'm going with:  what if Tom Waits could sing like an angel?  A show by the Charlie Millard Band is always a welcome spectacle, and you'll be swishing these melodies around your brain pan for weeks to come. 

Live Music Log, August 2024

8 2 24 FARM BLOCK FESTIVAL, Ahmeek  BIMBO/SEA HOUNDS/The Antivillains #3/Blanco Suave #2/Cabildo #2/Earth Radio #40 

8 3 24 G'itis Baggs #2/THE SECRET FASHIONS/JAKE MILLER & THE MIDWEST HEAT/Seth Bernard #29/Molly #13/M. Sord #2/THE SANCHEZ AGENCY/The Go Rounds #19/ERIK KOSKINEN 

8 7 24 August #48  St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids

8 8 24 R.J. NORDLUND  North Grove Brewers, Montague

8 10 24 HOXEYVILLE MUSIC FESTIVAL, Wellston:  Seth Bernard #30/Silver Creek Revival #2/Lindsay Lou #11/EKOOSTIK HOOKAH/The Incantations #13/Grace Theisen #36/TOMMY PRINE/The Insiders #5

8 16 24 Olivia Vargas #49  Horrocks Market, Kentwood

8 16 24 Fiona Dickinson #8/Slow Spell #2/Miglodesh #3  Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids

8 17 24 Carrie McFerrin #59  Distant Whistle Brewhouse, Vicksburg

8 17 24 Payton & Annabelle #4/Darcy Wilkin #52  Clover Room, Kalamazoo

8 23 24 FOREST TRAIL MUSIC FESTIVAL, Freesoil: Nick Veine #2/Mike Ward #4/Lighting Matches #6/WILD HORSES/Chloe Kimes #3/THE SMOKIN' DOBROLELES

8 24 24 Anna P.S. #36 St, Ambrose Cellars, Beulah

8 24 24 Forest Trail Music Festival: Whorled #2/WILSON THICKET/JACK M. SENFF/Erin Zindle & the Ragbirds #17

8 26 24 Rod & Annie Capps #7  Ross Park, Norton Shores

8 29 24 Hannah Laine #11 Iron Fish Distillery, Thompsonville

8 30 24 Patty PerShayla & the Mayhaps #51  Riverfront Park, Allegan

Live Music Log, July 2024

7 1 24 Sophia McIntosh and the Sages #6  The Deck, Muskegon

7 2 24 Beth Bombara #7  Whitehall High School, Whitehall

7 4 24 Erin Zindle & the Ragbirds #16  Lowell Showboat, Lowell

7 5 24 Earth Radio #38  White Lake Honey Fest, Kin Farm, Whitehall

7 6 24 Patty PerShayla & the Mayhaps #49  The Shed (house show), Whitehall

7 7 24 Molly #12  Camp Blodgett, Grand Haven

7 8 24 Ruth & Max Bloomquist #4  Ross Park, Norton Shores

7 10 24 The Rebel Eves #7  Beats on Bates, Bates Alley Stage, Kalamazoo 

7 10 24 Open Mic at Louis' Trophy House, Kalamazoo, featuring Mike List and Sheafor & Simes 

7 11 24 Mark Stuart #2/Darcy Wilkin #51  The Clover Room, Kalamazoo

7 12 24 BLISSFEST, Harbor Springs:  NATHAN & JESSIE/Sean Miller #5/Eric Engblade #18/BEE TAYLOR/THE VERMEERS/Dr. Goodhart's Home Remedy #2/LIV GREENE/i.am.james #4/NIGEL WEARNE/SARAH JAROSZ/JESS MERRITT/RAINBOW GIRLS/JOHN CRAIGIE

7 13 24 Badass Women Band #2/In the round with i.am.james, Liv Greene, Ed Dupas, and John D. Lamb/MISSY RAINES & ALLEGHENY/Eric Engblade #19/TRUTH & SALVAGE CO./May Erlewine #35/TAIMANE/Jess Merritt #2/Kait Rose & the Thorns #28/AMYTHYST KIAH/Audra Kubat #8/Emily Rose (#4) & Michelle Held (#2)/Ed Dupas #2/Annie Bacon #3/The Rebel Eves #8/AUNT VICKI/The Thirties #2/THE WOOD BROTHERS 

7 14 24 In the round with Amanda Anne Platt, Daniel Bracken, Mike Ward, and John D. Lamb/Robin Lee Berry #2/Emily Rose (#5) & Michelle Held (#3)/The Rebel Eves #9/Blake Elliott #9/ALISA AMADOR/Seth Bernard #28/JOHN D. LAMB/Kait Rose #29/KELLERVILLE/Robinson & Rohe #2/Amythyst Kiah #2/Elisabeth Pixley-Fink #13/The Go Rounds #18/Earth Radio #39

7 19 24 Spencer Lajoye #4/Brian Oberlin #2/AMY YOUNG/Nicholas James Thomasma #36  The Stray, Wyoming

7 19 24 August #46/MELANIE PIERCE/Sierra Skye Baker #9  Turnstiles, Grand Rapids

7 20 24 WALK THE BEAT WHITE LAKE:  Two Soups, Greg Hillebrand, Justin Avdek & Tommy Foster, Basic Comfort, R2, Dave Burel, The Kipi Chick, Lauryn Allen, Rory McCallan, Chris Clayton Loop, Izzy Joy, Leversedge, Found Innocents, JD & the Bees Knees, Mr. Jones, C-Mit, SmittyVision, Mady Simon, Butterduck, Steve Thielman, The Illustrated, Kate Hinote Trio, Dave Goyette, Eric Engblade, Natalie Holmstrom, the Substitutes, Lightly Salted, Ryan Lynch, J. Michael & the Heavy Burden, Jamison Livingston, John Merchant, Karen & Eric Smith, Asamu Johnson & the Associates of the Blues, and Caly Michigan

7 20 24 Olivia Vargas #47/VIOLET CLARE/Rebecca Rodriguez #2/Rebekah Jon #2  The Stray, Wyoming

7 23 24 SCOTT BRADLEE'S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX  GLC Live at 20 Monroe, Grand Rapids

7 25 24 Sari Brown #6  Veterans Memorial Park, Manistee

7 26 24 Deerfield Run #7  Hopkins Village Park, Hopkins

7 26 24 Patty PerShayla & the Mayhaps #50/The Gasoline Gypsies #4  Liquid Note, Otsego

7 27 24 THE FAIR GROUND FESTIVAL Barry Expo Center, Hastings: JOY CLARK/The Rebel Eves #10/ALANNA ROYALE/BAILEN/HANNAH WICKLUND/The Accidentals #31/The War and Treaty #6 

Carrie bio attempt

Carrie McFerrin has been through it all: love, heartbreak, joy, pain, motherhood, personal and professional struggles, and an upbringing in northern Indiana. But she survives, she thrives, she persists, and most importantly for us, she writes songs of the deepest empathy and depth of feeling, and delivers them to us with a husky Michigan twang. Kinda country, kinda indie folk, all original, never one thing but everything she needs to say.  These are songs about the trials that make us into the people we need to be: tales of harvests, harlots, devils and angels, who all need each other to survive. Whether solo or with her band, the McFerrinheits, a performance by Carrie McFerrin will dampen your cheeks, make you laugh out loud, and lift up your spirits, because even a sad song makes us feel less alone. Michigan's Sweetheart belongs to the world, to her two children, and to her own restless muse.