Great Lakes Brass intro

Louisiana and Michigan might not seem to have much in common, culturally, meteorologically, or musically.  But both places are defined by water, a neverending supply, defining our lands and our lives and our hearts.  Great Lakes Brass celebrates the music and culture of New Orleans, but with an open spirit that can only come from the land of fresh water.  Detroit has the soul, Chicago has the blues, and New Orleans has the deep Cajun funk born from a long lived and proud culture, and it all goes in the blender for Great Lakes Brass.  Nothing, but nothing, encapsulates joy more than a trombone leading a parade through a sea of happy faces, dancing along without quite knowing why, just by instinct.  The second line comes for us all, and up here in the north, we want to be in that number too.  Great Lakes Brass is music for your soul, your feet, and your heart. 

SOTE Avdek Engblade Rose

Kait Rose is always moving, always restlessly propelling herself toward the next sung note, the next strummed chord; if you tied her feet together, I'm not sure she could play. That kinetic energy plays itself out across her music, a kind of Americana with a spiked brontosaurus tail, a land of wanderers and bad mothers and awe at the vastness of the universe. Never one thing, Kalamazoo's Kait also plays with her crackerjack band The Thorns,  the All American Funk Parade, and tributes to Bob Dylan and Fleetwood Mac. But her original tunes, introspective, haunting, and utterly original, keep you going back to the beginning of the album for one more spin.

Justin Avdek plays bass.  But Justin is a bass player like Paul McCartney is a bass player:  those two words only scratch the surface of what he can do (including playing a regular guitar quite well).  An ever questing curiosity and creativity have served him well for many years, recently used to shape the cosmic jazz pop of Earth Radio, and a long storied past with Hannah Rose and the Gravestones, the Underground Circus, Chordis Bell, and many more.  But recently Justin has been on a solo search for high lonesome sounds that get to the heart of our current anxious world, with the psychedelic Western drama of Songs for Cowboys (For People Who Aren't Cowboys). Justin is frequently funky, but these tunes are formal, stately, and somber, yet never less than riveting. 

Native of Ludington, resident of Grand Rapids, devoted family man, Eric Engblade seems like a friendly normal fella. But then he sings and the most surprising and versatile tenor voice tells you tales of ships, charlatans, harvests, and dinosaurs, all crafted from an inexhaustible block of creativity like horseshoes on an anvil.  Part one is out, to be followed by parts two and three, of Plant Our Trees, an epic song cycle following one family through a lifetime of joy and pain and living lives connected by blood and water.  But there are so many more tunes, going back a dozen years or more to the days of his band Northern Skies.  Step right up, don't be shy, and buy into what Eric Engblade is selling. 

Wheatland bios 2025

Dan Hazlett has a lot of technical skills, as a producer, engineer, businessman, and writer, but he never loses sight of what it's all for:  human connection, of both the heartfelt and humorous kind. With a lived in voice, a delicate pair of hands on the guitar, and a pair of red high top sneakers, Dan has been making audiences laugh, think, and feel for more than 30 years, across eight albums and thousands of miles. Whether for local folks or big shots, Dan Hazlett has a song for every season. 

Joel Mabus sings and plays very traditionally, but listen closely:  that timeless tune on his tongue may be one he's written himself, or it may be from two centuries ago.  Raised on the low lonesome gospel of the southern Illinois river bottomlands, Joel comes by his folk music credentials through both birthright and hard-won scholarship across 50 years in Michigan and beyond.  From mountain banjo to jazz guitar, topped off by vocals telling the whole truth, Joel Mabus and his 28 albums of bright music for dark times are your resource for soul regeneration.   

It can seem odd to see Alex Teller in full color and not in sepia tones.  The Lansing based troubadour's warm, lived in voice and guitar tones evoke a distant American past, and times not necessarily simpler but certainly less frenetic. Born in Florida, raised on Long Island, and having lived in both the frigid north and the arid southwest, Alex has a unique perspective on the American dream. Living is hard but always worth it in Alex Teller's songs, and love is right around the corner, hopefully bearing fresh baked biscuits.

Grace Theisen has learned to stop apologizing for being herself.  She will take up a lot of space, in fact she will wear heels. Her name is pronounced "Tyson," but she is not going to change it to make your life easier. She will revel in the sweet dirty Americana rocky twang sound she has settled on, smiling sweetly while spitting barbed wire. Grace returned from Nashville to Kalamazoo, when most alt country artists go the other direction, and will lead her own revolution of melody from here. Come down to the river with Grace Theisen, wild woman, and be baptized in your own power.

John D. Lamb has a background in journalism, and what that has meant for his music is songs that read well, give up their message easily and relatably, and reach for an absolute truth.  For over 30 years, John has hosted a songwriting retreat, where creativity is harnessed into craftsmanship over and over. From his days in raucous rock bands, John has taken the intensity and applied it to plainspoken folk rock, dealing with love, loss, addiction, and grace. John Lamb writes for himself first, but has certainly produced a varied and relatable body of work that anyone can get into and identify with.  When you get to the roots....dig deeper and find what you need. 

Steff Kayser is a student of humanity:  darkness and light, humor and gravity, celebrating the wins and commiserating with the losses. With a well weathered voice and a nimble pair of hands on the guitar, Steff spells out what it means to be alive in a time of fire and ice.  Ann Arbor has a wealth of talent, and since moving from Seattle, Steff Kayser has carved out a space all his own in which to pick, grin, and shine. 

The Rebel Eves are a phenomenon that can't be manufactured, it can only be homegrown.  Three women with their own thriving music careers have discovered that by banding together, they can reach new heights of relevance, creativity, and connection, breaking down barriers between where we are and where we need to go.  Grace Theisen, Katie Pederson, and Jilian Linklater have voices, in the physical sense and the songwriting sense, that dovetail perfectly, forming an unbreakable bundle of indelible melodies and shivery harmonies that are the opposite of otherworldly:  they ground the listener squarely in THIS world, in all the ways it's wonderful but needs to get better, because none of us are free and equal until all of us are free and equal.  The motto is "connection over perfection," but the Therapy Elves (long story) are already well ahead of the game, with nowhere to go but up. 

Like a lot of great musicians, Dana Cooper started out on a major label in the early 1970s.  Unlike a lot of great musicians, Dana Cooper has put in the work to stay here in the real world with us for all these years, riding the rising and falling waves of the music industry to get the art to the people who need it.  Through so many adventures in life and tunes, Dana has amassed an unparalleled sense of what we need to hear, a disarming blend of virtuosity and vulnerability delivered with undimmed eagerness and enthusiasm.  Thought experiment:  what if you had never heard of Willie Nelson or Lyle Lovett, and then suddenly they played in your town?  You owe it to yourself to discover the troubadour tales of Dana Cooper. 

Caroline Barlow has roots in North Carolina, and a childhood spent in France, but when it came time to make a life, northern Michigan was the place to settle down, a place to put down deep roots and let the fresh waters nurture the seeds she's sown, raising up bumper crops of American folk storytelling based in tradition but bound to no rules. An ever restless muse has her moving between solo work, the traditional folk of the North Carolines, and the boisterous Americana of Lucky 17. Somewhere in there, she finds the time to serve as artistic director and co-director of Blissfest, using her platform to lift up a raft of diverse voices, while always making sure to leave some time for her own voice to ring out and tell the stories that need telling.  Caroline Barlow is a song miner, and her resources will never run out. 

Haunted and haunting, the sound of Detroit singer-songwriter Audra Kubat is like none other. Audra has been bringing her keen and intelligent intensity, carved into songs like water wearing away canyon walls, to audiences for over 20 years.  Educator, activist, composer from a young age, she projects a deep wisdom beneath moody, atmospheric melodies. This is music from the hidden places between our dreams and our realities. Audra Kubat summons the sensation of tuning in forbidden frequencies when you should be sleeping, or working, or doing something other than dreaming.  But you must dream.

Psychedelic rock n roll confetti pie with twang rock and jelly roll, and that's only the beginning. Around in amorphous form since 2010, The Go Rounds are Drew Tyner, Sam Woldenburg, Charlie Millard, and Graham Parsons: the weirdest band you'll ever see people furiously dancing to, these high strung tone-warriors are here to make you feel/think/move/feel some more. Just when you think they're gone for outer space and never coming back, an achingly lovely melody, led by Parsons' astonishing vocal range, will emerge from the chaos. The Go Rounds must be experienced to be believed, and under the stars at a Michigan festival is the best way to do it.

Third Coast Swing has been playing the music of The late Belgium born Romani Gypsy, Django Reinhardt & his band, The Hot Club Of Paris 1930’-1940’s. Think Louis Armstrong with a French accent. Instrumental since 2020, the band has changed it up a bit and is currently touring with the Detroit native Dave Bennett, Violinist Grant Flick, Vocalist Ella Jury Jarvis & Pianist Andrew Henley. Ella and our guitarist Kaedin Plummer did a deep dive on early jazz classics by Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billy Holiday and then arranged these songs to fit Third Coast Swing's eclectic style. Dancing is not required, but highly encouraged.

SOTE: Molly, Temperances, Oberlin/Bacon, Schrocks, Kyle Joe

Molly has an intensity of purpose during performance that makes it hard to look anywhere else when she's singing. This intensity also feeds her playing, her activism, and her fierce love for her family, including husband Scott Schultz. This deep soul sound comes from years in the trenches playing for their lives.  Molly and Scott are both longtime veterans of the Grand Rapids music scene, through such acts as Vox Vidorra, Blue Molly, and Happy Hour, and very soon Molly's debut solo album, with Scott backing her up in every way possible.  New album, newish parents, and battles ahead both old and new: the Schultz family is fighting for themselves and all of us to have the lives we deserve. 

Sallie Bacon is a studious, classically trained bassist who teaches bass and viola at Triumph Music Academy in Grand Rapids.  Brian Oberlin is a master of the mandolin with a long history of playing bluegrass, folk, classical, and the kitchen sink fusion that was the band Grasshoppah, whom I saw several times back in the day.  As a couple since 2019, they have been mixing their chocolate and their peanut butter, finding ways to blend classical pieces, gypsy swing, and bluegrass knee slappers with disconcerting ease. What may not be clear from all these high class bona fides is that their music is FUN, even goofy sometimes.  She keeps him grounded, and he keeps her off her toes, and the sweet spot in the middle is where we are. 

In July 2023, there was a writers round performance at the Stray in Wyoming, featuring Olivia Vargas, Marley Kaye, Audrey Pearson, and Monte Pride.  With apologies to Mr. Pride, the other three could hear something special in the blend of their voices right away. After two other three headed shows in September and January, it was clear that this was a band, founded on shared principles of vulnerability, introspection, and reflection, not to mention otherworldly harmonies that left them grinning like idiots. In May 0f 2024, they officially launched as the Temperances, a melding of Olivia's soul sounds, Audrey's pop folk sunshine, and Marley's cloud of brooding indie music. In addition to the thriving solo careers of all three artists, the Temperances have become an outlet for the spirit of collaboration that runs through so much of the best Michigan music.  There are no recordings available yet, but we here tonight are in on the ground floor for a future full of thorny ideas expressed in the smoothest of sounds. 

Each of the three women in the Temperances have multiple skill sets and outlets for their creativity:  Marley and Audrey both work as sound engineers for the Stray in Wyoming, Olivia offers voice and piano lessons through her home studio, Audrey gives guitar lessons through Guitar Haven in Grand Haven, Olivia leads the soul-pop band August, Marley plays both as Marsfade and with her brother in the band Low Phase, and Audrey has a solo catalog to explore. Each artist has music available in the lobby, plus the Temperances are offering a set of three tarot cards exclusive to this show.  While you can't buy their music yet, you can take home an utterly unique souvenir of this evening.  

The Schrock Brothers, an Americana/blues/roots band from Fennville, has a slightly misleading name:  brothers Jasen and Andrew Schrock are invariably joined by their father, Mark, and frequently joined by a rotating cast of honorary brothers, including Michael Shimmin, Peter "Madcat" Ruth, and Terrence Massey, among others.  Slippery linguistics.  But what's beyond doubt is the honey sweet sound of chiming mandolins, strummed guitars, and glorious three part harmony served up on a bedrock of soul and respect for the audience.  Last year saw the release of their debut album (after over a decade as a band), Faith In Love, available everywhere, including the lobby. 

Kyle Joe is a quiet guy, friendly but reserved, likely to hang around the edges grinning and puffing a smoke while shenanigans ensue. But then he opens his mouth to sing, and the most beautiful damn tenor voice you ever heard delivers you songs ripped straight from a wounded but hopeful heart. If life since the Big Rona has knocked you around more than a little bit, you will find a sympathetic fellow traveler in the grooves of these records. Having played under the name Chain of Lakes for over a decade, the newly christened Kyle Joe is stepping out with a guitar, probably a hat of some kind, and a passion for the unvarnished truth at all times, whatever that looks like.

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. 

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. 

SOTE intros 5/19/24: Rose and Lockwood

 

Josh Rose has been a teacher, and coach, in Lowell for 21 years. He has raised a family and lived a life, still very much in progress. But he has an outlet for his deepest hopes and fears: music. These songs are crafted, not manufactured, like rows of canning jars in your grandma's basement. Or even better, like an oak table that serves a purpose beyond the beauty of its grain and finish.  Even his album titles hint at thoughtful construction: Firework Letdown, Slow Bloom, Old Laminate, and his latest, Foreverland.  Josh has a lot to tell you if you lend him an ear.

 

Max Lockwood is a thoughtful songwriter, but he also still believes in rock and roll, and doesn’t see any problem with pursuing both those muses.  Max has a plaintive voice reminiscent of Tom Petty, which has led to him leading the premier tribute band to the man, the Insiders.  His songs have a restless drive and a generous open spirit of sound, drawing from the deep American tradition while not being hidebound to it. When you look into the light, you can be blinded, but you can also be dazzled:  sing along when you can.

SOTE intros, 4/14/24: Bloomquists, Annagail

Ruth and Max Bloomquist have been performing top tier acoustic Americana for 45 years, with a consistency nearly unmatched in the Michigan music scene.  Back in 1973 they were both in a play together in Muskegon;  my roommate Carlton was dating Ruth at the time, and introduced them.  This may have been an error on his part. They formed the band Amaryllis with fellow legend Steve Reeths, with this 1986 cassette being a sample, and released Ruth's first CD of original compositions, Jewel Of My Heart, in 1997.  Since 2003, Ruth has won a number of songwriting competitions with her winsome melodies and great big voice.  Max is a smart man and hangs onto the wagon for dear life. All through the pandemic and beyond, Ruth and Max have been broadcasting a regular Saturday night livestream, bringing their homespun charm to multiple generations of new and old fans. And now we can be together in person once more, with the Michigan Girl and her tall slender fella.

Annagail is a band with a married couple at its core;  Jared and Jennifer Adams have been through hell and heaven together, and come back to us with tales of the journey.  Annagail started out as what might be called Christian contemporary music, but down the long road paved with gratitude and grief, through disease and fire and escaping Zeeland,  they have evolved into life-triggered, healthy agnosticism, and a sound best described as thinking man's Americana. Through 8 albums released since 2002, since the dissolution of their old band Satellite Soul, their songs show us joy and pain, and how to celebrate both.  You can trust, but you wanna verify. The only completely justified faith is that which we place in each other. 

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. 

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. 

SOTE Intros 11/12/23: Brooke, Elliott, Sygit

Rachel Brooke (Saginaw, MI) shows no mercy with her down-home twang, powerful stage presence and poetic lyricism. A seasoned songwriter who perfectly embodies the music of the American South but lives in the wilds of Michigan, Brooke is one of the most naturally talented up-and-coming artists in the world of country music and honkytonk, having won Outlaw Female 2023 at the Ameripolitan Music Awards. Once a player of punk, Rachel brings that energy to bear on while playing the hell out of her modern Americana. Our chairs do not have seat belts, so do your best to hang on, because here comes Rachel "Rattlesnake" Brooke.

Blake Elliott (Beulah, MI) effortlessly blends the present with the past to craft her own sweet recipe of jazz, blues, soul, and swing. Combined with her bright red lips and trademark vintage style, Elliott’s unique voice weaves throughout intricate melodies creating a nostalgic, yet modern sound entirely her own. Blake is a master collaborator, having played with the Robinson Affair, Elizabeth Landry, and most recently with Stonefolk, but a solo show weaves a smoky sweet spell all its own.  This is about as far south as this northern thrush ever comes, so please put away the birding binoculars and give Blake Elliott a listen.

Jen Sygit (Lansing, MI) wields a rare and powerful talent that seems equally comfortable performing ethereal folk tunes, crooning sultry swing numbers or soulfully belting gritty alt country ballads. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist who isn’t afraid to test boundaries and cross genres, Sygit’s music is sometimes traditional, sometimes contemporary, yet always imbued with a raw sense of honesty. Jen is also a longtime member of the female harmony trio Stella!, a rip roaring roll through the saltier side of roots music. Jen Sygit has respect for all, but reverence for none, so watch out for the sting in the tail of these stellar tunes. 

We want to thank these artists for sharing their music this evening.  Now if you clap really hard, not only will you save Tinker Bell, but you might persuade these three fine artists to come back up here and collaborate on a number or two. 

Rachael Davis bio attempt

Rachael Davis is felt before she is seen or heard, like a pressure drop or a disturbance in the force. The room suddenly gets...jollier.  Peals of uproarious laughter inevitably follow, from her and from those around her.  Exclamations of "HOLY CRAP!" descend like little hailstorms of love and mirth.  And when she stops telling stories about her beloved family or her crazy life long enough to sing a song, you feel the resonations of her deeply empathetic message deep in your subconscious:  this is music for healing, for realizing darkness exists but never letting it run your business.  For more than 30 years, starting back with her family band in the north woods of Michigan, for formative years in the Boston music scene, and continuing into the present as a beloved Nashville fixture, Rachael has been weaving orbs of commanding melody, ensnaring enraptured audiences around the nation, whether alone, or with any number of collaborators, including vocal nightingale trio the Sweet Water Warblers, and her husband Dominic John Davis, master of the bass (as opposed to bassmaster). Before you get the impression it's all fun and games....listen closer.  There is a serious dedication to craft in her near-operatic vocals, her guitar work, her banjo scholarship, and her commitment to the language and traditions of folk music, while pushing it to new fresh places. 

Rachael Davis recordings are few and far between, having dedicated more time to both the art of performance and the art of raising her frankly delightful children, but a few have escaped: Minor League Deities (2000), Live In Bremen, Germany (2004), Antebellum Queens (2008), Bandbox Jubilee (2014), plus releases with Shout Sister Shout! and The Sweet Water Warblers. And, great news, more recordings are coming very soon!  A new compilation called A Few Good Ones, available exclusively at tour dates for now, contains two unreleased songs from about a decade ago that were recently unearthed, and brand new sessions are under way for a (fingers crossed) 2024 release.  The world needs more Rachael Davis music, and Rachael Davis needs more of the world to put down their sorrows and raise a communal voice in celebration of the hilarious beauty of life.  You know how something embarrassing or awful happens, and we say, oh we'll laugh about it later?  Rachael knows life is short:  laugh now.

Bios for Sethstock

Brian Koenigsknecht is a gruff voice, a lot of denim, a scruffy beard, and a heart the size of Lake Superior.  From Kalamazoo he rides, singing songs of revered fathers and beloved daughters and the wild nights we used to have before we became halfway respectable.  Both intense and easygoing, Brian once learned a whole show's worth of covers of Michigan acts, including Seth's "Overhaul," and it was spectacular.  In two weeks Brian will release Blue Healer and the Ice Cream Headache, a joyful new EP looking outward instead of inward for a change.  Please welcome Brian for his first visit to the Alluvion stage.

Michael Beauchamp-Cohen is a chameleon, if chameleons worked exclusively in earth tones. Michael makes mostly hushed, folky music that traffics in ideas and emotions both universal and intimate, ruling nothing out in search of the truth.  Somewhere between Montana and Michigan lies the thread that connects the city and the country, the farm and the factory, the head and the heart.  Michael has been a bit quiet since the Rona, but for Seth, he will leave his undisclosed location and play a few songs for us.

Frank Youngman is an educator.  He can't help it.  He may be retired now, but if there's something cool to show someone, to help play better or write better, or, you know, live a better life, listening to Frank is never a bad idea. A whole lot of your favorite musicians hold Frank in the highest regard, not that he will toot his own horn.  Unless you hand him an actual horn.  He's living a life of genteel retirement with his wife Shelley, but he still gets the itch to perform, with the All Stars at Harvest, with Mark Schrock as Youngman and Oldman, and with the swingin' grooves of Jive at Five.  Let's listen to Frank and pretend we're kids in class again. 

Micah Middaugh has been fronting some version of beloved freak folk band Breathe Owl Breathe for 20 years, which is a lot of days and miles and moonlit nights, but Micah still has the passion for the little things that keep us awake and alive and ready to see what else is coming.  This is the sound of woodsmoke slowly rising above a northern forest cookstove while the cabin around you breathes and makes its own music. Winter is coming, bringing calm and psychic stillness, and I am as ready for it as Micah Middaugh. 

Chris Bathgate wants to feel the vibrations when music is made.  He often plays an ancient foot pump organ, and the wheeze of the bellows and the ka-thunk of the pedal is part of the harmony, part of the story. For a full half his life, Chris has shared his tales of peaches and vans and ghosts and long long highways with the showgoing public.  A Chris Bathgate show is an event, a word of mouth sensation, and a place you want to be.  And, for the next few songs, you are. 

Jake Robinson is a master luthier, the founder and host of Hoxeyville Music Festival, and a molten hot guitarist.  He has also partnered with Seth in the mighty summer beast known as Airborne or Aquatic? for nearly fifteen years.  When the Robinson family needed love and help, the community has risen up to support them in their time of need.  So Jake knows all about coming together for your people, and he is here for his brother Seth tonight.

Laurel Premo is a student of music, full stop.  Nothing is off limits in her quest to soak in every sound known to man and reflect them back to us through the prism of her prodigious talent.  Scandinavian folk?  Electric guitar?  Gossamer light folk played in a hushed sitting room?  Raucous rock and roll ringing out over the hill at last month's Harvest?  Laurel Premo has done it all, and will always seek more. Knowing traditions inside and out is just a stepping stone to forging your own traditions. 

Yes, there is that other guy out there who wears a costume and makes viral videos, but to the heads who know, Jarad Selner IS Saxsquatch.  Beyond the long running Saxsquatch and Bridge Band, Jarad has collaborated with Great Lakes Brass, Gregory Stovetop, Tri Magi, and of course Seth Bernard.  Beyond the beloved saxophone, Jarad is a skilled guitarist and drummer and whatever else you got. 

Samantha Cooper is the best musician we know for whom you can't buy an album.  A master collaborator and skilled violinist, she is all over records by Seth Bernard, Chris Bathgate, the Go Rounds, and so many others, including her Hearth and Hymn duo with Elisabeth Pixley Fink.  But her own songs, which will be released....someday, reveal a heart the size of the world, ready to fight injustice with love and blankets.  This is a woman who rewrote Charlie Chaplin's Smile to make it clear that you have a right to cry, to feel your feelings and let yourself heal in the doing.  Sam Cooper is special;  all the people on this stage know it, and someday the world will too.

Mike Savina is what's sometimes referred to as a "tone farmer".  In his sonic adventures playing under the name miglodesh, his ever restless muse is forever in search of new textures, tonalities, and modalities.  But to the layman, it all comes out as masterful guitar music crafted by a master carver of curved air. The venue we are sitting in shares a name with an EP of music Seth and Mike created together on Earthwork Farm under the name Ecotone.  The connections between these artists is strong and clear, and all around us.

Amber Hasan is a blazing fire made of human kindness.  Amber Hasan is a badass activist who loves living on the farm.  Amber Hasan is here, now, to shine a light on our weaknesses and celebrate our strengths.  Listening to Amber freestyle with Seth and Dan Rickabus on the precious artifact recording, Cedar Stage Surprise, is like hearing lightning not so much captured as redirected through the hearts of all those present. Amber Hasan is here for Seth, here for herself, and here for you.

Jonathan Timm debuted back in 2009 with an album written as a series of impressions of different cities around the nation: Chicago, Baltimore, Kalamazoo. and...Traverse City. But that restless spirit that led him to Nashville also led him back, to northern Michigan and the magic that is found in its fields, forests, and half forgotten byways. Jon also works with families affected by the autism spectrum, and the deep empathy such work requires naturally leaks into his deeply humanistic music. 

koipondcondo bio

Connor Gregory is koipondcondo, but koipondcondo is not Connor Gregory. It is dense, patient, atmospheric headphone-intensive sound in a world dominated by 30 second clips. It is an accessible slab of modern progressive music, recommended for fans of Tool or Porcupine Tree, but with a sweetness and clarity of purpose born in the unique collaborative environment of west Michigan. Debut EP, i:Know, released on Halloween 2022, was recorded with Kevin Kozel at Third Coast in Grand Haven, and mastered with Ian Gorman at La Luna in Kalamazoo. Planned as the first in a trilogy, it features a murderers' row of top players: Geoff Hansen (Melophobix, Shimmie Pearl) charting vocals, strings, and horns; also featuring Kevin Kozel, Dutcher Snedeker, Nate Hansen, Jordan Hamilton, Ashley Kooistra, Steve Harris, and in a tour de force master class of drumming, Scott Pellegrom. These epic compositions explore the nature of consciousness and understanding: what makes us...us? Connor's massive sonic ideas are made reality in these spiraling sonic tornadoes, dropping masterful instrumental interludes and vocal harmonies along their path like so many windborne Buicks. Come along for the ride: you may end up somewhere you never planned to go, but what a wild journey.

Harvest Gathering Bios 2023

It can seem odd to see Alex Teller in full color and not in sepia tones. The Lansing based troubadour's warm, lived in voice and guitar tones evoke a distant American past, and times not necessarily simpler but certainly less frenetic. Living is hard but always worth it in Alex Teller's songs, and love is right around the corner, hopefully bearing fresh baked biscuits.

Have you ever seen a herd of bassists raining thunder upon a defenseless northern meadow? Well, here's your chance.  Basses Loaded is a preposterous assemblage of as many bass players as possible, jamming their little four-string hearts out, en masse. This extremely rare phenomenon returns to Harvest Gathering after a 16 year absence. Are you ready to be rumbled?

Ditch Lily has a thing for loons. All their music pages feature donation links to help these beautiful but awkward and ungainly birds. And this is very much in character: Ditch Lily make handcrafted melodies that lurch and plink and bwang and do anything but what you expect. This is fun time music in the finest tradition of bedroom freak folk: as they put it, singalongs for the chronically sentimental. Albums available: Go Lightly (2020), By The Prairie Songs (2021), and numerous EPs and demos. James Champion, Willem Mudde, Zac Abid, Frankie Spring, and Leah Sienkowski make music with low stakes and high return on emotional investment. Come chill.

Elisabeth Pixley-Fink makes a lot of different noises: acoustic, electric, plaintive, strident, rockin', and soothing. But they all reflect a singular personality, a basic understanding that humans have emotional needs and they deserve to have them met. Whether making snotty garage rock with her brother, or tender minimalist folk with Sam Cooper (Hearth And Hymn, look for "Lullaby Bangers"), the sounds serve the story, and the story is what's in her heart, and yours. Available from the Kalamazoo bred, Ann Arbor based artist: the landmark Bloodroot (2013) and, later this year, the long awaited, triumphant Heartskin. Get in loser, we're going crying.

Emilee Petersmark has a central, semi-secret motivation: she's always angry. That doesn't mean she's not friendly or pleasant; it means she burns with compassion for the wronged and contempt for the wrongers. And she spares no wrath for herself, looking inward with razor sharp clarity, since only by exposing our uglier emotions can we come to terms with them, and move on to a healthier outlook. Though the Crane Wives are still very much a thing, Emilee will be stepping forward soon with a stunning set of solo songs, and this is your chance to hear them before most of the world. Come take a peek into the soul of a fierce and restless heart.

Emily Rose has been crafting her worlds in miniature for almost twenty years, and a whole village of songs rises above her, with eight Detroit Music Awards as tangible proof. Dense lyrical thickets and intricate guitar work are the building blocks of melancholic melodies that haunt all the forgotten corners of her native Detroit. These songs defend the powerless and sing the unsung. Available: Cocoon Stew (2009), Porchlight Tragical (2011), Wake Up Brave (2018), and numerous EPs and singles, including the new heartbreaker "Alma", as well as a book of poetry, Cemetery Tea Party. Accompanying Emily is Audra Kubat, a fiery and imposing presence who howls and croons with twenty years of earned intensity. These friends have collaborated often, the yin and yang of honey and vinegar making the best dang aural salad around.

Eric O'Daly, late of Ann Arbor's Appleseed Collective, paints aural pictures of places and times and moments spent and misspent, and sings them in an astonishing vocal range. Stepping out on his own solo, Eric is bravely mining his past and his present for the American music of the future. Debut EP, Catching Light, released last year to glowing reviews. Take heart and take flight across the indigo sky with a singular voice of crystal clarity.

Fake Baseball, having arisen from the Kalamazoo swamp, is living proof that deep weirdness still has a place in the hearts of the people. Like a heartland Beefheart with a big dollop of Thundercat, this is music to make you confused about how hard you're dancing. The roost is ruled by Maggie Heeren (vocals, guitar production, engineering), with Adam Danis of the Go Rounds (guitar, vocals), Jarad Selner of the Saxsquatch and Bridge Band (saxophone, percussion), Grayson Nye of Lushh (keys), Ethan Bouwsma (drums) and Matt Milowe of Cold Mountain Child (bass). Those assigned roles are by no means rigid, and on the amazing 2022 record, In With The Id Crowd, instruments are swapped and voices are blended with dizzying ease. Come bathe in a dreamscape conjured by eating rich food way too late at night. Come get drafted into Fake Baseball: they're way out of our league.

Tom and Angela Sheppard make meditative folk rock that whispers of the intersections between urban and rural, between the inner world and the wider horizon. Classical training harnessed to whimsy and adventure makes FeRn Whale a unique experience.

Funktion is a loose crew of Kalamazoo groove devotees, constructed around main man Andrew Schrock and the mighty horn of Terrence Massey, that has convened at more or less regular intervals since 2007 to bring you the hot sweaty funk and roll you didn't know you needed.

The music of G'itis Baggs has to be heard, preferably either live or through really good headphones, to be comprehended. Robust yet plaintive, fragile and built to last, ephemeral flourishes tied inextricably to rock solid melodies, with doodling all over the margins. A one time member of the Go Rounds, Kalamazoo's Grant Littler IS G'itis Baggs, and he is here to turn your world gently on its side and shake till the snow floats through the water. New single "Wounded Love" is out now, and an epic all star album is slated for release this year. Who is G'itis Baggs? Open your mind and come find out.

Grace Theisen has learned to stop apologizing for being herself. She will take up a lot of space, in fact she will wear heels. Her name is pronounced "Tyson," but she is not going to change it to make your life easier. She will revel in the sweet dirty Americana rocky twang sound she has settled on, whether you liked her old politer songs or not. She returned from Nashville to Kalamazoo, and will lead her own revolution of melody from here, thanks. Come down to the river with Grace Theisen, wild woman, and be baptized in your own power. Also,check out her new girl band, the Rebel Eves, when they come to your town. Now available from Grace Theisen: Down to the River EP (2021) and four new singles; the Rebel Eves' album is coming soon.

HuDost is music for passing between worlds: city and country, east and west, heaven and earth, Montreal and North Carolina. Moksha Sommer and Jemal Wade Himes bring love and light to a driving world music sound that makes room for the entire spectrum of human emotional experience. Also activists fighting extreme poverty, HuDost seeks a better world through the spreading of both melody and advocacy. Like a Charles de Lint novel come to life, this is folk music for a new age. Albums available: Eastern Rose Garden (2005), Seedling (2006), Trapeze (2009),Waking The Skeleton Key (2010), 4th Way Folk (2013), The Word Is... (2015, a collaboration with Steve Kilbey and featuring Jon Anderson of Yes), Sufi Kirtan (2015), Of Water+ Mercy (2019), and Anthems of Home (2021).

The music of Jessica Wolfbird is at once soothing, in its gentle evanescent permanence, and overwhelming, as in the sheer volume of material this classically trained free spirit has produced over the decades, also under the names Cloudlight and Jessica In the Rainbow. Newly rechristened Wolfbird, Jessica (based in St. Joseph) steps forward with a new focus, a renewed vigor, but happily the same dreamy voice and piano. New album, Everything's True, coming summer 2023.

In addition to her restless genre-hopping music, Jo Serrapere works as a psychotherapist. That may be why, even as you grin and stomp along with the good time music, universal emotional truths are whizzing by your head like lovingly blown poison darts. The sound this year will be primarily western swing and country inspired, showcasing Jo's original songs and country classics. Come on up to the farm for a hoedown of intimate proportions. New double album, first in seven years, coming soon!

Kait Rose is always moving, always restlessly propelling herself toward the next sung note, the next strummed chord; if you tied her feet together, I'm not sure she could play. That kinetic energy plays itself out across her music, a kind of Americana with a spiked brontosaurus tail, a land of wanderers and bad mothers and awe at the vastness of the universe. Never one thing, Kalamazoo's Kait also plays with the All American Funk Parade, tributes to Bob Dylan and Fleetwood Mac, and a newly launched Shania Twain revue. But her original tunes, introspective, haunting, and utterly original, keep you going back to the beginning of the album for one more spin. Seven albums to date, most recent being Balance (2022).

Kate Pillsbury tells the truth. The absolute truth. At all times. If she's being very quiet, it's because you don't need to hear it. But if she's singing it loud and clear, reverberating from the rooftops, best you pay attention and learn something, possibly about her, possibly about yourself. After being gifted a guitar by her songwriter dad as a teenager, she has followed her muse where it leads, primarily as co-leader of Grand Rapids' beloved Crane Wives. But songs have piled up that don't quite fit the band, more personal or sonically different, and Kate will soon let these out of her voice memos and into our heads and hearts via a solo album. On the farm this September we will have the rare chance to hear this emotional music, crooned or howled with fury, but always absolutely the gawds honest truth. Kate Pillsbury is coming out of her shell, and the shards will pierce the veil between you and the lies you tell yourself.

Kevin and Sierra LaRose, of Kingsley, began doing livestreams during the Rona as Our Selves, and are now stepping out into the world as LaRose. Sierra is an herbalist and educator; Kevin, an Interlochen alumnus, spent five years in the Lansing funk band The Blue Effect, and also plays with StoneFolk. These diverse influences are distilled down into folk music as pure as a northern Michigan stream.

You know what they say about books and covers. When Loren Johnson starts singing, you may be surprised by the deep warm rich sound that comes out of her slight frame, like being submerged in jalapeno honey. Her epic new album, years in the making, is called How To Change, and it's sprinkled with signposts, signifiers, and naked vulnerability about navigating to a place where your life should go, and how to cope once you get there. Loren, also a world class photographer, operates Sunfire Studios, an incubator of creativity for music, wellness, and imagery. Also available are 2 EPs: Into The Morning (2020) and Sleepsick (2016). Loren Johnson is a chronicler of the journey her mind takes while finding a better way to be home and free. Listen in.

miglodesh sounds like an ancient word, one that conjures up ancient rituals or sacred texts. But it was invented as a stage name for guitar wizard Mike Savina, to give his woozy sonic explorations a bit more exotic mystique.  (Mike is a perfectly good name, for the record.) miglodesh recordings conjure up arcane rituals performed under full moons, and miglodesh live performances melt faces as gently and melodically as possible. Time will only tell where this devotional dance music will end up, but come on out to the farm and get in on the ground floor.

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).

Moss Manor is a name that conjures a feeling: being enveloped, ensorceled, engulfed in the deep green of nature, usually but not always benevolent. Moss Manor is a Michigan supergroup comprised of three tall fellows with magnificent hair: Seth Bernard, activist tunesmith; Michael Dause, of Treeskin, and proprietor of TreeTone Studios; and Dan Rickabus, human grin/Crane Wives drummer. This music developed and circulated during the pandemic as a way to process some of that experience: the isolation, the return to nature, the rediscovery of free time, and the making of music for its own sake. And now, freed from their homes, Moss Manor is learning how to play their intricate songscapes in a live setting. Come on out and watch them construct a tower of melody in a very green world. Self titled album available now.

Nathan Walton touched down with a splash, on the big American Idol TV show. But since then, he has proven, over and over, that he can swim home on his own. A voice that conjures up hard times and good vibes, hard living and thanks-giving. A band, the Remedy, that is just stacked with talent from top to bottom, the prime vehicle to drive these messages home all night. Nathan Walton has the remedy for what ails ya with his pure American music. Available: Nathan Walton EP (2018), Childlike (2019), Nathan Walton and the Remedy (2021), Daybreak (2022) and Nightdrive (2022). From a growl to a whisper, from a gentle strum to a soulful roar, this is music for a great night out.

Normal Mode, three bespectacled young jazz wizards from Grand Rapids, wear a lot of NASA gear while performing. This is fitting, since their ethereal yet earthy sound is best heard in a planetarium as much as on a concert stage. You're bopping along, digging the groove, when you suddenly find yourself in outer space, hanging with Pluto: the planet or the dog, take your pick. Dutcher Snedeker on the keys, Ian Thompson on the bass, and Nathan Coles on the drums. Debut album, Downlink, escaped to the ionosphere at the end of 2021.

PHABIES is a name that leaves you no idea what to expect. Sounds kinda punk. Then the needle drops on their full length debut, "Fire Seed," and the sky around you explodes with technicolor visions of wildly growing vegetation and emotional kaleidoscope Rorschach tests. Laura Hobson leads this Grand Rapids quintet with a high winsome voice and a strong hand on the creative rudder, spinning an aesthetic that owes as much to Celine Dion as it does modern alternative rock. In short, this music has to be experienced, as an inoculation against cynicism, and a celebration of the fever dream of life.

Laik Abernathy Uticone, an extremely capable young human from Ithaca, NY, crafts music under the name Positive Wonderland, because that is what they hope to create on this earth: a DIY paradise of practical love and impractical dreams. In life, we must run toward the storm, toward the sunlight, toward the future. And sometimes barter with chickens.

Rachael Davis is a big personality with a huge voice. She might punch you in the shoulder within minutes of meeting you. She might fill a room with raucous, contagious laughter, both her own and yours. And she might bring you to your knees with her astonishing voice as it soars, whispers, pleads and demands your attention. Deep Michigan roots, Nashville's gain is our loss, but music travels everywhere. Albums available: Minor League Deities (2000), Live In Bremen, Germany (2004), Antebellum Queens (2008), Bandbox Jubilee (2014), plus releases with Shout Sister Shout! and The Sweet Water Warblers.

Liam Robinson and Jean Rohe have been combining their wondrous powers into a reliable source of neo-folk goodness for fifteen years now, with no signs of slowing down. They may live in Brooklyn, but their sound evokes mountain streams, barn raisings, and tasty casseroles. If that sounds snoozy, listen closer: these lyrics are sharp enough to draw blood if you don't handle them wisely. Each has an impressive list of accomplishments away from the duo, but together Robinson and Rohe create unforgettable magical melodies meant to burn like an autumn campfire. New album, Into The Night, now available from Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe Records.

John Mark Hanson is the driving force behind Saltbreaker, an organic ambient musical project that aims to tell tales and weave sonic tapestries that transport you great distances, all without the use of lyrics. The unique aspect of Saltbreaker is its acoustic approach to a genre often dominated by soulless bleeps and bloops. This is music for chilling out while lying face up in a woodland meadow, looking for shapes in the clouds. Brand new EP, Root Sugars, released last month. Come find your bliss on the farm with Saltbreaker.

When you're in a room with Sarena Rae, you know it. She has a huge multi-octave voice, a magnetic presence, a compelling story to tell, and about six foot something worth of the space around you. But it's what she does with what she's been given that draws you in: with confessional original songs and well-curated covers, she spins stories of her life, her times, and her hopes for the future we all have to share. Sarena is also the founder and driving force behind Music That Raised Us, a stunning revue of songs detailing the history of Black women in American song, from Ma Rainey through Billie Holiday right up to today, that has been performed at numerous venues around Michigan, and will be again. Available: Heaven EP (2020) and holiday EP River (2022). Sarena Rae will make you open your eyes wide, and match her outpouring of joy into the room around you both.

Sari Brown is actually one of the original Earthwork Music artists, having released her debut, For What Is The Journey, in 2004 at the age of 17. Now she has released The Holy Broken Heart, her third, this year. But in between, hoo boy, some detours did occur. She became an ordained minister, lived in Colombia for many years, had a child, and served as a pastor in Michigan's Thumb. Now back in her home of Ann Arbor, she has taken all those miles and the wisdom (and questions) accumulated along the way and poured it into The Holy Broken Heart, a more mature and grounded work that is still unmistakably that same precocious poetic voice. These are songs for the healing of hearts, yours and her own. Sari Brown: the prodigal bird has returned to the promised land.

Sierra Skye Baker is an experience. Ethereal vocals and delicate guitar float toward you on gossamer wings of melody, emanating from an unusually accomplished and poised young performer. She sees the beauty in the world and lets you rediscover it with your own eyes and ears. She can deliver a trusty standard, or make up a new song on the spot (seen it happen). Performances notable for the space between the notes as much as the notes themselves: the perfect festival immersion. Set em free, let em be.

Sl!m Pickins String Band is a 4 piece mobile hootenanny from northern Michigan, just a year old, coming in to give us some of that old time folky goodness with a lot of energy and enough grinning to make a Cheshire cat jealous. Matt Zimmerman, Joe Lattimore, Trent Breithaupt, and Kevin Gills will be giving us the business down on the farm.

Americana this ain't: you may be seeing the Idiot Kids play in a barn or a field, but notice how the cornstalks bend away from the sheer force of the monolithic glam punk sound. Chill out elsewhere, because when the Idiot Kids are playing, you will be dancing madly with a big dumb grin on your face. Proud inheritors of the tradition of loud n snotty Detroit rock n roll in the spirit of the Stooges and the MC5, with art pop flourishes and hardcore energy. Come rock out with us. Jon-Mikal - Guitar/Vocals Nicholas Zambeck - Bass Andrew Maslowsky - Drums/Vocals Latest EP: Nothing (2021).

The Schrock Brothers, an Americana/blues/roots band from Fennville, has a slightly misleading name: brothers Jasen and Andrew Schrock are invariably joined by their father, Mark, and frequently joined by a rotating cast of honorary brothers, including Michael Shimmin, Peter "Madcat" Ruth, and Terrence Massey, among others. Slippery linguistics. But what's beyond doubt is the honey sweet sound of chiming mandolins, strummed guitars, and glorious three part harmony served up on a bedrock of soul and respect for the audience. New debut album (after over a decade as a band), Faith In Love, available everywhere.

The Thirties deal in what they consider "educated angst": short sharp shocks of rock n roll, all push no pull, lean as a whippet, leaving only what they need to drive their melodies ice pick deep. This is the sound of Marquette when you make it angry. Available: Twenty Eighteen (2019) and No Future, Tell The Kids (2021). Raymond Little, Liam Joyce and Marv Kantola come together to rock the distant conifers, and also your town.

Whorled may be based out of Grand Rapids, but it sounds like the whole world. Elements of Irish, African, Japanese, and American bluegrass music twirl around the room as they play, melodic elements dancing the do-si-do with each other and coming together in a way that's vibrantly alive. Thom Jayne has been making music since the 70s with a hard-to-categorize blend of African, celtic, jazz, and Latin influences; Keala Venema is a multi-instrumentalist who plays fiddle, guitar, piano, mandolin, ukulele, tin whistle and Irish drum; and Mariko Venema has studied piano since age 5, but now makes it her quest to master, and teach, the humble accordion. Available: Reimagined (2023). Already the winner of multiple awards, Whorled has nowhere to go but up, out, and everywhere.

Ovation Awards 2023

 John Bommarito is looking out for you.  He brings his passion for music, especially Michigan music, to the airwaves with an evangelistic fervor belied by his gentle public radio tones.  Having caught the bug as a teenager, a long career in Ann Arbor radio has brought John a reputation as a tastemaker, an advocate, and a mentor. It's said that John's passion for music can only be matched by his love of helping people enjoy and discover the soundtrack to their lives. John is behind the scenes at WEMU these days, but a generation of radio industry professionals and discerning listeners have benefited from his stewardship of the airwaves.  If you love that new band, or discovered that old song you never knew before, and you heard it on 107one or the Q or Acoustic Alternatives, then John has been a small part of your life.  Acoustic Alternatives can be found every week on YouTube, usually live on Sunday mornings, and as a podcast on your favorite player.  We honor him tonight for his knowledge, his encouragement and recognition of artistic excellence, and his unceasing support for the music of our state.  

Chip and Karen VanKlompenberg had an idea.  They saw an ancient auto repair place on far south Division Avenue, and they envisioned a unique haven for relaxation and entertainment.  After a lot of hard work, the Stray opened, and a lot more hard work has made it the most exciting up and coming venue in west Michigan.  A coffee house, a cafe, a place for respectful enjoyment of great local musicians, the Stray can accommodate all, whether you're parked in the back with your laptop all day or queued up at the door for a night out.  The Stray's model takes in both free shows made up of rising talents, and ticketed shows with your favorite established artists, all of whom are served the same hot coffee, cold beer, and tasty food.  The emphasis is always on striving for the best experience possible, from the comfortable furniture to the well equipped stage to the walls festooned with local art for sale to the professional team producing the shows, including musician Marley Ferguson as the sound tech and Chip and Karen's son Hunter doing the booking. Chip takes special delight in asking performers insightful questions during the shows:  be ready, no two are the same!  Everyone who discovers the Stray makes plans to come back again.  Chip and Karen earned this award by giving us a space to dream in.

Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert never stops moving.  As a lifelong dancer, she can't sit still for long, always finding new outlets for her energy, and the biggest grandest outlet yet is Sounds of the Zoo, Michigan's newest and most ambitious festival:  an entire week of programming, at various venues throughout Kalamazoo, all absolutely free to the public.  Having worked as a performer, a choreographer, a booking agent, and an event coordinator, Jen saw an opportunity to put all her passions into one cauldron and stir with a big stick.  With the help of enthusiastic sponsors and a dedicated team, notably including photographer Chelsea Whitaker, an entire week of autumn 2022 saw the air of the city filled with music of every genre, in locations ranging from intimate taverns to hotel lobbies to the huge stage at Bronson Park. Planning has already begun to bring Sounds of the Zoo back in a big way this year, with a focus on Michigan music, but open to all.  Look for performances by her band, Jenuine, and keep your eye on what she does next....if your eye can follow how fast she moves.

Nate Dorough gets artists.  And he gets them on a stage, in front of you, as quickly and efficiently as possible.  From his earliest days booking house shows in Livingston County, through moves into Blue Collar Booking, Fusion Shows, Audiotree Presents, and now Kickstand Productions, the odds are very good you've attended a bill that Nate put together.  Booking and promoting were incredibly difficult before, with the economic pressures felt by artists, venues, and attendees, then covid turned all that up to 11, but Nate kept the fires burning, and returned to giving us our money's worth as soon as he possibly could.  Also during Covid, Nate found a pile of money in the Livingston Underground account that he put back into community charities, proving that the musical community gives as well as it gets.  Nate is renowned for his transparency, his honesty, and his unflagging enthusiasm for your band on that stage in that town.  Nate Dorough earned this award by being one of the good ones.

Ovation Awards 2022

 Scott Hammontree and Michelle Hanks:

March 2020:  the hammer comes down.  Suddenly it’s unsafe and insane to go about your life the way you have been, in the proximity of strangers, and no one is more affected than music venues, with the tightly packed camaraderie of a sold out crowd.  Scott Hammontree, 20 year veteran operating partner at the Intersection, and Michelle Hanks, who, with her husband Gary, nine years ago converted a Masonic Temple into Seven Steps Up, a premier listening room experience, both knew they were in trouble unless they got creative and circled the wagons.  Scott, who has since become president of the Michigan Independent Venue and Promoter Association, worked tirelessly to unite venues in the same predicament to present their woes with a united voice, and thus helped secure funding through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, and through a campaign called Save Michigan Stages.  Michelle was an active partner in those efforts, and also successfully landed a grant from the Live Music Society to keep the doors open at Seven Steps Up, an intensely beloved Spring Lake institution.  In 2022, both venues are once again thriving, if not quite back to business as before, and it is due in no small part to the tenacity and vision of Scott Hammontree and Michelle Hanks.  When there is no voice to speak for you, you raise your own voice to the sky.

Yolonda Lavender:

When the global pandemic threatened to end music as we know it, Yolonda Lavender was already in a position to do something about it…several positions, in fact.  She serves as the Stryker Johnston Foundation’s Grant Program & Partnerships Director, and as such can make a direct impact on applicant organizations, including musical ones.  As the founder of Soul Artistry LLC, she specializes in experience curating, artistry development, nonprofit and self care consulting. Her areas of focus are the underserved Black, indigenous, and people of color serving nonprofits.For 7 years, her small business has created opportunities for artists to showcase their work and earn an income; these artists might not otherwise have a platform to exhibit their artistic abilities. Yolonda is out in the community of Kalamazoo, advocating artistic development and self care.  She is also an accomplished artist in her own right, having released a Christmas album last year.  Yolonda is an advocate and activist who takes pride in using her artistry to spread the messages of peace and love and to promote social justice all in an effort to evoke change.

Dogtown Studio:'

Dogtown Studio, the brainchild of Robby Fischer and Tito Mendoza, was off and running.  In the first few months of 2020, these skilled videographers were everywhere, working with seemingly every local act to provide high quality calling card videos, for a fee of anywhere from free on up to what could be afforded.  There was even a huge showcase with 14 bands at Third Coast Studios;  things were looking as good as can be.  But then, well, you know what happened.  And Dogtown was already in place to keep the music coming.  Artists were able to record videos, or stream live, from Dogtown’s unique and special space on the Grand Rapids riverfront, keeping their sound and image accessible to fans, even opening some new doors by working with the established and unique Dogtown brand and style.  How many of those intimate sessions, strewn with white Christmas lights, did you watch at home on the couch, hoping for a time you could go out again?  Dogtown kept the music coming, and kept the dream alive. We’re lucky these boys from Flushing came here to do their thing.

Stay In Your House Shows:

When the curtain fell hard on live music in March 2020, the need for performance to enrich our lives didn't go away. So people found creative ways to fill it, and among the first off the starting block was Emilee Petersmark, co-leader of the Crane Wives, and her partner, Korey Schnell. Most live shows went dark after March 12,2020; that was literally the date the Facebook page went up for this new venture, designed as a safe way to get your favorite west Michigan artists into your eyes and ears. The first show, with understandable glitches and learning curves, went live eight days later. And for the next 14 Fridays, $8,300 in tips was raised to help keep food on the table for vulnerable artists. Stay In Your House Shows was based on the notion that everyone had a right to safety, artists and audience alike. Said Emilee at the time: "I hope people take away that where there’s a will there’s a way. We are very much not throwing in the towel. We want to fight to survive, and to continue to bring music to the people. So I would hope that people feel inspired to find more workarounds in their own lives." Eventually venues figured out safety protocols, or moved music outdoors, so the labor intensive streaming shows stopped....but if ever sadly needed, they could easily come back. Thank you to Emilee and Korey for seeing a need, and filling a need.

Ralston Bowles:

Ralston Bowles has been a tireless supporter of other artists across his long career, often wandering the crowds during their shows selling their CDs from under his coat.  He has a reputation for always putting up and coming young Michigan artists before himself.  When tragedy struck his family, enough songs were secured for a fundraising double album within two days.  And the support goes on, with Ralston curating and doggedly promoting the Tuesday Night Music series at Meijer Gardens, where the local acts dominate the big league stage.  This award is to celebrate Ralston’s unstoppable passion for truth telling music, both his own and that of others, and of his efforts to make sure it gets heard far and wide.

 

Listening Room "Green Room Award": 

Since its doors were opened in October 2019…and then closed in March 2020…and then opened again in August 2021, the Listening Room in Studio Park has developed a reputation as the finest place to play, and really be heard, in Grand Rapids.  And that experience holds true for the artists as much as for the audiences.  This Green Room Award is presented in recognition of the exemplary treatment all artists receive from the impassioned staff, whether local, national, or international.  Led by Quinn Mathews and Cassie Betten, the crack team in the Listening Room makes sure all your needs are met (within reason, no one is sorting your M&Ms). From the ninja waiters to the skilled sound technicians to the friendly bartenders, everyone is committed to the smooth delivery of a good time.  They will even lift the really heavy piano onto the stage for you.  No one leaves the Listening Room without feeling what a remarkable place it is, and that goes for the artists who play there as well.