Fauxgrass, Brotha James win play-in contest for Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival

In a close vote, the acts vying to play the Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival topped nine other diverse West Michigan bands and solo artists during a jam-packed Friday event at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum.

 

For bands and solo artists competing Friday night in the play-in contest for the 2016 Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival, it seemed only apropos that tracks from The Crane Wives’ yet-to-be-released new studio album were wafting from speakers before performances and between sets.

After all, many of these acts would love to take the same upward trajectory as the popular Grand Rapids folk-rock band which has cultivated a devoted West Michigan audience while spreading its wings regionally by touring from New York to Colorado over the past year or so. The Crane Wives will even play the Fretboard Festival’s kick-off concert.

In the end, two of the evening’s 11 competitors – Grand Rapids progressive bluegrass outfit Fauxgrass in the acoustic category and Elk Rapids’ one-man looping whiz Brotha James in electric – earned a little slice of glory when judges selected them as winners in their respective divisions in remarkably tight voting to earn a coveted spot in March’s Fretboard Festival being held at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum (and earning a $300 honorarium to boot).

But for all of the musicians, the museum’s capacity crowd of 100-plus, the panel of four judges and organizers, the
evening event could only be termed a success, considering the wealth and diversity of regional talent being showcased on a single night and the upbeat vibe of the play-in contest.

“Everybody’s having fun back there,” Kalamazoo Valley Museum special events coordinator and chief organizer Chris Falk said at one point, referring to the musicians backstage. “They’re saying, ‘I don’t even care if I win. I’m having such a fun time.’ ”

KALAMAZOO FRETBOARD FESTIVAL CONTEST ATTRACTED DIVERSE TALENT

While the musicians – who were selected for the play-in contest from 55 entries considered by judges – certainly did care, they also reveled in the musical camaraderie that flowed through the evening competition and marveled at some of the stellar performances on stage, including 13-year-old blues guitar phenom Sammy Melchi who plays left-handed (on an upside-down right-handed guitar).

The competition featured:
• Jo Pie Whyld, of Kalamazoo, a “freak folk” singer-songwriter who delivered her inventive indie-folk on ukulele and guitar with standup bassist Joe Lucas;

• Kalamazoo acoustic guitarist Matthew Borr who reinvented some well-known musical passages on guitar, intertwining them deftly his own genre-melding material;

• Kalamazoo troubadour Brian Koenigsknecht, whose emotion-drenched voice perfectly matched his compelling, melancholy-hued songs in poignantly beautiful fashion;

• Veteran West Michigan bluegrass trio Full Cord (Todd Kirchner, Eric Langejans and Nate Roberts) who lit up the stage with their cheerful acoustic strains, trading licks and showing off some striking harmonies;

• The Kalamazoo area’s folk- and Americana-tinged Smallmouth Band, which started off its set with a John Prine classic before moving to original material based on poetry written by Michigan farmers (a band with real heart that has raised thousands of dollars for charities over the past nine years);

• Grand Rapids’ Fauxgrass – Jason Wheeler, Adam Balcer, Tim McKay and Alex Johnson – who proved its winning mettle from the outset with audience-pleasing, rapid-fire bluegrass charm on “Lay This Hammer Down” – which these players certainly did appropriately enough, not only with their musicianship but their vintage harmonies as well.

• Kalamazoo’s King Median, an emerging psychedelic pop/rock act that rolled out its dreamy strains with lilting sonic etherealness and vigor;

• Sammy Melchi’s Generations Band from Three Rivers, which spotlighted the talents of reserved but jaw-
dropping Sammy Melchi, a self-taught, left-handed, 13-year-old electric guitarist who only picked up the instrument a few years ago and already exhibits polished fire on bluesy rock classics ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Cream (via Robert Johnson);

• Brotha James, aka Jeremy Reisig of Elk Rapids (and one-time member of Kalamazoo’s Funktion), who wowed the audience with his multi-instrumental looping skills on a song from his latest album, “Animal,” not mention his engaging personality and stage presence ,which captivated fans and even got them to play percussion and participate in an entertaining call-and-response segment;

• Grand Rapids’ Desmond Jones which proved its progressive jazz sensibility while rolling out infectious jam-band strains with exuberance, humor and originality;

• Grand Rapids’ Hey Marco! which uncorked a dance party atmosphere to close out the competition, delivering soulful and funky, head-bobbing pop music that displayed influences ranging from Michael Jackson to Steely Dan to Stevie Wonder.

In the end, all of it – eleven regional acts showcased within a three-hour period – gave an engaged audience a refreshing peek into the extensive talent and diversity of West Michigan’s music scene. Check out the photo gallery below.

For more about the upcoming Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival – which takes place March 4-5 and features artists such as Joel Mabus, Neil Jacobs, The Red Sea Pedestrians, Nicholas James & The Bandwagon, Megan Dooley and others – visit kvcc.edu/fretboard.

PHOTO GALLERY: Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival Play-In Contest
Photos by Derek Ketchum (Jo Pie Whyld photo by John Sinkevics)

Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC