The Kari Lynch Band plays The Back Forty Saloon Friday and Saturday nights.
Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Garth Brooks.
Those are some of the iconic artists who inspired Kari Lynch as a child in Clare, Mich., paving the way for what would become her central focus, her passion, her calling.
Now in her mid-20s, the Grand Rapids-based singer-songwriter leads the Kari Lynch Band, an up-and-coming outfit that’s become one of West Michigan’s most popular country music groups.
“It’s just the style of music I fell in love with,” says Lynch, a 2010 graduate of Grand Valley State University. “It sort of hit me the hardest when I was growing up.”
She attests that she delivers “an older-style sounding country voice,” though she’s also been compared to Carrie Underwood and Kimberly Perry of The Band Perry, for whom the Kari Lynch Band has had the honor of opening several times.
The band – Lynch, Ryder Jones (guitar), Matthew Kok (guitar), Sam Briggs (drums) and Jacob Meekhoff (bass) – released a self-titled EP (“Kari Lynch”) last year and plans to return to the studio in the near future to record a new single. And, of course, “another album is in our future,” says Lynch, adding that the band wants to take its time with its next big recording project. “We want to do it right.”
The band also hopes to eventually make its mark in Nashville, where it regularly spends time making contacts and otherwise exploring its musical future.
On Wednesday, Lynch, Ryder, Kok and Briggs popped into the studios of News Talk 1340 AM (WJRW) for my Local Spins Live segment and performed an acoustic version of the original tune, “Gettin’ Gone,” an infectious bit of country-meets-folk-meets-rock.
This weekend, you can catch the band live when it plays the newly opened Back Forty Saloon at 48 W. Fulton St. in downtown Grand Rapids. Admission to the 9 p.m. shows Friday and Saturday is $3.
For more information about the band, visit its Facebook site, ReverbNation site or its official website. The group’s EP is available at its shows and through iTunes.
Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com
nice !
great vibe – strong vocals…………….
Okay, I’m inclined to think there is potential here, but delivery needs considerably more polish…
Okay, there is potential here, but begs considerably more polish ,i.e.; Increase guitar volumes and soften the sharpness of the voice and percussion especially. With those adjustments, this band could be very remarkable and far more enjoyable to the listener …
In a small space like that, it’s impossible to adjust the volume of the snare. It carries above the rest because that’s what it’s designed to do. They did try to help the listener out by only using a snare, instead of a whole kit. And though they appear to be mic’ed, I’d venture to say that audio system feeds into on-air radio, and not into the camera that was used to shoot this video. What you’re probably hearing is the natural volume of the guitars and the vocals, without being boosted by the microphones.
I thought their performance was very good! It’s difficult to perform live without a monitor. Kudos, Kari Lynch Band.
PS. I love that guitar part in the beginning. Killer.
Actually, the drummer used a cajon (drum box) in the studio. Sometimes we can put one of the mics directly on a guitar, depending on how many musicians we have in the studio. With four of them, there just weren’t enough mics to go around! But I do think they sounded terrific and it’s a fine acoustic rendition of a catchy tune.
I guess I’ve got to be more selective in my wording on comments. I agree the group did a very good job over-all as I noted their positive potential, I sure did enjoy the acoustic guitar music, though to me it was way too soft on volume.. I was simply trying to express the truth about what I heard. If the studio is a tough location to produce and listen to live music, then I’m wondering why some necessary improvements haven’t been done at the studio to reduce the sound challenge for quality of music done live there. I think we all want these live performers to have the best chance possible to sound great not just to you in the studio, but to everyone who makes the effort to listen to your live music Spin Show. I’m hoping something can be done to overcome the substandard quality challenge so that excuses wouldn’t be necessary to explain away any deficiencies.. You have a great presence, John and we applaud you for making the local music scene a spot light location here in Grand Rapids for all local G.R. entertainers to be show-cased. Hopefully with some tweaks, we all will be able to shout HURRAY for the John Sinkevics Local music Spin Show- He cares and does an outstanding job of providing excellence for all the performers and listeners alike…
HURRAY for the John Sinkevics Local music Spin Show- He cares and does an outstanding job of providing excellence for all the performers and listeners alike. The Conklin Ceili Band: ‘Local Spins Live’ Artist of the Week sounded great. Thanks John for the attention to excellence and doing what needed to be done to achieve it. On behalf of all your Spin show performers and listeners, thank you! It’s easy to see why we all think you’re the BEST!!!
Thanks for the kind words. Up this week: the up-and-coming folk-rock of The Northern Skies (who also will play the Local Spins Live show with Kelsey Rottiers on Saturday night March 24 at One Trick Pony, so c’mon down).