Mid-September’s music news roundup at Local Spins covers the gamut, including northern Michigan’s Lexi Schaub getting tabbed by the Detroit Tigers and Greensky Bluegrass hitting the CMT spotlight.
HOLLAND’S LEMONJELLO’S PULLS PLUG ON LIVE MUSIC
After nearly a dozen years and hundreds of performances, Holland’s Lemonjello’s Coffee is pulling the plug on live music.
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Owner Matthew Scott said turnout for the coffeehouse’s concerts has waned steadily in recent years, especially as audiences turn to venues which offer beer and alcohol.
“There isn’t demand,” he said. “Show attendance has been shifting to venues with alcohol and there isn’t a younger crowd (under 21) to step in. There are also very few local bands to use as openers.”
He added that he’s focusing more of his attention and time on “the specialty coffee community. This is the part of my career where I need to focus on the coffee aspect of the business. … Lemonjello’s has been in the process for the last few years of leaning into our coffee program and really focusing on growing that. That’s my passion. It’s what I want to continue to do. We also want to keep building our education program for our baristas.”
Lemonjello’s will host its final concert, a free-admission show, at 6 p.m. Saturday with popular West Michigan rock bands Secret Grief, Runaway Brother, The Fever Haze, dxvxd, and Faces and Crowds performing.
Jake Kalmink, singer-guitarist for Holland’s The Fever Haze, called it “very sad. I feel like I grew up here. This was the first place I ever got the chance to play a real rock ’n’ roll show, and if it weren’t for that, I’d probably have given up and just moved on to something different. I’m going to miss it dearly.”
Lemonjellos, at 61 E. 8th St., began hosting live music in January 2003. But Scott says he won’t host shows again, partly because paying and dealing with licensing for copyrighted music can be a challenge. .
“We will not offer live music in the future. Licensing is too tricky to do it sometimes. So it has to be an all or nothing decision,” he said.
“We’re re-evaluating what our priorities as a store are. Put simply: coffee, service, and sustainability. Those are all things we want to keep learning to do better. And those are the things that are shaping the decisions we make.”
14-YEAR-OLD LEXI SCHAUB TO SING NATIONAL ANTHEM AT DETROIT TIGERS GAME
Singer Lexi Schaub, 14, of Lake Leelanau, who was featured in a Local Spins Artist Spotlight in August, has been chosen by the Detroit Tigers to perform the National Anthem at Comerica Park prior to the Sept. 25 game against the Minnesota Twins.
Her grandfather Michael Scott, banjo player for the Grand Rapids-area Celtic group the Conklin Ceili Band, said Schaub was chosen for the honor based on an audition. The performance takes place on Irish Heritage Night, with a “Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day” green Tigers cap given away to the first 10,000 fans.
Scott said Schaub, who’s performed with the Conklin Ceili Band and sung the National Anthem prior to West Michigan Whitecaps and Grand Rapids Griffins games, is excited about the opportunity.
The teenager, who’s a past winner of the National Cherry Festival’s Cherry Idol Competition, attends St. Mary’s School in Lake Leelanau. Read more about her online here.
LINEUP, SCHEDULE SET FOR FIRST-EVER BRIDGEFEST IN IONIA
The Verve Pipe and Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers will headline the inaugural BridgeFest at the Ionia County Fairgrounds on Oct. 3-4.
Organizers have finalized the schedule for the first-ever two-day festival designed to raise money to replace Ionia County’s Whites Covered Bridge which was destroyed by an arsonist last year.
Ten local and regional bands are now slated to perform as part of the festival, sponsored by the Whites Bridge Historical Society:
FRIDAY
7 p.m. – Ralston Bowles
8:05 p.m. – Mystic Dub
9:10 p.m. – hi-ker
10:10 p.m. – The Verve Pipe
SATURDAY
Noon – Vertical Bridge
1:10 p.m. – Papa Jaxson
2:40 p.m. – Fauxgrass
4:10 p.m. – Mystic Dub
5:40 p.m. – Dragon Wagon
7:10 p.m. – hi-ker
8:20 p.m. – The Outer Vibe
10 p.m. – Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers
Day passes are $20 for Friday and Saturday, $30 for the weekend. Tickets available online at eventbrite.com. And tune into “Local Spins on WYCE” at 88.1 FM on Friday when Joe Hertler will be the special in-studio guest.
KALAMAZOO’S GREENSKY BLUEGRASS FEATURED ON CMT’S ‘CONCRETE COUNTRY’ (VIDEO)
West Michigan’s acclaimed progressive bluegrass band Greensky Bluegrass continues to make inroads nationally, especially as it tours behind its latest studio album, “If Sorrows Swim.”
The Kalamazoo band recently was featured as part of CMT’s “Concrete Country,” with bands performing on the streets of Nashville in “a gritty celebration of roots music, shot at sunset in the heart of the city.” The band is featured in three videos on the CMT website performing songs on the sidewalk: “Burn Them,” “Windshield” and “Worried About the Weather.”
The band currently is in the midst of a hectic national tour, returning for a homecoming show at Kalamazoo’s State Theatre on Nov. 28. Ticket information online here.
GREENSKY BLUEGRASS ON ‘CONCRETE COUNTRY’
ST. CECILIA MUSIC CENTER GETS $1 MILLION GIFT FROM WEGE ESTATE
The estate of Peter M. Wege has made a $1 million endowment gift to St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids.
“Everyone at St. Cecilia Music Center is beyond thrilled with this news,” Cathy Holbrook, SCMC executive director said in a prepared statement, noting that the money will help fund the center’s endowment and will aid plans to upgrade the historic facility.
It’s the largest single donation in SCMC’s 131-year history and the center will dedicate Thursday’s Great Artist Gala to Wege in recognition of the gift. Chick Corea & The Vigil are performing at this week’s gala. Get more information online here.
In addition to its jazz and chamber music series, SCMC also this season will host the new folk-flavored “Acoustic Cafe Series,” with Ralston Bowles and his All-Stars performing on Oct. 23 and Justin Townes Earle on Dec. 11.
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