January’s first batch of Local Spins reviews rounds up riveting releases from the past few months, including CDs by Mat Churchill, Downie, Madcat Midnight Blues Journey and Max Lockwood.
As West Michigan digs itself deeper into January and another unpredictable winter, Local Spins looks back at some of the region’s most intriguing albums of the past few months. Consider this Round 1 of an overdue batch of album reviews, with Round 2 set for next week.
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As always, the Local Spins reviews include links to websites and places where you can find and listen to tracks from these West Michigan artists.
Thirsty Perch Blues Band
“Live for Today”
Ever since the Thirsty Perch Blues Band solidified its lineup a couple of years ago, the seasoned Grand Rapids band has consistently bolstered its blues-rock quotient, fine-tuned its melodic hooks and settled into an impressive groove. That puts the 11-track “Live for Today” at the pinnacle of Thirsty Perch’s studio output and a feast for fish lovers, right from the opening volley of “Blues Walk.” Produced by Al McAvoy, this also stands as the project where lead guitarist Andy Ogrodzinski and blues harp fiend Chuck Luscombe in particular do their best work, with Chris Collins, George Ferguson and Chris Carr giving the liveliest tracks the right rock-fueled muscle.
Website: thirstyperchbluesband.com
Upcoming performances:
8 p.m. Saturday at One Trick Pony in Grand Rapids
8:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at Belding American Legion Hall in Belding
8 p.m. Feb. 27 at Deer Run Golf Club in Lowell
Video/Audio: localspins.com
Lady Ace Boogie
“Feel Good Music”
The title of Lady Ace Boogie’s debut on Grand Rapids’ new Hot Capicola Records label couldn’t be more perfect. This Grand Rapids hip hop artist’s delectable 14-track collection – most of it recorded at Man@Work Studios with Curtis “Sir” Manley and featuring some special guests – is an upbeat, rollicking affair with triumphant, melodic moments that strive to “empower people to reach their fullest potential” and “break the cycles of inequity,” according to Lady Ace Boogie herself. It’s an album that doesn’t require radio edits and yet doesn’t sacrifice edginess, innovation or attitude, with a confident rapping style and a gait not unlike Eminem. As she proclaims on “Underestimate Me”: “If I never blow up this music it won’t stop, ‘Cause it runs through my veins and that won’t change, My life is worth more than any fortune or fame, This music is my passion, ain’t no fortune to claim, You rappers chasing money we are not the same.” It’s a theme that courses through every song, making this a 14-track celebration. So, as Lady Ace implores her listeners, “get your hands up” and “get down.” And turn it up.
Website: ladyaceboogie.com
Upcoming performances:
7 p.m. April 4 at HopCat Detroit in Detroit
Audio: ladyaceboogie.com/music
Downie
“I Would Lose Myself in You”
This Grand Haven singer who’s spent time pursuing her music career in Tokyo, Japan, and Los Angeles, Calif., says that she surrounds herself with some of West Michigan’s most talented musicians. She certainly did that on her latest album, which was recorded at Cannonsburg’s Audio Bay Recording Studio. Co-produced by keyboard player Craig Avery (of Brena fame), the tracks that balance jazz and pop, with a hint of blues and contemporary folk, feature world-class drummers such as Derico Watson and Scott Pellegrom, and collaborations with Darius Pimpleton, Joe Ayoub and Justin Avery. But it’s her striking voice that will likely pull in many listeners like a magnet on these odes to love and relationships.
Website: downiesings.com
Upcoming performances:
8 p.m. Friday at Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids
Audio/Video: localspins.com
Who’d a thunk it? Hammond B3 phenom Jim Alfredson of Lansing has deservedly made a name for himself as the keyboard force behind the jazz trio Organissimo and nationally acclaimed blues singer Janiva Magness’ touring band. But deep down, this virtuoso has long been a diehard fan of such prog-rock powerhouses as King Crimson, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP and Yes, and he pays homage to these iconic bands in scintillating, mind-bending fashion as part of THEO, with Gary Davenport on bass, Kevin DePree on drums and Jake Reichbart on guitar (with special guests Greg Nagy and Zach Zunis). And like many of the recordings by these other bands, “The Game of Ouroboros” unfolds as a lush and dark concept album, this one sporting a futuristic theme that questions power and authority. It’s brilliantly conceived and executed, produced by Alfredson and mastered by Glenn Brown. More than anything, it’s a stunning, sonic journey that stands up to the works by the prog-rock heroes who inspired it.
Website: big-o-records.com
Audio: soundcloud.com
Hannah Rose Graves & Justin Wierenga
“Everything We Already Knew”
The blood, sweat and tears of an ambitious first-time endeavor show up in so many of the songs that unfold on “Everything We Already Knew.” This is music with a fiery soul. You can hear it in the lyrics, in the emotion-drenched voice of Grand Rapids singer Hannah Rose Graves, in the intricate and intense guitar solos of Justin Wierenga. But mostly this debut by Graves and her longtime guitarist (recorded at Mat Ten Clay’s Amber Lit Audio in Grand Rapids) is a much-anticipated showcase of the singer’s soulful, bluesy approach on a diverse batch of original songs – many of which audiences have embraced for years at jam-packed venues such as Billy’s Lounge, Founders Brewing and SpeakEZ Lounge and some of which hold promise as fetching, radio-friendly singles. More important, it’s the sort of project that could serve as a launching pad, heralding even more fruitful endeavors to come.
Website: hannahrosegraves.com
Upcoming performances:
8:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at Rockford Brewing Co. in Rockford
Feb. 13 during the Jammie Awards show at The Intersection in Grand Rapids
Audio/video: localspins.com
The Madcat Midnight Blues Journey
“MMBJ@SOTE”
Anyone who’s attended a live show by The Madcat Midnight Blues Journey, aka, harmonica icon Peter “Madcat” Ruth, guitarist Drew “Capt. Midnight” Howard, bassist Mark “Papa” Schrock and drummer M and Michael “Kid” Shimmin, knows that this super-group of Michigan musicians does its best work on a sweat-drenched stage in front of an engaged audience. That’s what makes this album such a treasure, an unembellished representation of four seasoned musicians who deliver honest, fervent blues-soaked renditions of everything from “Ticket to Ride” to “Rainin’ In My Heart.”
Website: madcatmusic.net/mmbj.html, facebook.com/madcatmidnightbluesjourney
Video (from Wheatland): localspins.com
Mat Churchill & The Backyard Town
“Mat Churchill & The Backyard Town”
With all of the various band projects in which multi-instrumentalist Mat Churchill has been involved (Chain of Lakes, The Wallace Collective and more) and all of the Michigan artists with whom he’s shared a stage over the years, Mat Churchill’s own music often has been overshadowed. No longer. The debut of “The Backyard Town” stands among the best folk-rock projects that Grand Rapids has produced in recent years, bolstered by Churchill’s smoky vocals and pensive lyrics. Not surprisingly, he calls on some of his talented pals (Kyle Rasche, Dan Fisher, Billy Bartholomew, John Massel and Jordan Griffis) to construct this self-produced nine-track affair engineered by Greg Baxter and mastered by Matt Ten Clay at Amber Lit Audio. There’s a delectable alt-country twang to much of this, recalling everything from Neil Young to Wilco to Damien Jurado.
Website: facebook.com/matchurchill, matchurchill.bandcamp.com
Upcoming performances:
8 p.m. Feb. 25 at SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids (part of Local Spins Wednesdays at SpeakEZ)
8 p.m. April 16 at Elk Brewing in Grand Rapids
Audio: localspins.com
Josh Rose
“Old Laminate”
Ada singer-guitarist Josh Rose has long represented the sort of pull-at-the-heartstrings, embrace-the-travails-of-everyday life songwriting that makes folk music so moving and so winsome for listeners. As he puts it, “I want my songs to stick like mashed potatoes to your ribs.” The tracks on his latest album, “Old Laminate,” recorded over a long period of time at Grand Rapids’ Mackinaw Harvest Music with musician/producer Michael Crittenden, do just that and more. Boasting some unusual-yet-tasteful arrangements and sound effects, “Latchkey,” “Freezing” and “Dinosaur” resonate long after the last note is played. And if any male singer’s voice can be described as gorgeous, it’s the one that Rose uses to deliver musical tales that “run the gauntlet of humanity.”
Website: facebook.com/pages/Josh-Rose-Music/118968408177064, reverbnation.com/joshrosemusic
Upcoming performances: 7 p.m. Sunday at Salt of the Earth in Fennville (Room 10 Revue with Josh Rose, Ralston Bowles, Michael Crittenden and J. Oscar Bittinger)
Feb. 13 during the Jammie Awards show at The Intersection in Grand Rapids
Audio: soundcloud.com
Max Lockwood
Outrider
Any recording that earned an ‘A’ as an honors thesis project in creative writing at the University of Michigan deserves a second look. This one is worth three, or four, or more. Much like Mat Churchill (above), Grand Rapids bassist and guitarist Max Lockwood has made a name for himself with other projects, notably folk-rock’s Big Dudee Roo and as a sideman for numerous Earthwork Music artists. But he really comes into his own as a songwriter and arranger with this Americana- and folk-rock-hued solo debut, leaning on pals Seth Bernard, May Erlewine, Joey Schultz, Dan Rickabus, Brennan Andes, Peter Felsman and more to create a powerful, poetic and poignant collection recorded on a winter week in January 2013 at Heart Center Studio in Big Rapids. Songs such as “The River Runs Inside You” and “Growth” have such an infectious quality about them that they’ll stay harbored in your cranium for a long time. The musicians who participated in this say they’re better for having been part of it. Listeners will feel the same.
Website: earthworkmusic.com/artists-ind?i=1041
Upcoming performances:
8 p.m. Feb. 4 at SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids (Max Lockwood with Big Dudee Roo, wsg Dan Rickabus)
Feb. 13 during the Jammie Awards show at The Intersection in Grand Rapids
Audio/Video: localspins.com
Ghost Heart
“The Effigy”
There’s no easy way to describe the differences, the evolution and the enrichments (musical not financial) that have taken place within Ghost Heart since its much-praised 2011 debut album, “The Tunnel.” Band members — lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Tim Broderick, guitarists Justin Gray and Troy Reimink and percussionist Cedric Canero – will say that the atmospheric, boundary-pushing Grand Rapids rock outfit entered Tommy Schichtel’s all-analog Goon Lagoon studios with a more structured idea as to what they wanted to do. And Schichtel masterfully enhanced the group’s signature sonic milieu that ranges from odd special effects to hypnotic percussion passages. But there’s more: The songs on “The Effigy” are simply better, more upbeat, and dare we say, actually boast some hooks in a prog-rock sort of way, with Broderick clearly sounding more confident in unleashing his distinctive vocals. Whatever the reasons, they turned “The Effigy” into one of the most compelling regional albums of the year.
Website: ghostheart.com
Upcoming performances: Feb. 13 during the Jammie Awards show at The Intersection in Grand Rapids
Audio/Video: localspins.com (Ghost Heart: Local Spins Live at River City Studios)
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