Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
Could Detroit’s own innovative popsters Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. really be breaking, ulp, into the big time?
The group’s late-night network TV debut on Monday’s “The Conan O’Brien Show” certainly seems to point in that direction. Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein were even joined on stage by a string section for their performance of “Simple Girl” from the band’s “It’s a Corporate World” album. Here’s the link to the “TeamCoco” video of that performance: http://teamcoco.com/video/24425/dale-earnhardt-jr-jr-performs-simple-girl
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It was hard to tell what Conan thought of the unusual pop ensemble, but it was a solid, entertaining splash into national prominence for the duo.
And in more Michigan music news:
— While Mitt Romney is sort of re-visiting his Michigan roots by using Kid Rock’s “Born Free” for his presidential campaign, I’m betting no one from either side of the aisle is likely to snag the latest Jack White tune for their political rallies.
That’s a good thing, because some music simply shouldn’t be tainted by politics.
Jack White
Anyway, White’s terrific new single, “Love Interruption,” a spare but gorgeous ditty which was officially released Monday, features the line, “I want love to change my friends to enemies,” which unfortunately and most certainly isn’t the point of the 2012 election campaign.
You can stream the song for free here on White’s website.
According to publicist Nasty Little Man, it’s from White’s forthcoming album, “Blunderbuss,” which will be released on April 24 on Third Man Records/Columbia. If this is a taste of what’s to come, it could be a jewel of a recording.
— Speaking of new recordings, Grand Rapids’ own pop sensation, Stepdad, will be performing a couple of New York shows in preparation for release of their new album on a national label, Black Bell Records, later this year.
Ryan McCarthy and Ultramark recorded their sophomore album, “Wildlife Pop” – as I’ve noted previously as part of my “Local Spins” segment on radio – with noted producer Chris Zane in New York. You can hear part of an exclusive new track from that album here. And they announced this week that they’ll be playing New York venues Santos Party House and Glasslands on Feb. 28-29.
— Don’t forget that another Grand Rapids artist, singer-songwriter Drew Nelson, will pre-release his new Red House Records album, “Tilt-A-Whirl,” on Friday at the Ladies Literary Club in Grand Rapids. As a preview, tune into News Talk 1340 AM at 10 a.m. Wednesday when Nelson will be my “Local Spins Live” guest and perform one of his new songs on the air.
He’ll also join Tony Gates, Michelle McKormick, Ed Buchanan and myself at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to talk about the album on WLAV-FM (96.9). And check out Nelson’s snazzy new website here.
— Meanwhile, members of another West Michigan band, Grand Haven’s Vincent Hayes Project, are hoping fans pitch in to help them finance the follow-up album to their award-winning debut blues CD.
Hayes tells me they’ve just started collecting pledges through a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of raising $20,000 to fund their next album which will be recorded at Lansing’s Glenn Brown Productions.
“The reality is that we’re on the verge on international success, but we’re broke,” Hayes said. “If we don’t make this record, then we’re just another good debut that got lost in the muddle.” Hayes is hoping to get at least 1,000 people to “pre-purchase” signed copies of the new CD, with any extra cash used to buy a van for touring.
The pledge drive ends Feb. 27 and here’s the Kickstarter link for fans to get involved and help finance the project.
Hayes and crew create wondrous house-rockin’ blues strains, so I’m guessing plenty of fans will be eager to see this project succeed. Catch the band at the end of this video.
Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com
It could also be noted that Santos Party House, where Stepdad is playing one of their first Black Bell shows, is co-owned by Andrew WK, himself a Michigander.
A fascinating Michigan link, indeed.