This week’s live music hoopla ranged from a tribute to blues icon William Clarke for the Killer Blues Headstone Project to musical magic from AJJ, Brother Adams, Frank Turner and Nashon Holloway.
Paying Homage to William Clarke: Blues harp whiz Dennis Gruenling was part of Thursday’s Grand Rapids Harmonica Summit. (Photo/Taylor Mansen)
Once again, Local Spins rounds up live music events over the past week from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo.
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SPOTLIGHTED SHOW:
GRAND RAPIDS HARMONICA SUMMIT @ THE B.O.B.
On Thursday evening, the fourth annual Grand Rapids Harmonica Summit took over H.O.M.E. at The B.O.B with a no-holds-barred blues extravaganza, centered around one of the genre’s signature instruments, the harmonica.
Draped in a shiny black suit and dark sunglasses, harp whiz Dennis Gruenling joined Chicago guitarist and singer Nick Moss with his powerhouse blues band.
Hank Mowery (Photo/Taylor Mansen)
ArtPrize wanderers and annual attendees alike filled the sprawling venue and packed into the long corridor in front of the stage. Dancing couples and cheering groups of listeners set their eyes on the spectacle as Moss and Gruenling unleashed animated performances.
Along with touting his harmonica, Gruenling waltzed around the stage, barked out soulful lead vocals and directed the band like a true band conductor, much to the audience’s delight.
He later performed a full set of songs in tribute to legendary harp player William Clarke.
“The band just absolutely killed it. Dennis was amazing; did an entire 90-minute set of William Clarke to finish the show and nailed it,” said organizer and Grand Rapids harp player Hank Mowery, who also joined Moss and his band on stage.
“You close your eyes on some of it and it could have easily been 20 years ago watching Clarke at The Rhythm Kitchen (former Grand Rapids venue). They even did a bunch of his instrumentals that have a bunch of hits and breaks and just nailed it. The crowd was truly blown away.”
Mowery said that “good crowd” included “a lot of people blowing in from ArtPrize to check it out. … This just gets everybody talking about it. It’s a good lead-in for next year. Every year, we build it a little bit and get better at it. So next year, we have even bigger plans.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Harmonica Summit photos by Taylor Mansen
KALAMAZOO ROUNDUP
On Friday night at Bell’s Brewery in Kalamamzoo, Nashon Holloway hosted a release party for her new CD. Performing with the Kalamazoo Funk All-Stars, it was a show that got the weekend started right, according to Local Spins photographer Derek Ketchum: “Nashon’s voice and songwriting talent is incredible. It was a packed back room for the show. … There’s so much talent in the jazz/funk space right now and I dare say Nashon Holloway is raising the bar.”
On Saturday, at Bell’s it was show No. 1,966 for British singer-songwriter Frank Turner in his first ever Kalammazoo show. Turner and his band closed out the Bell’s Beer Garden in style with a high-energy, electric folk-punk show “with a lot of magic,” according to Ketchum. “The sellout crowd of 1,000 got to experience the energy, both on stage and in the crowd” that Turner and his band exude at high-profile festivals they’ve played in the United Kingdom and the United States. “Whether it was singing along to Frank’s anthems of life, pogoing, a circle pit with a wall of hugs going on, and if you thought you could have any more…. crowd surfing a birthday cake up to the stage for Nigel, the drummer of the sleeping souls, this show had it all. If there ever was a show that made you want time to fly so you could get to the Beer Garden opener of summer 2017, this was it.” Opening the show was Will Varley, a folk singer-songwriter from London, and The Arkells, a Juno Award-winning alt-rock band from Canada. (Luckily, the weather held out all day in Kalamazoo, though storm clouds were circling.)
PHOTO GALLERY: Frank Turner, Arkells, Will Varley, Nashon Holloway
Photos by Derek Ketchum
GRAND RAPIDS ROUNDUP
Holland’s Brother Adams played Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids on Thursday (opening for New York’s Paleface, with Grand Rapids’ Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish), the same night that Arizona folk-punk band and cult favorites AJJ brought the tour behind a new studio album, “The Bible 2,” to The Pyramid Scheme, which followed that on Saturday with indie-folk’s The Mowgli’s. Local Spins contributor Elizabeth Voltz called it “feel good music. The crowd danced and enjoyed songs from the band’s newly released album, ‘Where’d Your Weekend Go?’ as well as old favorites such as “I’m Good” and “San Francisco.” Alternative pop and rock bands, Kid Runner and Dreamers, got the night started.
PHOTO GALLERY
AJJ, Brother Adams photos by Anna Sink
The Mowgli’s photos by Elizabeth Voltz
