Thursday night’s Fresh Folk finale at Grand Rapids’ St. Cecilia Music Center promises a dizzying array of eclectic Michigan performers and fans’ last chance to see The Northern Skies live.
Ralston Bowles and Friends playing at Meijer Gardens last summer. (Photo/Local Spins)
By John Sinkevics
LocalSpins.com
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With an all-star cast of Michigan folk, Americana and even hip hop stars – Ralston Bowles, Jill Jack, Rick Chyme, Billy Strings, Don Julin and Drew Howard – Thursday’s final Fresh Folk/Local Spins Live concert of the season at Grand Rapids’ St. Cecilia Music Center shapes up to be a one-of-a-kind affair.
The Northern Skies fire it up at Rockford Brewing. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
But it also signals the farewell performance by an ultra-energetic folk-rock outfit that’s long impressed Michigan audiences: The Northern Skies will make Thursday’s night show inside historic Royce Auditorium its swan song, wrapping up a fan-pleasing run by the Grand Rapids-based band.
“This will be our farewell performance due to changing priorities in life,” frontman Eric Engblade told Local Spins. “That doesn’t mean that we won’t continue to play music with other people and even with each other. However, we want to celebrate with our fans, friends and families the music that we have created together as a group and put a positive end-cap on such an important time in each of our lives.”
Jill Jack
That means fans can expect the current lineup of the band — guitarist-singer and chief songwriter Engblade, violinist Jeffrey Niemeier, bassist Eric Raby and drummer Jake Castillo – to go out with a folk flurry.
“I am excited to play at St. Cecilia because it’s a different room than I am used to playing,” says Engblade. “Getting the chance to play in a room that was designed in the late 1800s for chamber music puts a new spin on our folk-rock sound.”
MIXING IT UP FOR ‘FRESH FOLK’
Billy Strings (Photo/Kristine Carpenter)
That’s not the only “new spin” audiences will experience: Award-winning Grand Rapids singer-songwriter Bowles has assembled a singular set of uniquely talented bandmates to wrap up the second annual Fresh Folk series, co-hosted by LocalSpins.com and Mackinaw Harvest Music. (Get tickets online here.) The lineup includes:
• Detroit singer and guitarist Jill Jack has won 35 Detroit Music Awards since 1997 for her acoustic folk and rock/pop contributions, earning kudos for her entertaining live performances and strong voice as well as numerous studio and live albums. And later this month, she’s up for five more Detroit Music Awards, including outstanding folk artist and and outstanding folk songwriter.
Rick Chyme performing at Founders Brewing. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
• Traverse City guitar-picker and banjo phenom Billy Strings, aka William Apostol, often performs with veteran mandolinist Don Julin, with both making waves as of late with their ultra-energetic, high-speed bluegrass musicianship, performing traditional as well as original material with real fervor. Now 21, Billy Strings has been playing traditional folk and bluegrass music since he was a young kid, and that experience really comes to the forefront during live shows: His recent sets with Julin at Rockford Brewing Co. ignited a capacity crowd riveted by the virtuosic display, and both musicians will be on hand Thursday at St. Cecilia. (Watch highlights here.)
• Well-known for his collaborative approach with other musicians, Grand Rapids hip hop artist Rick Chyme, who recently returned from California and Texas (where he appeared at South By Southwest), was one of the big winners at this year’s Jammie Awards hosted by WYCE-FM (88.1). He earned awards for song of the year, for “1000 Miles from Nowhere,” and for hip hop album of the year, for the collaborative “The 5iveit LP,” which also won the special jury prize for best album of the year.
Drew Howard
• As an accomplished guitarist and pedal steel player, Drew “Captain Midnight” Howard of Mason long ago established himself as one of Michigan’s most sought after instrumentalists, playing with Bowles and with Drew Nelson’s Highway 2, Madcat Midnight Blues Journey and many other groups across the state.
Bowles says he enjoys assembling and calling upon varied musicians from different genres for his “and Friends” performances, which also close out the Tuesday Evening Music Club series every summer at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
“The music in Michigan has a quality diversity and camaraderie that defies a category,” he insists, “and with an appreciative audience like the ones who have been coming out to St. Cecelia, it will make for a magical night.”
Ralston Bowles
A UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT FOR A UNIQUE LINEUP
That was part of the goal of the Fresh Folk/Local Spins Live series – giving fans a different view of artists that might otherwise only see in noisy bars or bustling nightclubs.
“The whole point,” says St. Cecilia executive director Cathy Holbrook, “is to be able see some of your favorite musicians in a whole different setting.”
That’s certainly the case for The Northern Skies, whose St. Cecilia debut will also be its final performance.
Formed five years ago, the Grand Rapids-based band quickly established itself as one of West Michigan’s bands to watch in the fast-emerging folk, roots and bluegrass scene, earning high praise for its most recent album 2012’s “Thick as Thieves.”
Eric Engblade and The Northern Skies
Engblade notes he’s “written many songs since the 2011 recording and early 2012 release of ‘Thick as Thieves’,” so Thursday night’s farewell performance will include “some older songs and newer songs that have not been released.”
The Northern Skies frontman – who grew up in Ludington and was drawn to the music of Bob Dylan, John Prine and John Hartford, and later, to artists as wide-ranging as Nick Drake, The Beatles, Dave Matthews Band and Led Zeppelin – hopes to eventually get the group’s newest songs recorded and released, perhaps as a solo project.
“For now,” he says, “I am enjoying my break from traveling so much, spending more time with family and friends, and learning a lot in my counseling classes for my master’s degree.”
Tickets for Thursday’s all-ages, family friendly show are $20 ($10 for students) and are available at the door at St. Cecilia, 24 Ransom Ave. NE, or by calling 459-2224.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. for pre-show wine and beer. Beverages also will be available during the intermission. Get more details and tickets online at the St. Cecilia website.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music
