Local Spins spotlights the eclectic all-star SW Michigan rock, blues and folk band making its SpeakEZ Lounge debut next week. Learn about the group; check out this week’s Michigan Music Showcase podcast.
Adam Main: ‘No substitute for working with people that you’ve known for a long time.’ (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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The “multi-layered grooves” of The Joy Modulators speak to the instrumental and vocal prowess of its members, not to mention years of musical camaraderie.
“There’s no substitute for working with people you’ve known for a long time,” said band frontman, guitarist and songwriter Adam Main. “I go way back with these folks … coming up together in the music scene in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. There’s a respect we have for each other and an anticipation. Our life experiences are varied, but we have this common community that we draw upon.”
Born of studio work that began at Kalamazoo’s La Luna Recording & Sound with Main’s 2024 album, “Night & Weekends,” the band features musicians well-known throughout the region for their work via other bands and solo projects: singer-guitarist Patti Ann McNulty, bassist Anders Dahlberg, percussionist Carolyn Koebel and violinist Cori Beth Somers.
“I gathered friends to record a proper album at La Luna and we had such a great time working on ‘Nights & Weekends’ that we wanted to continue as a band … and then we played a couple of album-release shows and we just had a blast and I was inspired to keep writing for these musicians,” said Main.
The Joy Modulators: Playing SpeakEZ Lounge next Wednesday. (Courtesy Photo)
“They are all-stars from this part of the country, and I feel blessed that they’re sharing their talents, making these songs come to life.”
The seemingly uncategorizable and dynamic music that emerges is part chamber folk, part rock, part jam band, part harmony-fueled jazz, part alternative, part electronica.
“We get this kind of classical chamber folk vibe combined with jazz harmonies,” Main suggested. “And then there are certain spots where we stretch out and improvise, so it keeps it fresh. … I think we’re going to try and work on that improvisation and more jamming aspect of it, because we’re in the position of playing songs that are new to us as well as to the audience.”
That unpredictable, improvisational milieu will be on display Wednesday (March 18) when the band makes it SpeakEZ Lounge debut in downtown Grand Rapids for the Local Spins Wednesdays series. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.; get details here.
MORE MUSIC RELEASES AHEAD
Main, who grew up in Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula and attended Western Michigan University where he started the jam-leaning band The Bremens, started recording solo albums in 2017. Influenced by the likes of Bruce Cockburn, Bill Frisell and Charlie Hunter, Main describes himself as a fingerstyle acoustic guitarist who’s been “chasing that singer-songwriter, finger-picky vibe” for many years.
Since those 2024 inaugural studio sessions with The Joy Modulators, Main has written two albums’ worth of material, with plans for releasing them in various combinations over the next year.
Jamming: Fun on stage and in the studio. (Courtesy Photo)
“All of these people are capable of leading their own bands and they do,” he noted. “So for me, my favorite thing as a musician is to write and record. So if we are able to keep that recording process going and play the occasional show to highlight the new songs, the new material, and just gig when we can, that would be satisfying for me.”
For this week’s edition of the Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase, Main highlighted two songs recorded with The Joy Modulators: “Nights & Weekends” and a cover of U2’s “Two Hearts Beat as One.” The show also featured new music from other Michigan artists, including Zach Peterson, The Legal Matters, Rashaad Lee, The Travelures, May Erlewine, Annie & Rod Capps, Jacki Daniels and Whorled, as well as a classic, retro track from the legendary Aretha Franklin. Listen to the show below.
The Michigan Music Showcase airs at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org, and on Interlochen Public Radio at 7 p.m. Saturdays. Check out previous show podcasts online here.
PODCAST: Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase (3/13/26)
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