The West Michigan native who plays home-state dates this weekend was featured for Local Spins on WYCE, which also debuted tracks by Pajamas, Ficus, Pink Sky, The American Hotel System and more.
Tickled to Be Back Performing in Her Home State: Beth Bombara (Courtesy Photo)
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Beth Bombara feels like she has two homes.
Raised in Jenison, the Americana-leaning singer-songwriter has spent the past 14 years in St. Louis, Mo., immersed in a music scene similar to that of Grand Rapids and buoyed by a “general atmosphere of supporting the arts.”
But she also relishes touring back in her home state, especially as she prepares to release a much-anticipated new studio album in early August.
“It (St. Louis) feels like home, but Michigan still feels like home,” she acknowledged. “I’m always looking for reasons to come back to Michigan. Lucky for me, there are a lot. I always love coming back.
“It’s super special to see old friends come out and family, and be able to share the music with them.”
With performances in West Michigan this weekend, fans will get a preview of new music from Bombara’s album, “It All Goes Up,” which officially gets released by Black Mesa Records on Aug. 4. It’s a project culled from compositions written in 2022 when she challenged herself to write a song a week as part of her Patreon fan membership program.
The Beth Bombara Band performs at 7:30 p.m. today (July 28) at North Grove Brewers in Montague, at 8:15 p.m. Saturday at the Wild Thyme Music Festival on Fat Blossom Farm in Allegan and Aug. 3 at the Gallery Coffee Co. in Munising.
The New Album: ‘It All Goes Up’
Bombara’s musical travels actually began while attending high school in Jenison, and continued through studies at Cornerstone University and Illinois’ Greenville College.
“I’ve always had melodies floating around in my head,” Bombara said, noting she’d often capture those tunes on an old cassette recorder that she’d carry around.
Initially, the guitarist just “fell in love with being in a band” – the notion of “being in the same room with other people playing instruments together. That sort of collaboration and feeding off each other and the energy in the room was really magnetic to me.”
Indeed, at one point after moving to St. Louis, Bombara was part of five different bands.
But eventually she got the urge to write and perform her own songs, crafting material that drew inspiration from a wide swath of music she loved – from The White Stripes, Wilco, Ryan Adams, Carole King, Lucinda Williams and Neko Case to the blues and jazz she discovered in “real life” in St. Louis.
“All that to say I think my own music has just become more eclectic as it evolves,” she suggested, “incorporating this core songwriter element with indie-rock, folk, blues and Motown vibes.”
TOURING THE MIDWEST WITH AN EYE ON PLAYING THE UNITED KINGDOM
Bombara, 39, noted that while the new album, completed at the end of last year, “didn’t have an intentional theme” at the outset, one “naturally emerged. It seems like I was feeling a need for more lightness and hope in general for the world, so I think that came through in a lot of these songs.”
Recorded at Midtown Sound House, Lemp Electric and Holiday Heart, the album was produced by Bombara and bassist/percussionist Kit Hamon. It also features Mike Schurk on drums, Samuel Gregg on pedal steel and electric guitar, Sam Golden on strings and guitar, John Calvin Abney on Fender Rhodes piano and guitar, Karl Kling on 12-string guitar, and Eric Henry on pedal steel.
This week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE spotlighted two tracks from that recording – “Moment” and “Give Me a Reason.” Watch the music video for “Moment” here, and scroll down to listen to both songs, the interview and the full radio show podcast.
VIDEO: Beth Bombara, “Moment”
While she misses Michigan, Bombara insisted that St. Louis has much to offer, including being centrally located for touring throughout the country.
“It’s definitely an underrated city,” she said. “It had some elements that reminded me of Grand Rapids: a thriving art scene and a lot of places to play around town, a lot of opportunity here for me.”
Starting to Get Things Rolling: Bombara (Courtesy Photo)
With release of the new album, the band plans a series of Midwest tour dates while “working with a team for the label to get the word out about the record.”
Bombara also will play Nashville’s AmericanaFest in September and hopes to tour the United Kingdom again, too.
“I feel like things are just starting to get rolling,” she said, “and looking at what we can do to make the most of the new record.”
This week’s episode of Local Spins on WYCE — which showcases music by artists from Michigan at 11 a.m. Fridays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org — also featured new music from Pajamas, The American Hotel System, Ficus, Pink Sky, Ethereal and Redbelly, as well tracks by Jordan Hamilton and Steve Talaga. Listen to the radio show here.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (7/28/23)
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