Today’s music news box score: Billy Strings is releasing a Third Man Records package, All Time Low — with Michigan stops ahead — is battling health issues, Traverse City boasts riveting concerts and more.
Triple-Play Music News: The Bad Plus, Billy Strings, All Time Low (Photos/Local Spins)
TICKET GIVEAWAY: The first person to email john@localspins.com with “CRAIG FINN” in the message field will win a pair of tickets to see Craig Finn & The Band of Forgiveness at Bell’s Back Room in Kalamazoo on Friday (Oct. 17).
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Granted, the Detroit Tigers playoff run in baseball was cut short by the Seattle Mariners, but things are heating up in the Major League championship series for the final four teams in the mix.
So, Local Spins figured it was a good time to round the bases with some music news tidbits of interest to Michiganders, or if you will, going “around the horn” to hit different part of the Mitten State’s musical infield.
And if you missed this week’s ‘Amplified’ newsletter (sign up for the newsletter and email updates here: https://localspins.com/subscribe-local-spins-mailing-list/), we’ll toss in a few tidbits about other home-run-worthy shows, too.
Our leadoff hitter is a bluegrass hero from Ionia County.
BILLY STRINGS PARTNERS WITH THIRD MAN FOR NEW LIVE ALBUM
Michigan’s ever-prolific Billy Strings — who’s released three albums over the past 15 months, not counting contributions to recordings by several other artists — has now teamed up with Third Man Records (founded by Detroit rock hero Jack White) for yet another live compilation.
The record label, in collaboration with Reprise Records, has announced release of a 25-track album recorded live at the bluegrass guitar powerhouse’s May 25, 2024, concert at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., along with the first-ever vinyl pressing of Billy’s self-titled debut EP released in 2016.
Third Man’s Billy Strings Package
Third Man proclaims that the live performance “captures Strings and his band in peak form, more than 20 tracks unfolding with fire, finesse and a sense of urgency that can only come from the stage” led by a musician from Ionia County who’s “built a reputation as one of the most vital and visionary musicians of our time, blending technical mastery with unbridled energy and a spirit that feels both timeless and brand new.”
The robust collection represents the 66th installment of Third Man’s Vault Program and can only be purchased by signing up before Oct. 31 online at https://thirdmanrecords.com/products/vault-subscription.
The live recording features fan favorites “Slow Train,” “Away from the Mire,” “Highway Hypnosis,” “Dust in a Baggie,” “Turmoil & Tinfoil,” “Seven Weeks in County,” “Red Daisy” and many more. It’s the second live album he’s released in recent years, with 2024’s “Live Vol. 1” winning a Grammy Award. Billy Strings released his self-titled EP after parting ways with Traverse City mandolinist Don Julin and moving to Nashville from Michigan in 2016.
After returning from Europe, Billy Strings kicks off a fall U.S. tour in Alabama on Oct. 23, wrapping up the 17-date run in Austin, Texas, on Dec. 13. Several of those shows already are sold out.
ALL TIME LOW CANCELS SHOWS DUE TO SINGER’S HEALTH ISSUES
Baltimore pop-punk band All Time Low — slated to play Grand Rapids’ GLC Live at 20 Monroe on Nov. 2 and The Fillmore Detroit on Nov. 3 — was forced to cut short a concert in Colorado on Sunday and canceled a show in Seattle after its lead singer suffered a “debilitating” loss of his voice, according to Syracuse.com.
Singer-guitarist Alex Gaskarth called the problem “an acute infection” of his larynx, which forced cancellation of Tuesday’s show at WAMU in Seattle.
So far, “Alex has been cleared to continue” with the band’s next show, taking place tonight (Thursday) at the Union Event Center in Salt Lake City, a sold-out concert.
All Time Low — which released its first album in 2005 and scored commercial success with 2007’s “So Wrong, It’s Right” and 2009’s “Nothing Personal” — releases its brand new studio album, “Everyone’s Talking!,” on Friday.
Tickets for the Michigan tour stops — which also feature Mayday Parade, The Cab and The Paradox — are still available online here.
TRAVERSE CITY’S ALL-STAR CONCERT FLURRY
The Alluvion in Traverse City — a 180-capacity listening room — has quickly established a reputation as a go-to venue in northern Michigan, attracting a myriad of internationally acclaimed jazz stars and recently hosting the tour kickoff for the much-anticipated record-release by Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble.
So it’s no surprise that the fall concert lineup is chock full of star-studded performances.
Lindsay Lou (Photo/Anna Sink)
That includes Minneapolis’ buzzed-about jazz group The Bad Plus playing The Alluvion on Saturday (Oct. 18), a sold-out show starring Michigan native and Nashville-based singer-musician Lindsay Lou with her Honey Moon Trio and The Wildflowers on Oct. 22, West Michigan’s Justin Avdek and Eric Engblade’s album-release show on Oct. 24, Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet on Oct. 25, Hail Your Highness/Antighost/Drama Team on Nov. 14, the debut of mandolinist Don Julin’s Trio 25 on Nov. 15 and Michigan favorite Organissimo’s 25th anniversary show on Nov. 29. Details/tickets for all of these shows and more available here.
But that’s not all when it comes to Traverse City’s live music flurry. Milliken Auditorium at Dennos Museum Center boasts a Nov. 23 concert by Cadillac native and internationally acclaimed singer-guitarist Luke Winslow-King on Nov. 23, American roots super-group Mr. Sun on Dec. 14, and just announced, two nights featuring The Accidentals & Kaboom Orchestra performing a holiday show Dec. 17-18. (The Accidentals’ tour behind their new Christmas album, “Sonus Borealis,” also features stops at The Big Room in Grand Rapids on Dec. 19 and Castle Farms in Charlevoix on Dec. 20. Get ticket info online at bandsintown.com.).
Oh, and Americana singer-songwriters Nathan Graham and Noah Guthrie play the Traverse City Opera House on Nov. 16.
NOVEMBER BENEFITS TO EMBRACE AND BEHOLD
In case you missed it in today’s “Amplified” newsletter, several special fundraisers are on tap in coming weeks.
The Bootstrap Boys (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
The Bootstrap Boys will spearhead a 13-act Grateful Dead extravaganza at Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids on Nov. 1, aka “The Day of the Dead.” The all-star affair raises money to support the wife of late guitarist Nick Alexander, who’s been out of work since before the Bootstrap Boys’ band member died of heart complications in January at the age of 39. “All of us have dedicated our time to this show in memory of our dearly departed brother in instrumental arms, Nick Alexander,” Jake Stilson, aka Big Jake Bootstrap, told Local Spins. “The lineup is insane.” Indeed, performers include West Michigan favorites Nik James, Sweet Dee & The Wild Honeys, Sam Hess, Kyle Brown, Cosmic Knot, The Wild Honey Collective, RJ Nordlund, Red Thyme, 56 Tornadoes, Big Timmy & The Heavy Chevys, Full Cord, The Bootstrap Boys and Big Jake & The Open-Mic All Stars. The 7 p.m. show emceed by Laura Nowe will also feature a 50/50 raffle and silent auction with items from a host of area businesses. More details online here.
Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers and The Hacky Turtles will perform at a special concert Nov. 15 at The Big Room in Grand Rapids, benefiting improvements to Sullivan Field on the city’s West Side, which has been hosting regular concerts and events. The show will “help raise money for the ballpark, so we can make things better for live music there in coming years,” said organizer Paul Soltysiak. Tickets are $38.50 and available online here, with VIP options also available.
In Muskegon, Detroit blues legend Thornetta Davis will headline a benefit show at Unruly Brewing on Nov. 8, raising money for the Killer Blues Headstone Project that’s worked for years to provide headstones for iconic blues artists interred in unmarked graves. Blues fan Steve Salter started the project in 1997 and so far has placed more than 175 headstones in 17 states. West Michigan singer and guitarist Vincent Hayes and his band will open for the multi-award-winning Davis. Tickets for the show are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Get advance tickets online here.
And while on the subject of Grateful Dead tributes, the nonprofit Grand River Watershed Arts & Music Council will host a Grateful Dead tribute at Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids on Nov. 8 — reflecting the history of the church which had booked the Grateful Dead for a 1968 concert that had to be canceled due to a snowstorm. Guitarist Austin Benzing’s Heart of Gold Band will play that Grateful Dead role complete with a light show during the 6:30 p.m. Nov. 8 show, with The LBW Special opening the concert. Get tickets online here.
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