Keeping the spotlight on talented West Michigan bands and the burgeoning regional concert scene: That’s been a mission of John’s since becoming a lead music critic and entertainment writer for The Grand Rapids Press 15 years ago. As publisher of Local Spins, that’s continued with news updates on Grand Rapids-area musical happenings, guest columns, photo galleries, concert reviews and weekly features on different artists who appear on radio on Local Spins Live.
John holds an honors degree in journalism from the University of Michigan and is co-founder of The Honeytones, once described as “the deans of Grand Rapids’ pop-rock scene” and a band that stages an annual Feedback concert to benefit Access of West Michigan’s food pantries for the needy. He’s also a diehard fan of the Detroit Tigers and, especially, the Detroit Lions, proudly wearing a “Rebuilding Since ’57” T-shirt which, sadly, has proven to be the case year in and year out for this underachieving NFL franchise.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
SYML kicks things off at Calvin College in a week that also boasts concerts by Joshua Powell, Amanda Brown, Aaron Neville, The Ragbirds, Lil’ Smokies and Bullet for My Valentine. Check out all of this week’s live music picks at Local Spins.
This Local Spins week-in-review set of photo galleries features one of our photographers’ favorite bands to shoot ever, and tons of other rocking concerts across West Michigan. On Tuesday,[…]
Concert reviews · Festivals · Photos
The indie-rock-oriented, two-day festival in downtown Kalamazoo boasted 15 performances on Saturday, with plenty more to come for Day 2. Check out a photo gallery and highlights at Local Spins.
Artist Spotlights · Local Spins on WYCE · Videos
The Grand Rapids singer-songwriter kicked off a Midwest tour this week by playing new songs on the radio show, which also premiered tracks by Often Home, Moss Jaw, Shortly and much more. Watch the video of Matt Gabriel’s in-studio performance and listen to the full radio show podcast.
Playlists · Summer Festivals · Upcoming shows
This weekend’s season-ending celebration on Earthwork Farm outside Lake City will attract thousands, many of them musicians. Singer-songwriter Brian Koenigsknecht offers up his Top 5 reasons to attend. And listen to a Local Spins playlist of songs by festival performers.
Big List Concert Guide · Upcoming shows
The arrival of autumn also brings Keller Williams, Heather Maloney, KJ & The Good Time Family Band, a jazzy Grand Rapids Symphony tribute to Paul McCartney and more. Check out this week’s spotlighted shows, plus our Under-the-Radar Picks.
Our podcast hosts sat down with the new station manager for Grand Rapids’ WYCE-FM to talk about the robust music scene and how he hopes to nurture that in his new role.
