The support for their releases makes them smile. The October chart ranking the top local and regional albums also features Desmond Jones, Lee Heerspink and Odd Space.
Heartwarming Response: Traverse City’s Laurel Premo created an acclaimed guitar-based project.
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Considering the national impact that both artists have had in recent years, it’s no surprise that Grammy-winning bluegrass hero Billy Strings and indie-folksters The Accidentals would dominate the most recent Local Spins Hot Top 5 Charts.
After The Accidentals’ latest album, “Vessel,” snagged the No. 1 spot in September – representing the local/regional release gaining the most radio airplay at Grand Rapids’ WYCE (88.1 FM) – Billy Strings’ “Renewal” jumped to the top spot for October, with The Accidentals at No. 2.
It’s a familiar, lofty perch for the Michigan-bred stars.
But for other regional acts squeezing into the Top 5 with their latest recordings, the support from radio programmers and listeners is incalculably significant and enormously satisfying.
Traverse City multi-instrumentalist Laurel Premo, whose new fingerstyle electric guitar and lap steel “Golden Loam” album snagged the No. 3 spot for October after entering the chart at No. 4 the month before, called it “really great news” and part of the “very welcome warmth” she feels from a community radio station such as WYCE.
After performing in Grand Rapids last week, Premo plays her final album-release show Dec. 1 at The Robin Theatre in Lansing, with a Midwestern tour planned for February with Jake Blount.
For jazz guitarist and Holland native Lee Heerspink, making the Hot Top 5 Chart for the first time ever with his album, “Monsters’ Impromptu,” validates the concept of “a raucous and fun” project laid down at Grand Haven’s Third Coast Recording Co. with organist Jim Alfredson, drummer Randy Marsh, keyboardist Dutcher Snedeker and saxophonist Caleb Elzinga.
“It makes me smile to think that people are listening and enjoying the music we put together,” he said of the “energy and excitement” he was seeking on the wide-ranging album.
Lee Heerspink (Courtesy Photo)
“Honestly, I was a little concerned about putting out such a wild record for my debut as a bandleader, but I think it ended up very fun and engaging.”
Just behind Desmond Jones’ “Why Not?” at No. 4, “Monsters’ Impromptu” tied for No. 5 on the October chart with Odd Space’s latest EP, “Doomsdays.” Heerspink and his band play an album-release show Nov. 13 at Grand Rapids’ Listening Room.
“I was thrilled to hear that ‘Doomsdays’ has been so positively received by the WYCE community. That’s always one of my hopes when releasing new music: that it finds an audience to resonate with,” Grand Rapids’ Joey Frankovich said of his latest “grungy and ethereal collage of sounds” under the Odd Space moniker.
“I’m very grateful to the WYCE community for being a part of that audience.”
View previous Local Spins Hot Top 5 Charts.
THE LOCAL SPINS HOT TOP 5 ON SPOTIFY: October 2021
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