Hectic week with tour stops by national acts and special events starring local bands: Record Store Day, Local Blues Matter at Billy’s, GrooveWalk in Holland, Inside the Mitten in Muskegon and Chilly Blues in Grand Haven.
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Mitten Mustard: Mustard Plug skas up the Inside the Mitten series in Muskegon on Friday.
Mustard Plug, Skee-Town Stylee
7 p.m. Friday
$10 advance, $12 day of show
Watermark 920 (920 Washington Ave.) Muskegon
The spring edition Watermark Live’s Inside the Mitten concert series ends with a real bang – make that a ska-powered explosion – with West Michigan’s best-known and longest-lived ska act, the energetic and hard-gigging Mustard Plug. Add to that the reggae-dub grooves of Skee-Town Stylee and this promises to be a party that won’t quit.
As usual, the Inside the Mitten show will include a conversation with the band and refreshments/sandwiches will be available.
The series spotlighting Michigan’s talent will resume again in the fall. Get more information online at the Watermark Live site.
Blues That Matters: Donald Kinsey is part of the impressive lineup for the benefit at Billy’s Lounge.
Local Blues Matter with Steve Hilger Band,
Donald Kinsey Band, Vincent Hayes Project,
West Side Soul Surfers, James Reeser & the Backseat Drivers
7:30 p.m. Friday
$5
Billy’s Lounge, Grand Rapids (Eastown)
It would be tough to assemble a more bracing lineup of West Michigan blues acts than this one organized as a benefit for WGVU-FM blues programming (which can be found on Friday and Saturday nights at 88.5 and 95.3 FM).
Legendary guitarist Donald Kinsey, who’s made his home in the Grand Rapids area in recent years after playing with everyone from Bob Marley to the Kinsey Report, is just part of this strong roster, which also features the scintillating Vincent Hayes. Get more information online here.
Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
7:30 p.m. Friday
$40, $44, $48
Forest Hills Fine Arts Center, Grand Rapids (600 Forest Hills Ave. SE)
Hey, this guy has won 10 Grammy Awards so there’s way more to Bobby McFerrin than his monster hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
This upbeat singer, musician and conductor brings his “Spirit You All” show to the pristine Forest Hills Fine Arts Center, an evening which promises to be filled with reggae, jazz, world music and pure fun, sparked by McFerrin’s amazing polyphonic vocal ability. Get ticket information online here.
The Stray Birds
The Stray Birds, Red Tail Ring
8 p.m. Friday
$18 advance, $22 day of show (sofa and table seating also available)
Seven Steps Up, Spring Lake
This acoustic trio from Pennsylvania embraces homey folk, country and bluegrass-hued material, enhanced by sweet harmonies – so sweet, in fact, that NPR recently named The Stray Birds’ self-titled debut among the Top 10 Folk & Americana albums of 2012. Get tickets and more information at pindropsconcerts.com.
Red Tail Ring, a Kalamazoo-area duo of Michael Beauchamp and Laurel Premo, have impressed audiences in a short period of time, meshing their old-timey folk approach with imaginative original compositions. They’re also playing the Grand River Folk Arts Society series at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Wealthy Theatre Annex at 1110 Wealthy St. SE ($12, with discounts for kids, seniors). Get details about that show online here.
Larry McCray
Chilly Blues Festival
Friday-Sunday
$10 advance
Downtown Grand Haven
Head to the lakeshore for chili and, yes, blues. Detroit bluesman Larry McCray is the star attraction at this year’s Chilly Blues affair. On Friday night, he plays the newly renovated Dee-Lite on Washington Avenue with opening act Rick Hicks, then headlines Saturday night’s event in the Chilly Blues beer tent “with plenty of chili, local blues” and more. Advance tickets available at the Dee-Lite, Kirby Grill or Snug Harbor. Here’s the full schedule:
Friday
Dee-Lite – 7:30 p.m. – Rick Hicks, Larry McCray
Theatre Bar – 9 p.m. – Big Daddy Fox
Kirby Grill – 9:30 p.m. – Bosco-Gee Blues Band
Odd Side Ales – 8 p.m. – Delilah DeWylde
Rosebud – 9:30 p.m. – Dick Nixon
Saturday
Snug Harbor -Noon – 6 p.m. Chili cook-off with Big Daddy Fox & the Krewe at 2 p.m.
Beer Tent (Municipal Marina Parking Lot) – 5 p.m. – Local blues jam (opener)
7:30 p.m. – Larry McCray
Theatre Bar – 9 p.m. – Chris Wiser Trio
Dee-Lite – 9 p.m. – Steve Hilger Band
Kirby Grill – 2 p.m. – Crossroads
9:30 p.m. – Brian Michael Fischer
Odd Sides Ales 8 p.m. – Them Two Guys
Rosebud 9:30 p.m. – Vincent Hayes
Sunday
Dee-Lite 4 p.m. – Blues Jam with Vincent Hayes Project
Official Sponsor of the Big List Concert Guide
Record Store Psychedelia: Haunted Leather is part of the musical lineup at Vertigo Music for Record Store Day.
Record Store Day
Various Artists
11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday
Free
Vertigo Music, Grand Rapids
Corner Record Record Shop, Grandville
Dodd’s Record Shop, Grand Rapids
Green Light Music, Kalamazoo
The Full Circle, Holland
This has become like a national holiday for independent record stores across the country. And a lot of it is driven by vinyl LPs, yes, vinyl. Indie record shops across the land will be offering amazing special releases by a host of different bands which means folks will be lining up to get into places like Vertigo Music on S. Division Avenue and Corner Record Shop in Grandville, both of whom will also be offering live music and refreshments throughout the day. And the long-lived Dodd’s in Grand Rapids plans to have bands playing on the roof, depending on the weather.
Read a full story with band lineups later this week at Spins on Music. Suffice to say, there’s a lot spinning at these shops this weekend.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan, Dawes
7:30 p.m. Saturday
$29.50, $49.50
Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo
The iconic folk/rock hero Bob Dylan continues his “never-ending tour,” this time with hot folk-rock act Dawes, playing Kalamazoo’s Wings Stadium between two Ohio dates on college campuses. Should be a singular experience because every show that Dylan and his fine band play is different than the next.
And Dawes – who I happened to catch at a tiny show at The intersection a couple of years ago – is truly a terrific band that churns out catchy music. Get ticket information online here.
Oracle, Love Fossil, Mini-Boone, Hundo
8 p.m. Saturday
$10 ($8 for mug club members)
Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids
Founders kicks things into high gear on Saturday with its “Black Party 2013,” celebrating dark brew, with live entertainment from Oracle and Love Fossil (both featuring some Founders brewers and employees), as well as Brooklyn’s Mini-Boone and Hundo. Get more information online here.
Funktion
GrooveWalk
9 p.m.-1 a.m. Saturday
$15 (wristband for entry into all venues)
13 Holland venues/bars, Holland
It probably doesn’t get any groovier than this in Holland: 13 acts playing 13 different venues around the city with a GrooveExpress shuttle to take party-goers and music lovers from spot to spot.
Entertainment ranges from DJ Colin Clive at 84 East Food & Spirits to the R&B/funk of Kalamazoo’s Funktion at VFW Post 2144 to rock’s Blue Moon Revue at Curragh Irish Pub. Get advance wristbands online until 5 p.m. today at www.groovewalk.com or in person at the Curragh. On Saturday, they’ll be available at nine locations. Get the full lineup and the rest of the lowdown at the GrooveWalk website.
The Devil Makes Three
The Devil Makes Three, Jonny Fritz
7:30 p.m. Sunday
$15
The Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids
Talk about ramped-up bluegrass. This California trio dubbed The Devil Makes Three takes acoustic music to another level, delivering a stew of old-timey music, bluegrass, rockabilly, country, folk, blues and ragtime. Nashville sonwriter Jonny Fritz opens the show. Get ticket information online here.
UNDER-THE-RADAR PICKS
Airbourne playing “customer appreciation night” at The Intersection, 7 p.m. Friday, $5 — This Australian hard rock band headlines a special low-cost customer appreciation night which will also feature West Michigan’s Deadwood Stone, Tension Head and Society Kills. Not to mention drink specials.
BMW Showcase featuring the hip-hop of the BMW Boyz and more at Wealthy Theatre, 8 p.m. Friday, $12 – The BMW Boyz are headlining this event, but a special guest will be BMW Boy D-Nell. Get details/tickets online here.
Doug Mains & the City Folk, Bennett, Chris DuPont, Daniel and the Lion playing Lemonjello’s in Holland, 7 p.m. Friday, $5 — Lansing progressive indie-folk artist Doug Mains describes his band’s music as “classical sophistication meets front porch intuition.” And Grand Rapids’ Bennett is a fast-rising folk/Americana trio. A nice combination. Lemonjello’s follows this up Saturday, aka GrooveWalk night, with a free singer-songwriter/folk-pop show featuring Mark Rose, Jon Walker, Steve Oceans and Ryan Murray.
Eight Ball Grifter Reunion Show with Ten Second March at Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill, 7 p.m. Saturday, $10 advance, $12 day of show – This Lansing psychobilly/rockabilly outfit is coming “outta hidin’ in the backwoods” for years to play this West Side watering hole, so word is, this is going to be rafter-rattling affair. (Also, Tip Top brings in Lydia Loveless with Dead Eye Zack and Dave Vacant on Thursday, and that should be a fab, intimate show featuring this country/rock/folk artists from Ohio, $6.)
Fled Five
Fled Five and Aria Flame playing Teazers Bar & Grill, 819 Ottawa Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, 8 p.m. Saturday, free – This is quite the combination of Grand Rapids rock bands: Fled Five is a seasoned, hard-rocking trio; Aria Flame describes itself as a neo-classical hard rock band led by dynamic lead singer Aziza A. Poggi. Brace yourselves, folks.
Lazy Blue Tunas playing SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids, 9 p.m. Saturday, free – This is a new performance spot for this much beloved four-piece Grand Rapids band which boasts tremendous three- and four-part Harmonies on pop and rock classics that cover the gamut of popular music, old and new. And the next day, Randissimo’s Sunday Jazz Night returns to the SpeakEZ at 7 p.m., hosted by drummer Randy Marsh.
HRVRD, Daylight, Bowery & The Water Clocks playing The Stache (Intersection’s front lounge), 6 p.m. Sunday, $7 advance, $10 day of show — This Equal Vision Records artist is joined by some terrific Grand Rapids bands for this early show that’s worth checking out.
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