Sold-out shows starring the country-driven Cody Jinks, Home Free and Jessie Murph were just part of West Michigan’s concert lineup over the past week, from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids.
“Loud & Heavy”: Cody Jinks rocking the stage in Kalamazoo on Saturday. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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Borrowing from outlaw country artist Cody Jinks’ own song catalog, it was a full house of “Hippies and Cowboys” at Kalamazoo’s Wings Event Center on Saturday.
Touring behind his latest album, “Change the Game,” the bearded, Texas-bred singer and guitarist delivered what one fan called a “helluva show,” starting with the 2021 hit, “Hurt You,” and wrapping up his encore 22 songs later (appropriately) with “Loud & Heavy.”
With 8,000 fans on hand for the sold-out concert, the evening kicked off with a set from Southern rock and country band Blackberry Smoke.
Jessie Murph: Lighting up The Intersection. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
It was Kalamazoo’s second sold-out country show in the same weekend: Minnesota a cappella country group Home Free played to a capacity crowd at Kalamazoo State Theatre on Friday as part of the band’s “Crazy(er) Life” tour.
And that came after country singer Jessie Murph’s revved up a sold-out affair at Grand Rapids’ The Intersection on Thursday, followed by yet another country artist, Larry Fleet, at the same venue on Friday.
Elsewhere, two acclaimed singer-songwriters regaled audiences with their musical tales in Grand Rapids. Marc Cohn (“Walking in Memphis”) returned to St. Cecilia Music Center on Thursday, and Nashville-based tunesmith Amy Speace joined Grand Rapids’ own Ralston Bowles on Friday for an intimate evening of songs at Grand Rapids Ballet Co.’s Peter Martin Wege Theatre.
The Intersection’s Stache, meanwhile, hosted West Michigan’s raw rock/blues duo Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish on Saturday night, with Americana’s Roosevelt Diggs opening.
To help get the week started, State Theatre hosted indie-rock’s The Mountain Goats for a Tuesday tour stop.
Scroll down for photos from all of these shows and come back to Local Spins on Monday for a gallery featuring AJR, who play Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena tonight (April 14).
PHOTO GALLERY: Cody Jinks, Blackberry Smoke at Wings Event Center
Photos by Derek Ketchum
PHOTO GALLERY: Home Free at Kalamazoo State Theatre
Photos by Derek Ketchum
PHOTO GALLERY: Jessie Murph at The Intersection
Photos by Eric Stoike
