The popular Grand Rapids folk-rock quintet unveiled some new songs as it accumulates material for another album and is poised to head west on tour this summer.
Musical Comrades: The Crane Wives at The Intersection Friday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
There’s always lots of chumming around at a Crane Wives show, and Friday night’s upbeat performance at a teeming Intersection was no exception.
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Musicians hugged other musicians, fans hugged other fans while mouthing the words to their favorite Crane Wives tunes.
Tom Gunnels of The Crane Wives (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Even the opening acts – Americana’s Jen Sygit and Sam Corbin with Lincoln County Process and folk trio Bennett – oozed warmth and amity, with Nick Rolls of Bennett declaring at one point that he was on stage with his best friends.
The tale of The Crane Wives – who began playing together about four years ago while at Grand Valley State University – is filled with camaraderie, starting with their own unique relationship as a band of good pals who write catchy songs and continue to polish their skills as professionals in the music business.
And Friday night’s return to one of the folk-rock band’s favorite haunts reinforced the notion that this fivesome has essentially conquered Grand Rapids, delivering another lively show that had everyone kicking up their heels. But what’s the next step for this award-winning band?
“The Cranes have been navigating this sort of transitional period and having a great time,” said drummer Dan Rickabus, who on Thursday night also fronted his own Dan Rickabus Nooftet side project at Founders Brewing. “We’ve been trying to hone the band in terms of both business and creative collaborations. We’re doing a lot of creative work with all five of us together as opposed to pairs or trios writing something and then bringing it to the band.”
Bennett was one of the openers on Friday. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
That includes songs the band – Rickabus, guitarists and singers Emilee Petersmark and Kate Pillsbury, bassist Ben Zito and banjo player Tom Gunnels – has been hired to write for an ad campaign and for possible placement in a television series.
The band also is building up an inventory of songs for its third studio album, testing many of those for live audiences like those on Friday night. Rickabus said the group known for its three-part harmonies and buoyant lives shows has completed 11 tunes, with four of five more in the works.
“We’re hoping to accumulate a wealth of new material before we go into the record-making process again. We are very, very proud of our first two albums, but we’re hoping to go for a different approach when we finally do get to do a session,” he said. “This time, we want to record in a cool space almost entirely live, and we want to have way more music than necessary so we can pick and choose the best tunes for the album.”
In addition to expanding their repertoire of songs, The Crane Wives are expanding their reach: Come July, they’ll head out to Colorado on tour.
“We’ll be gone for almost two weeks which is our biggest journey yet,” Rickabus said. “We are really looking forward to our summer adventures.”
(Check out more photos from Friday night’s show and other concerts across West Michigan in the Local Spins Weekend Photo Gallery on Sunday.)
THE CRANE WIVES AND BENNETT @ THE INTERSECTION (Photos by Anthony Norkus)
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music
