Frankie Ballard, Hannah Rose, Kris Hitchcock, Suport, Roosevelt Diggs, Lazy Blue Tunas, Rogue River Boys rev up the holidays: Photos

Holiday hoopla and homecomings: West Michigan’s music scene was full of both this weekend as Christmas approached, with the story told through images at Local Spins.

 

West Michigan’s music scene rolled out a week of homecomings and holiday hoopla, starting at mid-week and continuing through the weekend — a spate of concerts featuring the likes of Frankie Ballard, Hannah Rose Graves, Kris Hitchcock, Lazy Blue Tunas and more:

WEDNESDAY
Hannah Rose & The GravesTones made a triumphant return to Grand Rapids’ SpeakEZ Lounge (where Hannah once worked as a waitress) for the Local Spins Wednesdays series, delivering several compelling new songs — including “Left Me Cryin’ in the Rain” and “Mama’s Kitchen” — for an enthusiastic audience which jammed the intimate venue for much of the evening. Hannah even got into the holiday spirit with a rendition of “White Christmas,” accompanied on slide guitar and piano.

FRIDAY
Kris Hitchcock not only came home to West Michigan from Nashville for the holidays, but brought his brand new studio album, “Bright Lights and Dark Ages,” with him, playing a full-band CD-release show at Bell’s Brewery’s Eccentric Cafe on Friday night. Hitchcock unfurled what photographer Derek Ketchum described as an “incredible blend of country and rock music” for big crowd of fans in the city where the singer-songwriter attended Western Michigan University.

SATURDAY
• National country star Frankie Ballard, a West Michigan native who’s also a WMU alum, revved up his annual Christmas show at Kalamazoo’s State Theatre. As usual, the packed concert turned into a family affair with Ballard’s father joining him for a rendition of “A Boy Named Sue,” followed by “Blue Christmas.” James Otto opened the show, which was a benefit for Notes for Notes, a nonprofit group that designs and equips after-school recording studios for Boys & Girls Clubs.

• Grand Rapids hip hop artists Suport and Choppy Blades, Chicago’s RalDawg and Saginaw’s D.R.E.E.M. Entertainment attracted a who’s who lineup of guest performers from Grand Rapids’ hip hop scene to Founders Brewing on Saturday, including Lo Mobb, Venson Dix, Rick Chyme, Dante Cope and Assorted Anonymous.

• Alt-country/American band Roosevelt Diggs made its Seven Steps Up debut on Saturday, along with Holland’s Brother Adams, playing a lively show as part of the venue’s “Standing Room Only” series. As photographer Loren Johnson put it, the sold-out show “was seriously killer. Brother Adams warmed the crowd up with their stompy tunes and Roosevelt Diggs got everybody dancing. Too much fun!”

• In what might be the popular Grand Rapids pop/rock band’s final spate of Christmas shows ever, the Lazy Blue Tunas filled One Trick Pony for the second night in a row, regaling longtime aficionados with holiday favorites and their crowd-pleasing rendition of the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

• The Rogue River Boys — a super-group featuring members of Fauxgrass, Luke Warm & The Not So Hots and Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys — helped Rockford Brewing celebrate its third anniversary on Saturday night with extended bluegrass jams, amusing honky-tonk ditties and an engaging vintage country vibe (complete with two Dobro players). Check out some video highlights below.

• Mustard Plug held its annual holiday bash in the main showroom of The Intersection on Saturday, with American WiFi hosting a Christmas party in The Stache. Check out images in this separate Local Spins photo gallery.

LOCAL SPINS WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY: Dec. 20, 2015

Hannah Rose & The GravesTones photos by Anna Sink
Kris Hitchcock photos by Derek Ketchum
Frankie Ballard photos by Eric Stoike
Suport, RalDawg, hip hop photos by Anthony Norkus
Roosevelt Diggs, Brother Adams photos by Loren Johnson
Lazy Blue Tunas, Rogue River Boys photos by Anna Sink

VIDEO: Rogue River Boys at Rockford Brewing

Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLG