The Morning Yells make their Grand Rapids debut April 24. The back story on this indie-rock band with roots in Potato Moon, plus this week’s radio showcase debuting tracks by other Michigan artists.
‘Like Riding a Bike’: The natural sibling musical chemistry of Laura and Phil Stancil. (Courtesy Photo)
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Listen to the harmonies unfurled by Phil Stancil and his sister, Laura, of The Morning Yells for even a few seconds and you’ll know there’s something remarkable at work: It’s that sibling thing that can’t be replicated by unrelated mortals.
“We’re siblings obviously, but also we’ve been playing together so long,” notes guitarist Phil Stancil. “We have a brain-wave connection. We can just kind of already tell where something’s going with a song idea. And it’s really fun for that reason because things can happen really fast.”
Adds Laura: “It just makes it really easy. Whenever me and Phil get together, it’s just like riding a bike or something. I don’t know. He’s the easiest person to make music with because we’ve been doing it since we were kids. So it just comes really easy.”
Now fronting the Grand Rapids-by-way-of-Los Angeles indie-rock and Americana band The Morning Yells, the duo began soaking in musical wonders at a young age, joining the family band Potato Moon, a distinctive folk-driven group that made its mark, won numerous awards and captivated West Michigan’s music scene more than two decades ago — releasing its last album in 2012 and last performing in 2017.
From Michigan to California and Back Again: Phil and Laura Stancil. (Photo/Local Spins)
“I started playing guitar when I was 8 years old, and started my first band, The Little Blue Band, the following year. We did some good shows around West Michigan for about a decade. Also during that time I was playing with my family band, Potato Moon, with my brother Ben, sisters Laura and Jane, and dad Phil Sr., aka Big Phil,” recounts Phil, who followed all of that by moving to Los Angeles and starting the band Midnight Faces with Matt Doty.
After three full-length records and touring across the globe with Midnight Faces, Stancil eventually formed the band The Midnight Yells with Laura, with both siblings moving back to Michigan from California last year after that group released two full-length albums, two EPs and several singles.
“It’s almost like I can’t help it or I can’t help myself but to write music and to book shows and to do the thing,” Phil acknowledges. “Music ebbs and flows with whatever project you’re doing. … I’m always doing it. I can’t help it. I just love doing it.”
The revamped new lineup of The Morning Yells – Phil, Laura, drummer Jimmy Schultz and pedal steel guitarist Andy Travis — makes its Grand Rapids debut at SpeakEZ Lounge on April 24, for the final Local Spins Fridays concert of the spring. Get details about the show here.
Interestingly, that lineup features three former members of Potato Moon: the Stancils and Schultz.
Whether the entire lineup of Potato Moon will eventually perform together remains to be seen, though Phil and Laura allow that “it’s not totally out of the question,” especially since the two of them have now relocated to the Grand Rapids area.
“I mean, there’s always talks about it, right? Yeah,” Phil concedes. “I wouldn’t say the answer is no, but …”
On the other hand, there’s no doubt The Morning Yells are poised to fire up their engines in 2026 as they get established in a new locale and adjust their sound with fresh bandmates. The siblings get together weekly in their parents’ garage to work on new material and perform.
The band releases a new single, “River,” later this year and Local Spins debuted the track on this week’s show. Listen to it below and watch a video performance of Phil and Laura Stancil performing “My Girls” live upstairs at Rockford Brewing Co. — a track that appears on The Morning Yells’ 2022 album, “Moonlight Mountain Bungalow.”
VIDEO: Phil and Laura Stancil of The Morning Yells, “My Girls (Live)”
“We’re doing a lot of writing. I think the plan is we’ll put out a record this year as far as like what that will be or where it will be recorded and all that to kind of to be determined,” Phil says.
“But there will be some singles and a record this year, for sure. As far as shows, we’re kind of like booking some here and there. We haven’t been aggressively trying to book shows, but if something nice comes up, we’re always happy to do it.”
Phil and his wife have three young children and Laura noted that both siblings have day jobs, so they’re “just fitting in” brief rehearsals to flesh out their musical ideas on a regular basis.
“We literally just record for like an hour and because it comes so quick, we’re like, ‘Oh, let just cut out one hour a week just to make sure we’re recording something new,'” she says. “And it comes easy. It’s been good.”
Beyond the SpeakEZ show, The Morning Yells will perform at Collins Park in East Grand Rapids on July 4, with additional performances still to be scheduled.
In addition to The Morning Yells, this week’s edition of the Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase boasted new music from other Michigan artists: Jack White, Morgan Haner, Indeed Band, Dante Cope, Greg Nagy, Mei Semones, The Bootstrap Boys and Trakzero, along with a fan-favorite 2004 track from the aforementioned Potato Moon. Listen to the interview and full podcast below.
The Michigan Music Showcase airs at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org, and on Interlochen Public Radio at 7 p.m. Saturdays. Check out previous show podcasts online here.
PODCAST: Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase (4/17/26)
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