WYCE’s lunchtime radio show with live performances will go on location to Grand Rapids’ SpeakEZ Lounge at noon Thursday, with future stops at Garage Bar and AllArtWorks Studio.
Road Show: WYCE’s GR Live will take place at noon Thursday at SpeakEZ Lounge, hosted by Quinn Mathews.
There’s a throwback, endearing quality to live radio shows performed in front of an audience, whether it’s “A Prairie Home Companion” that heated up Minnesota Public Radio for more than four decades or Grand Rapids’ own “GR Live” airing on WYCE (88.1 FM).
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Now, GR Live — hosted by Quinn Mathews since 2016 — is hitting the road.
The show will make its SpeakEZ Lounge debut in downtown Grand Rapids at noon Thursday, with performances by singer-guitarist Jack Leaver (who presents his “Crazy Hearse” Neil Young tribute at SpeakEZ on Feb. 12) and Alex Austin from the rootsy band Deerfield Run.
“We’ll be taking GR Live on the road into various spots downtown through the winter and into the spring starting this Thursday (Feb. 6) from SpeakEZ Lounge (at 600 Monroe Ave. NW),” Mathews said. “SpeakEZ will become sort of home base, broadcasting from that location every other week throughout February and March.”
Crazy Hearse: Jack Leaver brings his Neil Young Tribute to SpeakEZ at noon Thursday and with a full band on Feb. 12.
The show also will air live at Garage Bar & Grill at 819 Ottawa Ave. NW on Feb. 13, and AllArtWorks Studio at 333 Cesar E. Chavez Ave. SW on Feb. 27.
Mathews noted that the “weekly broadcast takes our community station out in to the community for live broadcasts from inside local businesses to promote the arts in West Michigan. The hour-long show is open to the public to watch as live musicians perform, local community organizations discuss upcoming events, and non profit organizations promote the work they do in our community.”
Thursday’s upcoming GR Live debut at SpeakEZ will also feature conversations with Michigan Music Alliance Executive Director Nicholas Thomasma and Local Spins publisher John Sinkevics.
Of course, food and drinks are available at SpeakEZ and other venues during this lunchtime entertainment, making it a unique, all-ages attraction showcasing regional music. (Learn more about SpeakEZ and its menu online here and view the schedule of upcoming concerts at SpeakEZ.)
Admission is free, and the shows air live on the radio at 88.1 FM and online at wyce.org, with a live video feed via Facebook Live courtesy of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center’s GRTV.
In the past, the show has aired live at H.O.M.E. inside The B.O.B. and at Midtown (formerly the Listening Room) at Studio Park, where Mathews served as director of music and programming until October 2024.
The former WYCE station manager toured for years as part of the Channing & Quinn indie-folk duo and currently serves as a freelance talent agent for music and comedy.
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