An Dro will heat up an already sizzling environment tonight in kicking off the GRAM on the Green series.
GRAM on the Green will turn into GRAM in the AC tonight after all.
With the temperature soaring to record-breaking triple-digit levels, Grand Rapids Art Museum officials this afternoon (July 6) decided to move the kickoff show to their seven-week outdoor Friday night music series indoors.
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West Michigan’s An Dro will now belt out its bracing Celtic and world music in the lobby — rather than the museum terrace — starting at 6:15 p.m., expecting to play two sets before ballroom dancing gets into what’s liable to be some uber-sweaty spinning at Rosa Parks Circle at 8:30 p.m. (Check the Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation hotline for cancellations and updates on the Rosa Parks Circle event here.)
This morning, art museum marketing and public relations director Kerri VanderHoff told Spins on Music the museum planned to keep the event outdoors, but later made the call to move things inside to beat the heat.
As a result, admission to the museum today will be free after 5 p.m.
Fred Willson, guitarist and mandolin player for An Dro, said the band will “include a lot of the material “ from its next recording project at tonight’s show. “We’re in the mixing process right now and (the new album) should be available by the end of the summer or early fall,” he said.
One of the region’s most impressive Celtic outfits, An Dro also features Jim Spalink on bouzouki, whistles and more, Michele Venegas on fiddle, and Carolyn Koebel on percussion.
During the break between sets, concertgoers also are encouraged to join GRAM’s “Friday Night Conversations.”
The series continues every Friday night through Aug. 17 with what VanderHoff rightly describes as an “eclectic mix” of regional acts booked by the museum’s music director, Ed Clifford.
Here’s the full schedule, which includes several bands which have been featured as my Local Spins artists of the week:
July 6 – An Dro (Celtic, world beat)
July 13 – Fauxgrass Quartet (bluegrass)
July 20 – Randy Marsh Trio (organ-based jazz)
July 27 – Ritsu Katsumata (post-modern gypsy)
Aug. 3 – Creolization (roots-pop, Zydeco)
Aug. 10 – Dan Richardson-Chosen (gospel)
Aug. 17 – Fainting Generals (alt pop-rock)
For more details, visit the art museum’s website here. You can check out a story and video based on An Dro’s appearance on the radio for Local Spins Live here, and read about this week’s artist of the week, bluesman Donald Kinsey, here.
Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com
