The award-winning group soared to the top of the chart for the first time with “Can You Hear It?” Learn more about the band and view the rest of the albums which landed in the Top 5 for January.
Uplifting Moments and a 2024 ‘Packed with Excitement’: The American Hotel System (Photo/Jake Orr)
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Guitarist and lead singer Jacob Betts of The American Hotel System concedes that there’s always “a certain risk in exposing your vulnerabilities and sharing your art with the world.”
But as it turns out, release of the rock band’s most recent album, “Can You Hear It?,” ranked among “the most uplifting moments” ever, beginning with The American Hotel System’s record-release show at The Pyramid Scheme.
“The energy, love and support in the air that night made for an experience that we will cherish for the rest of our lives,” said Betts, who fronts the band that also features guitarist C.T. McCallister, guitarist/violinist Samuel Overman, drummer Hailey Petty and bassist Jake LaMotte.
That “love and support” extends to Local Spins and WYCE programmers and listeners: “Can You Hear It?” jumped to No. 1 on the Local Spins Hot Top 5 Chart for January, representing the local or regional album that received the most radio airplay at Grand Rapids’ WYCE-FM (88.1 FM).
“The abundance of incredible music out there makes it even more humbling when someone chooses to spend their time listening to our music” Betts said. “Entities like WYCE are the lifeblood of regional music, and it’s an absolute honor whenever a programmer selects or a listener requests one of our songs.”
The upcoming year for the winner of the 2022 Grand Champions of Music Prize competition is “packed with excitement,” Betts said, noting the band headlines a March 2 show at Detroit’s Lager House, followed by Grand Rapids Ballet’s “Jumpstart 2024,” which will feature The American Hotel System’s music brought to life through ballet.
“As a writer, my journey of self-discovery has paralleled the evolution of the band,” Betts said. “Each project has served as a mile marker, representing our ongoing exploration and discovery of our collective voice. … These songs embody who we’ve become — a community of vagrant hearts searching to sing out a melody of love.”
The January Hot Top 5 boasts a mostly new chart of Michigan releases, with Nathan Walton & The Remedy’s “La Luz” EP debuting at No. 2, followed by Ypsilanti’s Fang and Twang’s “You Monster,” and Grand Rapids singer-songwriter Hannah Rose Graves’ “Medicine.”
The No. 5 spot represents a tie between Grand Rapids rock band Overdrive Orchestra’s “Heading East (Deluxe)” and Kalamazoo hip-hop cellist Jordan Hamilton’s “J.NOH.” Listen to tracks from all of the releases below.
THE LOCAL SPINS HOT TOP 5 ON SPOTIFY: January 2024
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