February’s giant night for local music will also boast sets by May Erlewine, Organissimo, Hannah Rose, Afro Zuma and many others. See the lineup and listen to the most recent Local Spins on WYCE podcast featuring Jammie nominees.
On the Jammies Bill: Hollywood Makeout will be one more than two dozen bands playing the awards show. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
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Some of West Michigan’s brightest, emerging stars – along with veteran favorites such as Organissimo and May Erlewine – will illuminate the 2018 Jammie Awards come February.
The Roster of 2018 Jammies Performers
Indie-rock band Hollywood Makeout, teenage blues-rock guitar sensation Jake Kershaw, Kalamazoo R&B singer Yolonda Lavender, contemporary jazz outfit Blushing Monk, the boundary-crossing Underground Circus, pop/rock’s Lipstick Jodi, Celtic music phenoms The Founding, hip hop’s ConvoTronics and dream pop’s Major Murphy will all play the WYCE (88.1 FM) awards show for the first time, the community radio station announced today.
Another first-time performer and Jammie nominee, Desmond Jones, will play the post-party at The Intersection in Grand Rapids following presentation of awards in several categories on Feb. 9.
“Growing up in the Grand Rapids music scene, everyone knows and talks about The Jammies,” said Desmond Jones drummer John Nowak, who attended his first Jammies show with band member Isaac Berkowitz when both were still in high school.
“To join the (past) ranks of Seth Bernard and Lindsay Lou as after-party hosts is an honor and a privilege. We’ve worked hard to establish ourselves in the Grand Rapids local music community and gigs like this are examples of that hard work paying off. We can’t wait to be a part of a night that celebrates the incredible music and art that is emerging right now in Michigan.”
In all, 25 regional acts will play mostly short sets during the event, which always draws a capacity crowd of fans and musicians. The jam-packed lineup of nominees for various awards boasts popular past Jammie winners such as Hannah Rose & The GravesTones and Afro Zuma.
Brian Koenigsknecht (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Other first-timers at the Jammies include Cameron Blake, B-Side Growlers, Hannah Laine, Wicker Basket and Brian Koenigsknecht.
Koenigsknecht, a singer-songwriter from Kalamazoo who released “From the Shallows to the Deep” last year, said he’s “excited to be a part of one of the biggest nights of the year for our music scene. I’m honored as well to help represent a Kalamazoo music community who I really wouldn’t be where I am without their inspiration and support.”
Dan Rickabus, drummer for The Crane Wives, will play the event for the first time as a solo act, and Bigfoot Buffalo will play its first big show with a new drummer, Kris Rewa.
Rickabus is “totally ecstatic” about opening the evening at the Jammie Awards with a nine-piece band that will play selections from his solo album, “Void / Journal,” a project the drummer said wouldn’t have been possible without WYCE’s support.
Dan Rickabus (Photo/Anna Sink)
“The Jammies is a campfire we were able to crowd around, and we’ve formed a dozen projects in the warmth of this supportive community,” he said. “WYCE has not only nurtured our music, but our friendships.”
More than 150 albums and EPs released by local and regional acts are up for awards on Feb. 9. For more about that and a full list of nominees for best album by a new artist, check out this wrap-up at Local Spins.
And see more at wyce.org, where volunteer programmers and staffers voted for nominees in more than a dozen categories.
Tracks by Jake Kershaw, Organissimo and other Jammie nominees (The War & Treaty, The Accidentals, Billy Strings, Seth Bernard) were part of the year-end episode of Local Spins on WYCE.
Listen to the full podcast here, which included an in-studio performance by Grand Haven’s Dave Palmer and young guitarist Avery Jorgensen, plus the on-air debut of new tracks by Watching for Foxes and Robin Lee Berry (along with a song by The Moxie Strings and a cover of a Tom Petty tune by a Grand Rapids super-group). Palmer plays a special benefit show at SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids on Wednesday night with his band; VanMason opens at 8:15 p.m.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (Dec. 29, 2017)
Official Sponsor of Local Spins on WYCE
See a recap of the 2017 Jammie Awards show, along with a full list of winners: Jammie Awards show uncorks ‘huge love fest’ starring ‘unbelievable’ musical talent
Jammies performer Hannah Rose & The GravesTones also appeared on the most recent episode of “GR Live” at H.O.M.E. in The B.O.B., along with the Kari Lynch Band. Listen to that full podcast here.
PODCAST: GR Live (Dec. 28, 2017)
Copyright 2017, Spins on Music LLC
