Show announcements include the April return to Elevation of Jake’s Music Festival and the summer 2019 Picnic Pops lineup, featuring acts ranging from pianist Rich Ridenour to Nashville songwriters.
Playing Jake’s: Cabildo will give Elevation a Latin rock flavor in April. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Michigan bands The Autumnatic, Cabildo, Barrel Bones, Young Pioneer and Stone Soup & The Broken Teeth will rev up the 15th annual edition of Jake’s Music Festival in April at Grand Rapids’ Elevation inside The Intersection.
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The one-day festival starring regional acts and raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation returns to Elevation for the second year in a row, kicking off at 7 p.m. April 13.
Festival music director Clay Grueber called it “a milestone year” for the event and vowed there would be “a couple more surprises still to come.”
The Autumnatic (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
The festival will also feature “an informal after-party” in The Mint – at the back of Elevation – following the final main-stage set.
Festival tickets are $10 for general admission or $25 VIP (special seating area, free drink tickets, swag bag), available online at sectionlive.com. Doors open at 6 p.m., with a DJ spinning tunes and artist Sara Jean Anderson on hand creating art on site.
Event sponsors include Perrin Brewing Co., The Gordon Group and United Bank, with all donations and proceeds from ticket sales and silent auctions supporting JDRF. – John Sinkevics
Revisit Local Spins’ coverage of the 2018 event: Jake’s Music Festival debuts at Elevation with rip-roaring rock, toilet paper-powered hoopla
GR SYMPHONY’S PICNIC POPS CELEBRATES 25TH YEAR
To celebrate 25 years of its “Symphony Under the Sky,” the Grand Rapids Symphony’s D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops 2019 summer series will kick off in much the same way it did for its very first season – with pianist Rich Ridenour performing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” followed by fireworks over Cannonsburg Ski Area.
For four weeks, the 25th season of the Picnic Pops series at Cannonsburg will also showcase a vast array of musical talents and styles, including Beatles music from “The White Album” courtesy of Classical Mystery Tour, Motown’s greatest hits featuring Shayna Steele, and Nashville singer-songwriters Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Rivers Rutherford.
Classical Mystery Tour at Picnic Pops
The series kicks off with “Classical Fireworks” on July 11-12, a concert directed by Grand Rapids Symphony’s conductor John Varineau and featuring Ridenour performing “Rhapsody in Blue” and “Concerto in F.” Accordionist Michael Schaeffer will provide the pre-concert entertainment.
The following weekend, the celebrated Classical Mystery Tour tribute to The Beatles will present “50 years of The White Album,” backed by the Grand Rapids Symphony. Guitarist Chris Bursley will entertain concertgoers prior to the show.
For the July 25-26 edition of Picnic Pops, the Grand Rapids Symphony will present “Motown: The Greatest Hits of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops and More,” featuring blue-jazz singer Shayna Steele along with special guests Chester Gregory and Michael Lynche. Grand Rapids soul and jazz singer Kathy LaMar and pianist Bob VanStee will provide the pre-show entertainment.
On Aug. 2, the series concludes with “Nashville: The Songwriters, Their Stories, The Symphony.” Acclaimed songwriters Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Rivers Rutherford – who’ve written tunes for the likes of stars Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum – will perform as well as tell stories behind their songs.
Lawn tickets for all concerts are $20 adults, $25 day of show. For those ages 2 to 18, tickets are $5, $10 day of show. Children younger than 2 are admitted free. Get tickets and more information online here. – Matthew Tep
Grand Rapids Symphony Picnic Pops at Cannonsburg Ski Area. (Photo/Local Spins)
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