Local Spins spotlights Kalamazoo’s diverse and robust musical artists, with movers and shakers naming acts more people should know. Plus, our radio show podcast debuts new tracks by a host of Michigan bands.

‘Throwing Cool Shows, Making Cool Art’: Jarad Selner with Saxsquatch & Bridge Band at Bronson Park. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
SCROLL DOWN FOR RADIO SHOW PODCAST
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
In describing Kalamazoo’s fast-growing music scene, saxophonist, drummer and master collaborator Jarad Selner — affectionately known as Saxsquatch — uses boxing terminology to praise the city of 73,000.
“We kind of have it all,” he insisted. “I said this before: I think Kalamazoo punches way ahead of its weight class in terms of the size of the town. We put out a huge diversity of really good stuff.”
Indeed, last month’s Sounds of the Zoo festival showcased much of that diversity over seven days, from jazz to hip hop to rock to folk-driven charm.
“You have everything from singer-songwriters with acoustic guitars — one-man shows sort of thing — to hip hip or synth performers. There’s a pretty good underground rave dance situation going on,” said Selner, who himself delves into a wide swath of projects, including his own Saxsquatch & Bridge Band and the experimental Disco Behemoth to past work with the all-star Fake Baseball and “sitting in with other folks as an auxiliary saxophone player or drummer.”

Emerging Artist to Watch: Santino Jones (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
“There’s a lot of really great underground stuff, what some people might call punk, a lot of experimental, weird stuff. Obviously, Western (Michigan University) provides a lot of straight-ahead jazz.”
Ian Gorman, owner of Kalamazoo’s La Luna Recording & Sound studio, exalts veteran players such as bassist G.E. Orr, who recently released a solo album that he describes as “adventurous and very cool,” as well as up-and-coming, teen tunesmiths such as Payton & Annabelle whose debut album of “great harmony-heavy songs” has helped make them a fast-rising duo “who have a lot of momentum and are really impressing people.”
Local Spins recently asked Selner, Gorman and Sounds of the Zoo executive director Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert to name Kalamazoo bands and solo artists who deserve more attention — artists more music fans should know about.
The roster covers the musical spectrum: Uganda native and world music favorite Samuel Nalangira, post-punk’s Memory Cell, R&B/synth wave’s Basic Comfort, hip hop’s Santino Jones, art-pop’s Fake Baseball, all-female pop-punk’s Sierra Miffed and the aforementioned Payton & Annabelle and G.E. Orr. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
Selner contends the collaborative, non-competitive nature of Kalamazoo’s scene has added to the community’s musical momentum.
“It’s never been a competitive atmosphere for my experience,” Selner said. “We were the first town to do what we call DIT (Do It Together) instead of a DIY (Do It Yourself) — Do It Together Kalamazoo. The attitude was like, there’s a lot of great shows. Wouldn’t it be great if we weren’t competing with each other? That attitude, I think, has sort of permeated this whole community.
“It’s just like, ‘Let’s throw cool shows and make cool art and support everybody in it, and make sure everybody’s being taken care of the way that they need to.”
This week’s Local Spins on WYCE radio show features several of those artists — Saxsquatch & Bridge Band, Payton & Annabelle, G.E. Orr, Memory Cell, Sierra Miffed, Fake Baseball, Santino Jones — as well as fresh tracks by Billy Strings, The Concussions, Rebel Eves (which features Kalamazoo singer-songwriter Grace Theisen), Michigan Rattlers, Lefty and Quilter. Listen to the full radio show podcast here.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (10/4/24)
Copyright 2024, Spins on Music LLC