This week’s guest for Local Spins on WYCE talked about the West Michigan band’s latest project. The show also debuted tracks by Eric Engblade, Tunde Olaniran, Levitator and more.
Kyle Brown & The Human Condition: ‘The most complete and mature sounding music’ Brown has ever made. (Courtesy Photo)
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Call it a new genre or just a new label, but West Michigan’s Kyle Brown & The Human Condition describe their sound as “folk-rock fusion.”
“Obviously, my style is really rooted in the roots rock, Americana and folk world,” Brown said, “but these guys bring a whole bunch of different genres to the table – influences like funk and progressive rock and things like that … It’s kind of a mix of all those genres, little bits of jazz, little bits of prog.”
All of those little bits have been assembled into the group’s first official full-band studio EP, “The Touch of Grass,” which officially gets released tonight (May 3) at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, where Desmond Jones and Loren Kranz & Co. will also perform. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $15, available here.
Giving Rootsy Music an ‘Original Spin’: The Human Condition (Courtesy Photo)
Recorded at Grand Haven’s Third Coast Recording Co. and engineered and mixed by Raziel Castaneda, the six-song project features Brown, drummer Mike Schertenlieb, bassist Kosta Karis and keyboard player Mikey Olson.
“There isn’t a particular theme to this album per se. Like the band name suggests, my songs tend to deal with different facets of the human condition – emotion, mortality, aspiration, conflict,” said Brown, a Forest Hills Eastern High School graduate who lives in Montague.
“I brought these songs more or less fully formed to the band, but we arranged and tweaked them together. … This approach combined with the benefit of being in a studio like Third Coast, and the experience of Raziel Castaneda, resulted in the most complete and mature sounding music I’ve ever been a part of creating.”
Brown cites early influences such as Paul Simon, The Grateful Dead, Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young, Little Feat, Tracy Chapman and Bob Dylan, but conceded he’s listened a lot lately to Jason Isbell, Brent Cobb, Anders Osborne, Clinton Fearon, Culture, Tyler Childers and Bob Marley.
“My favorite artists are always changing and I’m always looking for new music,” said Brown, 33, who’s also member a new reggae-leaning band, Calico. “I tend to gravitate toward country, folk and reggae the most.”
VIDEO: Kyle Brown & The Human Condition, “Ghost of Emily”
The former frontman for roots rock’s Bigfoot Buffalo, noted the Human Condition re-recorded the Bigfoot Buffalo track, “Ghost of Emily,” for the new project, giving the song “its own flavor” thanks to the “original spin” that band members tend to give Brown’s compositions.
‘The Touch of Grass’ EP
Beyond the EP-release show where the band will play all the tracks on the new project, some old songs and reinvented covers, Kyle Brown & The Human Condition will join Portland, Ore., folk band Ezra Bell for upcoming shows in Detroit and Chicago, and perform at several Michigan music festivals: Beaver Island Music Festival, Tamarack Music Festival and Muskegon’s June 9 Deckfest (that Brown has helped curate).
“I’m really excited to get that (new EP) out there with this show,” Brown said. “I know I did a lot more improv in the past with my band Bigfoot Buffalo, but this is more calculated, timed out, very specific set that we’ve got here.”
This week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE showcased two tracks from the new album – “Sink or Swim” and “Bones” – while also featuring fresh music from other Michigan artists: Eric Engblade, Tunde Olaniran, Rachel Brooke, Loren Kranz, Sixman, The Heiden Underground, Levitator, Short Panic, Elroy Meltzer, Tommy Schichtel and Ten Peso Version. Listen to the radio show podcast below.
Local Spins on WYCE spotlights Michigan-made music at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE 88.1 FM and online at wyce.org.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (5/3/24)
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