Hannah Rose & The GravesTones, Big Dudee Roo and Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish play outside HopCat Grand Rapids Sunday, following the Extra Time 5K Race. The Local Spins CD is available digitally today.
Video by Brennan Heldt
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West Michigan's music scene
For five years, the Local Spins website and online magazine has shined a spotlight on West Michigan’s musical talent.
And for the past two years, the publication has hosted intimate interview-and-performance sessions at Grand Rapids’ River City Studios featuring a host of up-and-coming bands and solo artists.
So, to celebrate its fifth anniversary, the Grand Rapids-based Local Spins is releasing its first-ever compilation album featuring live tracks by 12 West Michigan acts who participated in the “HopCat presents Local Spins Live at River City Studios” series.
The website officially releases the album digitally online today (Friday) and in a special CD-release show Sunday afternoon in downtown Grand Rapids at an outdoor party featuring performances by West Michigan rock/soul/blues band Hannah Rose & The GravesTones and grunge folk-rock act Big Dudee Roo, both of whom sport tracks on the upcoming album.
Rockabilly/blues duo Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish – which will take part in the next round of River City sessions – will open Sunday’s free show at 5 p.m. Big Dudee Roo will play at 6 p.m. and Hannah Rose & The GravesTones at 7 p.m., with the performances taking place on a stage just south of HopCat, 25 Ionia Ave. SW.
“It is an honor,” singer Hannah Rose Graves said of playing the Memorial Day weekend event. “To grow alongside Local Spins in this thriving music community has been a thrill to say the least. It is a true example of seeing your vision and making it happen.”
The “HopCat Presents Local Spins Live at River City Studios: The Sessions, Vol. 1” also features songs by many popular and emerging West Michigan acts covering different genres: Bigfoot Buffalo, The Outer Vibe, Vox Vidorra, The Muteflutes, Watching for Foxes, Lambo, Lady Ace Boogie, Olivia Mainville & The Aquatic Troupe, Ghost Heart and The Crane Wives. The tracks – some new, some from existing studio albums by the bands – were recorded in front of a live studio audience. The album was engineered Roy Wallace and Austin Ruhstorfer, and mastered by Wallace.
“The Local Spins ‘greatest hits’ CD is a unique and exciting contribution to the music scene,” said Big Dudee Roo bassist Max Lockwood, “giving listeners a look into the live experience of some great local acts.” Lockwood, who’s also working on a new solo project in addition to a new Big Dudee Roo EP, was this week’s guest on Local Spins Live on News Talk 1340 AM (WJRW). Watch a video of his performance during that show below.
Copies of the CD will be available for sale at Sunday’s event, with some of the sale proceeds going to support Access of West Michigan and its anti-poverty programs. Order the album and individual tracks online at localspins.bandcamp.com. Physical copies of the album also are available via LocalSpins.com and at Vertigo Music on S. Division Avenue in Grand Rapids.
The mini-festival and CD-release show will begin immediately after the HopCat Extra Time 5K Race that starts at 4 p.m. outside HopCat on Ionia Avenue SW in downtown Grand Rapids. Runners can register for the HopCat Extra Time 5K Race online here. The event is presented with support from Leavens, Strand & Glover, The Pinnacle Center, Macatawa Bank, Good Pizza Co. and HopCat.
“I never dreamed Local Spins would have such wonderfully devoted followers,” said Local Spins editor and publisher John Sinkevics, adding that the studio sessions featured on the CD offer up a unique slice of each act’s live approach.
“Not only has Local Spins grown by leaps and bounds every year, but West Michigan’s incredible music scene has grown right along with it. It proves that our region has the potential to become the next Seattle or Austin.”
VIDEO: Max Lockwood of Big Dudee Roo
Local Spins Live on Newstalk 1340 AM WJRW (May 25, 2017)
JOIN THE LOCAL SPINS FAMILY
More people are reading Local Spins than ever before, but in order to keep things spinning and enhance coverage of West Michigan’s music scene with the stories, photos, videos, reviews, podcasts and other features for you, we need your help. Many websites have put up paywalls to help finance their work. We haven’t. But as part of a Local Spins community of folks invested in showcasing Michigan-bred talent, we’re asking our readers to consider supporting Local Spins and what we do. Those providing gifts at any level, whether it’s $5 or $50, will have their names listed in the Local Spins Hall of Fame. For $50 or more, you will receive a copy of the first-ever “Local Spins Live at River City Studios” CD and a gift card to a local brewery. Thank you for being part of the Local Spins family and helping us cover West Michigan’s burgeoning music scene.
Click here to donate to Local Spins (and to receive your CD and gift card)!
Copyright 2017, Spins on Music LLC