The Petoskey-based band nominated for Jammie Awards plays its home state next month. The Local Spins interview, plus bend an ear to new tracks from The Accidentals, Spencer LaJoye, Verlaine and more.
Filling Out Their Sound: Michigan Rattlers called on fellow Michigander/producer Dominic John Davis. (Photo/Shelby Goldstein)
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO, RADIO SHOW PODCAST
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
While never neglecting their northern Michigan upbringing and rootsy Americana sound, the Michigan Rattlers were eager to step out of their comfort zone, shake off their own musical stereotypes and experiment with more lush production on their latest studio album.
“I think the mission really was for us to make an album that we really wanted to make and just really take our time with it,” said band frontman and guitarist Graham Young.
“It felt like everything that we’ve made in the past was pretty quick and … just wasn’t as fleshed out, I don’t think, as we really wanted it to be. We kind of felt stuck, I think, in this mode of operating, and I think we really wanted to break out of that.”
So, the band sought out another Michigander for its “Waving from the Sea” project: producer Dominic John Davis, music director and bassist for Jack White.
The Album: ‘Waving From a Sea’
“I think he brought a sense of freedom. I think he brought a sense of encouragement,” Young said of the Nashville-based producer and musician. “He was definitely down to let us do and try whatever we wanted to do. … I think encouragement and the freedom to really explore and just have somebody that was willing to go on the journey, I think was huge.”
Breaking free from “this certain identity” that had hung over the band in recent years led the Petoskey-bred and Petoskey-based group to try “something a little bit different, and Dominic was very supportive of it.” That meant incorporating different keyboards, synthesizers, horns, percussion, drum machines and other elements on various tracks.
As a result, Local Spins reviewer Sean Miller wrote that “the production value of the Michigan Rattlers’ latest venture shines through” on tracks that signal “a real maturing of their sound and songwriting.”
Tonight at the WYCE Jammie Awards being held at The Intersection in Grand Rapids, the album is nominated for best contemporary folk album, with the track, “Heaven,” getting a nod for song of the year. (Check out the video for “Heaven” here and view a live version of “Lilacs Bloom” below.)
VIDEO: Michigan Rattlers, “Lilacs Bloom” (Live from the Treehouse)
PLAYING MICHIGAN IN LATE MARCH; ACKNOWLEDGING THEIR PETOSKEY ROOTS
Two years in the making, Young has described the songs as “revelations of sorts,” representing “that progression from adolescence into adulthood” and “really trying to just be here right now and accept your place in the world and what’s happening.”
Released in August, the follow-up to 2021’s “That Kind of Life” now has the Michigan Rattlers in the midst of an extensive and ambitious national tour to promote the project, with the band crisscrossing the country through mid-May.
Michigan Rattlers return to their home state for a March 28 show at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, followed by a March 29 date at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor. Get tickets, $20, for The Pyramid Scheme show online here. Similarly priced tickets for the Ann Arbor show are available here.
The band – Young, bassist Adam Reed, keyboardist Christian Wilder and drummer Tony Audia – will wrap up the lengthy sojourn with another Michigan date on May 16, playing Saint Andrew’s Hall in Detroit.
“It’s been great,” Young said in an interview about two weeks into the North American tour, which started in Ohio before shifting to the West Coast.
On the Road: Michigan Rattlers at Bell’s Brewery in 2022. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
“It had been awhile since we’ve been on a big tour like this, so it’s good to be back in the swing of things and play a lot of great cities that we hadn’t been to in a couple of years. The most gratifying thins is when there are people that show up and they listen and they want to engage with what we’re doing. … That’s what makes it all worthwhile.”
While Michigan remains home for Reed, Wilder and Audia, Young has resided in California for the past 10 years or so, though he regularly returns to his home state.
Being separated from Michigan “definitely kind of informs and kind of pushes me to try to stay connected in a way that I don’t think maybe I would’ve necessarily felt had I not moved across the country. So I think that in a strange way (that) has certainly helped my songwriting,” he suggested, noting that his formative years in Petoskey shaped and nurtured his music.
His parents encouraged “creative outlets” which “definitely made a big difference” in cultivating his musical endeavors, he said.
“It’s a great place and it’s a small place and it’s kind of a tight-knit community,” Young said. “There’s kind of a comfort that I think I took from growing up in a place like that where your family’s around and your friends are around, and there’s kind of a freedom, I think.”
Freedom also stands out as the operative word for “Waving From a Sea,” with the band aiming to continue that unfettered approach to new music after wrapping up the current tour.
“Definitely more music and it’s always a work in progress,” Young said. “It’s a little hard to find time in the midst of a long tour and busy schedule, but I think it was a long wait last time between releases and it’s fun to have new music. It’s fun to make and record, so I think we’re definitely working on new stuff and more shows, and yeah, some fishing maybe.”
Revisit Local Spins’ first interview with the Michigan Rattlers in a 2017 feature story.
This week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE – which spotlights Michigan-made music at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org – featured the Michigan Rattlers’ “Heaven” and “Strange Heart” from “Waving From a Sea,” along with fresh music from Spencer LaJoye, Verlaine, The Accidentals, Sean Anthony Sullivan, Josie Hall, Oddwic and Josh Garvelink, as well as a track from Kalamazoo’s Kanola Band, which is playing a series of Mardi Gras shows across Michigan this coming week. Listen to the show podcast here. (A version of the Michigan music showcase also airs at 7 p.m. Saturdays on Interlochen Public Radio.)
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (2/28/25)
Copyright 2025, Spins on Music LLC
