West Michigan’s Adam Marth released a fetching debut album last week, spotlighted by Local Spins, along with new music from Billy Strings and more than a dozen other Michigan artists.
Performing ‘Bud’: Adam Marth and his band performing at The Stray in Grand Rapids earlier this month. (Photo/Chip VanKlompenberg)
EDITOR’S NOTE: For this week’s “New Michigan Music Revue,” Local Spins interviewed Grand Rapids guitarist and songwriter Adam Marth, who released his debut studio album last week. In addition, the Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase radio podcast features fresh tracks from 14 Mitten State bands and solo artists covering a wide swath of genres. Scroll down to watch Marth’s music video and to listen to this week’s Michigan Music Showcase podcast.
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Adam Marth comes from a background of both leading bands on the microphone, and supporting them as sideman on various instruments. He’s played guitar with several Michigan groups, including Normal Mode, The All American Funk Parade, Fleetwood Magic and Paddlebots.
But his new studio record, “Bud,” released on Aug. 7, represents his first solo venture: a collaborative and authentic expression of self in music form. It features a recording cast that pulls from members from those same acts, as well as Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers and Knee Deep Shag.
“Bud may be released under my name, but it wouldn’t exist without the community of Michigan musicians who contributed to it,” Marth says over the phone at the top of an interview conversation.
Marth: Writing about ‘everyday moments’ of life’s struggles. (Photo/Ryan Hoger)
At his album-release show staged at The Stray in Grand Rapids, Marth “seamlessly fused indie-rock with elements of jazz and alt-country” as part of a band that featured two members from Grand Rapids’ Normal Mode, noted Hunter VanKlompenberg, The Stray’s music and arts manager. “The lofi-jazz influence from that project seeped with Adam’s poignant and fresh songwriting in a stunning mix. The capacity crowd was brimming with energy and gave multiple standing ovations.”
While working as a session musician, Marth picked up things he’d come to use in his own work — from the wisdom of the road and the showmanship of the stage, to becoming fluent on his own instrument.
The record is simultaneously melancholy and moving. Sonically, it lands in the immaculate neighborhood of indie-dream rock. Lyrically, it explores themes of “belonging, grief, love and finding meaning in ordinary moments.”
At his triumphant debut last week, Marth led a talented band for that sold-out release show at The Stray. In an exclusive Local Spins Q&A, the musician and songwriter divulges his writing process, inspirations and musical plans for the future.
Local Spins: I want to open up with talking about your new record, Bud. I understand it’s your first solo record, and I’m curious about what you learned along the process.
Adam Marth: In the past, I’ve led bands before, like 10 or so years ago, before kind of transitioning more to being a side man, right, and being more of a supportive role. My album is kind of my step back into writing songs of my own and leading them. And I think there’s parts to that, one is learning all the stuff I’ve learned just from being in those supportive roles, and the best ways to serve a song for a variety of genres of music is something I’ve just learned along the way. But as far as the last two years of working on this record, I think not worrying about things being perfect, and trying to get myself into little creative corners that I don’t really know how to get out of, you know?
Local Spins: How did the origins of this recording project begin?
Marth: I mean, a lot of these songs started as just loops on my DL4 in my bedroom, you know? And there wasn’t really an agenda with the songs that I was writing. It was just starting as little morning meditations, right? And then every once in a while I’d stumble upon something like a chord progression or something I thought was really cool.
VIDEO: Adam Marth, “Robots in Grocery Stores”
Listen to all of “Bud” at Bandcamp online here.
Local Spins: What about anything that might have surprised you in the creative process?
Marth: I think the thing that surprised me again was that I didn’t need to go to a studio to record this record, and a lot of that came from my friend who kind of became the key collaborator on this record, my friend Kevin Pritchard. When I wrote the first song on this record, it was just a demo, and like I’m playing the funk parade with him, the All American Funk Parade. And after a show, I was just like – we were talking about recording, and I sent him one of my tracks. He just breathed his own creative life into it. He wasn’t adding like arrangements to it, but like he just adds like a unique stamp to it.
Local Spins: Why did you choose to track the majority of the album at your own home instead of a studio?
Marth: Because it just gave me agency to be as creative as I wanted and take as much time as I wanted to with this. And that was definitely something I needed to rein in. was the time aspect. That was definitely a big initial surprise for sure. A lot of these sketches I had like kind of – I mean, they got dolled up and they got, you know, refined and stuff, but a lot of the sketches I had made it to the album.
Local Spins: What’s something that you hope people listen and take away from the record or listen and feel?
Marth: A lot of these songs came from struggles like mental health struggles with anxiety and depression and like processing grief from like lost friends and stuff. Some of the more serious tracks on the record. I’m writing about my everyday moments of processing those things. I’m hoping that if it can add some levity to someone going through a similar situation or it can just make someone feel a certain way, you know, whatever that feeling may be. I hope it does that. That would be a success in my book with this.
This week’s Michigan Music Showcase features new music from a bevy of Great Lakes State artists: Billy Strings, The Blue Pines, The Gasoline Gypsies, TechTonic/Mar in Color, Rusty Vining & His Friends, The Headless, Belshire, Kylee Phillips, Ladymonix, Hail Your Highness, Kelsey., Chirp, Silent Spirit and The Aquaerials. Listen to the show below.
The Michigan Music Showcase airs at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org, and on Interlochen Public Radio at 7 p.m. Saturdays. Check out previous show podcasts online here.
PODCAST: Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase (8/14/26)
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