This week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE featured an in-studio performance by very busy Grand Rapids singer-songwriter Nicholas James Thomasma plus the debut of riveting new regional music.
Heading Overseas This Spring: Nicholas James Thomasma performing during Local Spins on WYCE. (Photo/Local Spins)
As hectic and event-filled as singer-songwriter Nicholas James Thomasma’s spring of music might be – playing the Grand River Folks Arts Society series, hosting his “Songteller” sessions at Creston Brewery and another Bob Dylan tribute at Founders Brewing, appearing at the White Birch Music Festival and Buses by the Beach Bus Benefit – none of it quite compares with Spain.
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
For the first time, Thomasma and his bandmates in Founders Brewing Co.’s FBC All-Stars will travel to Spain to perform at the Madrid Beer & Music Fest June 1 and 2, with Thomasma opening the entertainment with a set of his own music.
Founders Fest Regulars: The FBC All-Stars (Photo/Anna Sink)
Representatives from Spanish brewer Mahou-San Miguel happened to attend last year’s Founders Fest in Grand Rapids, saw the FBC All-Stars perform and decided to invite the band to be part of a beer festival that will feature brews from around the world.
“This is like a kick-off event,” Thomasma said of the festival performances in which the FBC All-Stars will churn out their “bad-ass rock ‘n’ roll covers” and “greatest hits of rock ‘n’ roll music.”
It’s all part of a banner year for Thomasma – who in addition to numerous performances in venues big and small, as a solo act and with his country/folk/rock band Nicholas James & The Bandwagon – will host a songwriters’ retreat May 18-19 at LowellArts in Lowell.
(You can catch him performing live with singer-songwriter Dale Wicks at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at the Wealthy Theatre Annex, 1110 Wealthy St. SE in Grand Rapids, as part of the Acoustic Saturday Nights series. Get details online here.)
Bus Benefit: Nicholas James & The Bandwagon will once again play the late May event. (Photo/Anna Sink)
The Grand Rapids artist is also recording songs this year with several different West Michigan producers/engineers, including Ian Gorman, Greg Baxter and Ben Zito, though he hasn’t yet determined how and when he’ll release the new project.
Thomasma performed a couple of those new tunes – “No Man’s Land” and “Ain’t Never” – during his appearance this week for Local Spins on WYCE.
Listen to his performance and the full radio show podcast here. The April 13 edition of Local Spins on WYCE also featured the debut of new songs by The Go Rounds, The Hacky Turtles, E Minor, Entransient and Brian Koenigsknecht as well as music from new albums by Lindsay Lou and Chain of Lakes.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (April 13, 2018)
Official Sponsor of Local Spins on WYCE
