Monday’s opening showcase at The Clover Room in Kalamazoo was the kickoff to seven days of live music at a host of venues. Get the recap, photos and festival schedule for Tuesday through Sunday.
Cozy Setting: Brontë Fall, Brian Koenigsknecht and Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert at The Clover Room. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
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Hannah Laine leans across her keyboard, her own world spanning to her synth as she’s surrounded by her own tracks and voice echoing around her.
Jessica Ivey flicks through screens and, grinning, starts her last song with the Phineas and Ferb theme in her fluid, passionate swirl.
Brontë Fall launches into “Making It Up As I Go” in lieu of a spoken introduction, immediately delving into how she’s struggled while finding opportunity.
Brian Koenigsknecht’s voice tears out of his chest into the air, hoping the subject of “Happiness” might feel it – but also chuckling about his daughters in “Settled In.”
Monday’s opening concert of the week-long Sounds of the Zoo festival at Kalamazoo’s The Clover Room proved to be an intimate forum for artists to express their need to create in dialogue with the audience.
Festival founder and executive director Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert has put a refined, crisp, but still personal foot forward for the fourth year of Sounds of the Zoo, with more than four dozen performances taking place at a variety of Kalamazoo venues through Sunday (Sept. 28).
Recording Workshop: Maggie Heeren at La Luna Recording on Monday. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Promoting a music culture in Kalamazoo and the wider Midwest, and development and survival of a unique and responsive scene, the festival has evolved into a community network in both audience and organization.
“All the hard work and relationships I’ve built is really turning that corner,” she says, with this year’s event “really getting a solid foundation and watching the traction of people catching on and realizing this is something real.”
Ivey and Laine played the first set of the 2025 festival, live mixing tracks out of parts mostly recorded on the spot. As Laine layered her echoing, dreamlike voice over itself and Ivey’s laid-back but passionate rap filled the little brick room, their connection lit up the potential for music culture.
In a beautiful cycle, they alternatingly introduced themselves, mused on their identities and then the world, and reconciled with the potential for love. Over the hour-and-a-half, the room filled up only to be noticed through growing applause.
Compared to the tech-heavy duo at the top of the set, Koenigsknecht and Fall sat before the crowd with acoustic guitars and soul-baringly sensitive voices. From Chicago originally and Nashville now, Brontë Fall – the stage name for Teri Bracken – used her skills to draw out silver linings; Koenigsknecht let his power and intensity claw its way out with no frills. The thinner crowd was nonetheless enthusiastic in the more personal, dark space.
The festival’s opening night also featured a recording workshop with Maggie Heeren at La Luna Recording & Sound, next door to The Clover Room.
Sounds of the Zoo continues tonight (Sept. 23) with performances at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe’s Back Room with The Frogs and Toads, Overdrive Orchestra and Basic Comfort. View the full festival schedule below.
Sounds of the Zoo is a free-admission event, depending on donations and sponsorships to pay artists and stage its showcases. “When you have something that’s free for the community, it has a different energy,” Hudson-Prenkert said. “If every person in this community gave a dollar, it would be huge.”
Get more information and links to donate online at soundsofthezoo.com.
PHOTO GALLERY: Sounds of the Zoo Day 1 at The Clover Room, La Luna Recording
Brian Koenigsknecht, Brontë Fall, Hannah Laine, Jessica Ivey, Maggie Heeren
Photos by Derek Ketchum
KALAMAZOO’S SOUNDS OF THE ZOO – EVENT SCHEDULE 2025
Tuesday, September 23 – Bell’s Back Room (6:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
• 6:00 PM – The Frogs and Toads
• 7:30 PM – Overdrive Orchestra
• 9:00 PM – Basic Comfort
Wednesday, September 24 – Old Dog Tavern (6:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
• 6:00 PM – Joy Modulators
• 7:30 PM – The Fat Animals
• 9:00 PM – The Red Sea Pedestrians
Thursday, September 25
Crawlspace Comedy Theatre (6:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
• 6:00 PM – John Stein with Keith Hall & Carlo De Rosa
• 7:30 PM – WMU Latin Jazz Ensemble
• 9:00 PM – Sugar Bomb
Green Door Distillery (6:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
• 6:00 PM – Super Dre
• 7:00 PM – Push The City Cypher Competition
• 8:00 PM – Tekeo & KBY
• 8:30 PM – Dezert Eez
• 9:00 PM – Jordan Hamilton
• 9:30 PM – Lady Ace Boogie & Friends
Friday, September 26 – Bronson Park (4:00 PM – 10:00 PM)
• 4:00 PM – Great Lakes Brass Second Line Parade
• 6:00 PM – Verzell
• 7:30 PM – The Incantations
• 8:30 PM – Kalamazoo Gals Documentary Premiere
• 9:00 PM – Luke Winslow King
Saturday, September 27
Bronson Park (12:00 PM – 10:30 PM)
• 12:00 PM – Sophia McIntosh & The Sages
• 1:30 PM – Candid Antics
• 3:00 PM – Celestina y Los Sanchez
• 4:30 PM – Headband Henny
• 6:00 PM – BLKJAC
• 7:30 PM – Louie Lee
• 8:30 PM – Kalamazoo Gals Documentary Premiere
• 9:00 PM – Kenny Olson Cartel
Busking Station #1 – Acrisure Plaza (12:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
• 12:00 PM – The Soul Fire Music School
• 1:00 PM – Erin Monroe & Harry Phillips
• 2:00 PM – Josh Holcomb
• 3:00 PM – Hopie Jo
Busking Station #2 – Harvey’s (12:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
• 12:00 PM – Bourbon Brothers
• 1:00 PM – Capt. Cat
• 2:00 PM – Persian Rugg
• 3:00 PM – The Blue Pines
Crawlspace Comedy Theatre (12:00 PM – 3:00 PM)
• 12:00 PM – Whiskey Before Breakfast
• 1:00 PM – Workshop with Chris Simpson
• 1:30 PM – Selkie
Sunday, September 28 – Bronson Park (1:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
• 1:00 PM – Bahar Ensemble
• 2:30 PM – Goh Kurosawa
• 4:00 PM – Jennifer Westwood and The Handsome Devils
• 5:30 PM – Yolonda Lavender
• 7:00 PM – The Go Rounds
To donate to Sounds of the Zoo and help keep this a free festival, go online to soundsofthezoo.com.
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