The national ‘Rockin’ the Suburbs’ music podcast makes its GR-area festival debut this weekend at Dirty Shame and Tip Top Deluxe with band interviews and performances. The lowdown at Local Spins.
Making Its Grand Rapids Debut: Suburbs Fest takes place Friday and Saturday. (Money Soup Photo/Anthony Norkus; Frank Muffin Photo/Mike Kohli)
SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE PODCAST SCHEDULE
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For nine years, self-described “music-crazed suburbanites” Jim Lenahan and Patrick Foster have reveled in their obsession with rock and pop music through their national “Rockin’ the Suburbs” podcast, from a recent show paying homage to the late Ozzy Osbourne to exploring new music from the likes of Haim, Bruce Springsteen, Greet Death and Volbeat.
The pair even took it a step further by launching the first Suburbs Fest in the Washington D.C. area in 2021, with subsequent events in the Chicago area, Louisville and Rockford, Ill., as well as returning to D.C.
Now, add Grand Rapids to that growing roster of festivals.
Jim Lenahan, left, and Patrick Foster launched Rockin’ the Suburbs in 2016.
Boasting three events over two days, Suburbs Fest kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday (Aug. 1) at Dirty Shame Bar & Grill in Ada with live-band karaoke backed by Lafayette, Ind.’s Frank Muffin.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, the festival moves to Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill in Grand Rapids for a live podcast show in front of an audience, with Lenahan and Foster interviewing Michigan bands and musicians Desmond Jones, Caitlin Cusack, Adrian Wright, Max Lockwood and Al Wesley (as well as Local Spins publisher John Sinkevics). The interviewed artists will also perform a few songs as part of the live podcast.
That evening, starting at 9 p.m., the festival hosts a showcase with performances by West Michigan funk/pop outfit Money Soup, Lansing power pop/rock band The Stick Arounds and the aforementioned Frank Muffin, which has participated in every Suburbs Fest thus far. The evening show has a $15 cover charge.
Lenahan said the COVID pandemic spawned Suburbs Fest four years ago.
“When everyone was locked in, we started hosting Friday night Zoom sessions for our listeners. It was called ‘The Friday Night Hootenanny,’ ” he said.
“We could gather for hours, talking, joking and playing music. So many friendships were formed among our listeners. When things opened up again, everyone wanted to get together. And so Suburbs Fest was born.”
The goal, he said, is “to bring music fans together, whether you are a listener of our Rockin’ the Suburbs podcast or not. Grand Rapids was chosen because podcast listener Keith Jacobsen volunteered to help organize it. And we love visiting new places and exposing the local music scene to our listeners.”
Get more information on all three events online here, with Saturday’s live podcast schedule below. And check out episodes of Rockin’ the Suburbs here.
SUBURBS FEST: SATURDAY’S LIVE PODCAST SCHEDULE
2 p.m. – Welcome/Intro
2:05 p.m. – Max Lockwood
2:20 p.m. – Lockwood interview
2:30 p.m. – Caitlin Cusak
2:45 p.m. – Cusack interview
2:55 p.m. – Local Spins’ John Sinkevics interview
3:05 p.m. – Al Wesley
3:20 p.m. – Wesley interview
3:30 p.m. – Adrian Wright
3:45 p.m. – Wright interview
3:55 p.m. – Desmond Jones
4:10 p.m. – Desmond Jones interview
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