Citing the need to “switch things up” on the entertainment front, country bands have been booked for Fridays inside Crush through the end of the year.
Steel Wheels Band
Saddle up: The B.O.B. is going country … one night a week.
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Aiming to “switch things up” in its Crush nightclub once a week, The B.O.B. at 20 Monroe Ave. NW launches its Friday country nights on Aug. 23 with Bay City’s Steel Wheels Band, followed by Indiana’s Sierra Shame on Aug. 30, Grand Rapids’ Michatucky on Sept. 6 and Lansing/Greenville’s Centerville on Sept. 13.
“We just decided to switch things up one night at Crush and there also seemed to be a void for this type of thing in downtown Grand Rapids,” Matt Dowdy, creative director for The Gilmore Collection, told Local Spins.
Dowdy acknowledged there “does seem to be somewhat of a demand” for country music in the Grand Rapids area. “But we really did want to try some different things in that space as well,” he insisted.
Centerville
The offerings add another country element to the downtown music scene, with The Back Forty Saloon about a block away boasting country bands Wednesday-Saturday every week; The Intersection and Grand Woods Lounge also host occasional live country shows.
Bands booked for Crush so far through the end of the year represent regional country acts, ranging from Kalamazoo’s Bronk Bros. to Grand Rapids’ Stolen Horses to Indiana’s Hoosier Highway. DJ Danimal will also spin Top 40 and country tunes on Fridays. The music starts at 9:30 p.m., with a $5 cover for men and free admission for women until 11 p.m.
The opening night’s oufit, the Steel Wheels Band, is led by Dale Michaels, described on the band’s website as having “Hank Jr.’s attitude, Garth Brooks’ energy and more driving power than a four-wheel-drive John Deere tractor.” Yup, sure sounds like country.
Here’s the full schedule:
Stolen Horses
Aug. 23 – Steel Wheels Band
Aug. 30 – Sierra Shame
Sept. 6 – Michatucky
Sept. 13 – Centerville
Sept. 20 – Last Train Out
Sept. 27 – Bronk Bros.
Oct. 4 – Hoosier Highway
Oct. 11 – Sierra Shame
Oct. 18 – Centerville
Oct. 25 – Stolen Horses
Nov. 1 – South County Band
Nov. 8 – Shelagh Brown
Nov. 15 – Michatucky
Nov. 22 – Stolen Horses
Nov. 29 – Backwater
Dec. 6 – Sierra Shame
Dec. 13 – Shelagh Brown
Dec. 20 – Stolen Horses
Dec. 27 – Backwater
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
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