Local Spins features the Grand Rapids drummer’s all-star project with upcoming Michigan release shows and debuts tracks from other Michigan artists.
Dan Rickagus: ‘Giving voice to the wild, imperfect flailing’ of human beings. (Courtesy Photo)
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There’s a psychedelic, genre-defying element to Dan Rickabus’ new solo album – everything from “Flaming Lips energy” to a Philip Glass-like ambience to folk flavorings and more.
“Hopefully, there’s enough mind candy and ear candy and things to excite the imagination. It’s really expansive,” the drummer and percussionist says of his “Ache in the Blooming” album set for release on May 29.
“It’s really layered, densely layered. It’s very expansive and imaginative and trippy, as it were. It’s also very, very rooted in real emotion and catharsis, and just giving voice to the wild, imperfect flailing of being a human being.”
Boasting an all-star cast of Michigan musicians – guitarist Seth Bernard, bassist/keyboardist Max Lockwood and cellist Hamilton Jordan (with La Luna Recording & Sound’s Ian Gorman and The Lasso also contributing in various ways) – the solo release from The Crane Wives co-founder was created over the course of a year, wedged between the folk-rock band’s touring schedule and other projects.
The New Album: ‘Ache in the Blooming’
The genesis of some Rickabus songs came as far back as 2019, with others finalized at Gorman’s Kalamazoo studio in late 2025.
“We did three days in the studio (in February 2025). And then with everything going on with The Crane Wives, it wasn’t until December of 2025 that I could get back into the studio to finish it,” he notes.
“So you just carve out the time and you have to carve it out far in advance. It’s been such a beautiful, rewarding process for me. It’s been lovely.”
That “lovely” outcome can be credited, he says, to “one-of-a-kind luminary musicians and dear, dear friends” who took part – from the “really electric, exciting, unique” in-studio performances of Rickabus, Bernard and Lockwood to the “cinematic scale and emotional depth” later added by Hamilton.
A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME BAND FOR ALBUM-RELEASE SHOWS
Rickabus plans to reproduce much of that lush milieu at upcoming album-release shows with a seven-piece band featuring Bernard, Lockwood, Hamilton, keyboardist Brandon Fitzpatrick, multi-instrumentalist Eric O’Daly and synthesizer player Andy Catlin (The Lasso).
The first concert takes place June 3 at The Alluvion in Traverse City, with Hannah Laine opening the show. Tickets are $20 in advance and available online here.
Balancing Band and Solo Projects: Rickabus (Courtesy Photo)
Rickabus follows that on June 5 at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, with the Jordan Hamilton Trio, Saltbreaker and Yali Rivlin also on the bill. Tickets for that show are $27.27 in advance, available online here.
“It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime band. It’s going to be a very ephemeral project because all of these cats are just doing what they do, their own luminary things all over the country, all over the state,” Rickabus says.
“We’re going to try to reimagine the record in a way that stays true to the record, but also really expands in an adventurous way to make each song the live version of each song – kind of its own living, breathing being.”
Of course, Rickabus continues to devote attention to The Crane Wives, who follow up their current Western tour with another tour on the West Coast in June and a Midwest jaunt in August.
“In between, we get to tend to the other things in our lives and put our feet on the Earth for a little while,” he says, “and get back out there and keep making music for the people.”
This week’s edition of the Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase spotlighted Rickabus’ single “No Cocoon” and the world premiere of another track from the new album, “The Lore,” which officially gets released next week.
The radio show also features tracks by several other Michigan artists: Jake LeMond, Potionseller, Sammie Hershock, From Big Sur, Seth Bernard, Dante Cope, Normal Mode, Between Two Voices, Steve Rivers and Avengelic. Listen to the interview and radio show podcast below.
PODCAST: Local Spins Michigan Music Showcase (5/1/26)
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