Local Spins on Michigan Radio for May: Music from The Go Rounds, Lady Ace Boogie, The Founding, The Hacky Turtles

Recorded in front of a live studio audience, this month’s Local Spins segment on Michigan Radio’s “Stateside” showcased two celebrated acts from Grand Rapids and two from Kalamazoo. Listen to the podcast and a Spotify playlist of the featured tracks.

 

The May edition of Local Spins on Michigan Radio’s “Stateside” with Cynthia Canty and Local Spins publisher John Sinkevics was a special segment, indeed: It was recorded live at Celebration Cinema North in Grand Rapids in front of a live studio audience.

The segment featured new West Michigan music from two Kalamazoo acts (rock/electronic band The Go Rounds and Celtic-folk outfit The Founding) and two Grand Rapids artists (hip hop artist Lady Ace Boogie and funk/folk band The Hacky Turtles).

Listen to the podcast here, with details about the featured artists and their new music. And listen to full versions of the featured songs in the Spotify playlist below.

PODCAST: West Michigan Mixtape for May (Local Spins on “Stateside”_

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1) The Go Rounds, “Code” – There was a time when The Go Rounds frontman Graham Parsons said his band was “woefully inaccessible.” That’s certainly no longer true because The Go Rounds have changed their sound and built one of the most devoted audiences anywhere in West Michigan for music that’s as truly distinctive as any band that’s come out of the Great Lakes State. With a reverb-laden approach that swings from the psychedelic to pop to electronic-hued rock, the Kalamazoo-based band’s live shows are glorious, fan-involving spectacles and their recent recorded music reflects that vibe. For this podcast, we featured the title track from the band’s new EP, recorded at Stone House Recording in Grand Rapids and released in mid-April by Earthwork Music as well as Pedro Y El Lobo in Mexico City. Yes, the band has a following in Mexico, where it’s performed regularly. The Go Rounds are in the “final stages” of completing a full-length album that will be released in Mexico in August, followed by more touring. Parsons calls it “our best work yet,” music that’s moved the band toward the “ambient-electronic realm.” They’ll be on tour in the eastern United States in May before returning to Michigan to play the inaugural Camp Greensky music festival in Wellston on May 31. They also are collaborating with visual artists on a new batch of music videos.

2) Lady Ace Boogie, “You’re Magic” – There’s no denying that Grand Rapids rapper and hip hop artist Lady Ace Boogie has made great strides with her music with release of her sophomore full-length album “Don’t Box Me In.” Already one of the region’s most recognizable, upbeat and uplifting wordsmiths, Lady Ace Boogie, aka Linda Tellis, not only hones her smooth rapping style on the complex and personally revealing new recording (the follow-up to 2013’s “Feel Good Music”) but shows off her skills as a singer and composer of catchy melodies. She officially released the long-awaited new album in a dynamic star-filled night at The Pyramid Scheme nightclub in Grand Rapids on April 21. What makes her really special, in my view, is her fearlessness in broaching subjects of her own vulnerability, past addictions, sexism in the music biz and issues affecting LGBT community. No upcoming Michigan dates currently scheduled, but I’m guessing there will be soon.

3) The Founding, “Fox” – It’s pretty inspiring to see such a young band as this one embracing and reinventing Celtic music in a wholly entertaining and contemporary way, yet with real reverence for the traditional Irish and Scottish music from whence it all sprang. The Founding has taken Irish tradition up a notch, something evident on their latest studio album titled “Form.” The Kalamazoo band started by mandolinist Joel Tyrone Myers with fellow Western Michigan University students started out as Blarney Castle but later changed its name to better reflect its music which Myers says sometimes “adds from other genres” including Klezmer music, pop and more. The six-piece band also features Elizabeth June, Patrick Harrison, John Robey, Lukas Stanley and Kyle Pitcher, and plays a number of upcoming Michigan festivals, including the Alma Highland Festival in Alma on May 26, Buttermilk Jamboree in Delton (south of Grand Rapids) on June 16, the Plainwell Bandshell in Plainwell in June 20, and the Michigan Irish Music Festival in Muskegon in September. They’re also performing this summer in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

4) The Hacky Turtles, “Grace” – The Hacky Turtles have an intriguing back story to their musical journey. The band members all grew up together in Traverse City, ended up relocating to Chicago where they really got The Hacky Turtles rolling, but then moved to Grand Rapids in September 2017 not only because the cost of living was more reasonable but because they found “an artist-friendly home base” in West Michigan. Well, they’ve thrived since setting up shop in Grand Rapids with energizing, fun music that melds funk-rock and folk. I’ve described the music as “sort of like the Red Hot Chili Peppers taking a road trip to the Appalachians with John Mayer.” It’s ideal music in a live setting. They just released this new single, “Grace,” on all platforms and are performing regularly in the Grand Rapids area, just playing the Local Spins Wednesdays series at SpeakEZ Lounge this past Wednesday night and Arcadia Brewing in Kalamazoo on May 12, the night after returning to perform in Chicago. They also play Detroit’s E&B Brewery Lofts on May 25 and Mulligan’s Pub in Grand Rapids on May 31.

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THE SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: WEST MICHIGAN MIXTAPE FOR MAY 2018 (Local Spins on “Stateside”)

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