The Harbor Springs trio fires up SpeakEZ Lounge and more this week after releasing a new album last year. Learn more about the band in this Local Spins Artist Spotlight and watch their videos.
‘Refreshingly Free-Form and Uncompromising’: The music of The Marsupials. (Photo/Phil Hutchinson)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article first ran in 2020, but The Marsupials will be back at SpeakEZ Lounge for the Local Spins Wednesdays series on May 8, performing on a double bill with Pocket Watch. The northern Michigan band has since released 2023’s “End Times are Nigh” which you can listen to it at Spotify here.
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As singer and guitarist Tai Jaxx Drury puts it, The Marsupials revel in a sound that’s “refreshingly free-form and uncompromising, yet classic and familiar in the best possible way.”
The Harbor Springs band has honed that sound – founded in rock, blues and funk – through a blizzard of live performances across Michigan the past several years.
“I feel like we have a fairly unique concert experience to offer audiences,” Drury offered.
Intelligent and Accessible: The Marsupials play SpeakEZ Lounge on Wednesday. (Photo/Phil Hutchinson)
“We like to write songs that are interesting and intelligent, but still accessible to people who aren’t into the more progressive genres. We’ve played a massive amount of shows together in the last six years, and as such, we are a highly functional unit. It’s always a fun ride.”
The invigorating funk-rock trio – Drury, drummer Alex Reisenbeck and bassist Trevor Pinney — brings that “fun ride” to Grand Rapids this week, kicking off a string of shows with its debut at SpeakEZ Lounge at 8 p.m. Wednesday as part of the Local Spins Wednesdays series. Get details online here.
The band – which describes its approach as falling “somewhere between the searing heat of Jimi Hendrix and the psychedelic styling of Tame Impala” – follows this with a Grand Rapids house concert on Thursday and an 8 p.m. Friday appearance at Creston Brewery in Grand Rapids, along with Clark After Dark.
Indeed, Grand Rapids might eventually become home to The Marsupials as they seek to broaden their reach.
‘ALL ABOUT CHEMISTRY’ AS BAND PREPARES TO RECORD ITS SOPHOMORE ALBUM
“Northern Michigan’s music scene is absolutely stellar,” Drury said.
“I am so grateful to be a part of it, and our community is amazing. I would say we’ve done pretty well being based out of Harbor Springs, but it definitely feels like it’s time to leave the nest and be somewhere that’s a bit more centrally located, geographically as well as musically.”
Members of the band also perform as part of other projects: Drury and Riesenbeck are in the glam-rock West Michigan band Distant Stars, and Pinney plays with By the Way. They also sit in with various other Michigan groups.
LISTEN: “Swing” (from “Mellow Emergency”)
The Marsupials released their full-length debut album, “Mellow Emergency,” in 2017 and are “gearing up” this winter to record their second album in all-analog fashion with Dave Gebbin in Traverse City. The band plans to release a single ahead of that within the next few months.
The Marsupials (Photo/Phil Hutchinson)
As for the band’s singular sound and riveting live performances, Drury said it’s “all about chemistry” and reveling in different styles of music.
“We like to do a lot of different genres, but have our foundations in rock, blues and funk. We just stick to what we enjoy and can groove with,” he said.
“It’s easy to keep this thing going when we are all interested and engaged with the material. Having fun is a priority.”
In addition to its Grand Rapids shows, the band plays Slopeside Lounge in its hometown of Harbor Springs on Saturday, Petoskey’s City Park Grill on Feb. 8, Traverse City’s Union Street Station on Feb. 21 and March 12, and Short’s Brewing in Bellaire on March 13 (with the Scott Pellegrom Duo).
Find more performances and details online here.
VIDEO: The Marsupials, “Found”
VIDEO: The Marsupials, “Mojo Kitchen”
VIDEO: The Marsupials at Sol of the Lost Tamarack (2017)
Copyright 2020, Spins on Music LLC
