CD-release shows and festivals dominated a wet and cool August week, along with a first-time country show in Ionia and a packed Wealthy Theatre tour stop by May Erlewine and The Moonlighters.
Jamming in Ionia: Country star Trace Adkins headlined the Ionia Country Jam on Saturday night. (Photo/Jamie Geysbeek)
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It wasn’t exactly the sort of summer weather West Michigan usually expects to see in late August.
Hometown Fave: Portland’s Shelby Ann-Marie kicked off Ionia Country Jam. (Photo/Ionia Country Jam)
But the wet-and-chilly week still generated plenty of hot live music, including big shows Saturday night in Ionia and Grand Rapids. Here’s a recap of a few of those concerts:
IONIA COUNTRY JAM – Wet and muddy conditions didn’t prevent some 2,000 people from embracing the first-ever Ionia Country Jam, headlined by Trace Adkins, who fired up his “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” after evening fell at the Ionia Free Fair Grounds. The one-day festival raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project and the Michigan Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Monument also featured performances by Steve Azar, Grand Rapids’ own Gunnar & The Grizzly Boys, Kari Lynch and Steve Rivers, and Portland singer Shelby Ann-Marie.
Regaling a Capacity Crowd: Kate Pillsbury of The Crane Wives. (Photo/Anna Sink)
THE CRANE WIVES CD-RELEASE SHOW – They lined up by the hundreds outside Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids on Saturday night to cheer on one of West Michigan’s most popular folk-rock bands, The Crane Wives, as the foursome celebrated release of its much-ballyhooed new album, “Coyote Stories.” Filled to capacity, Founders also pumped up the exuberant crowd with sets by Jesse Ray & The Carolina Catfish and (at the end of the night) Chicago’s Steve Leaf & the Ex-Pats. And check out a video of The Crane Wives performance of new songs as part of the HopCat presents Local Spins Live at River City Studios session this week here.
THE GO ROUNDS CD-RELEASE SHOW – As wild and jam-packed as several shows in the Local Spins Wednesdays at SpeakEZ Lounge series have been, nothing has compared to the atmosphere generated by The Go Rounds’ CD-release show at the intimate Grand Rapids venue on Wednesday night. Playing as crisply and energetically as ever, The Go Rounds triumphed in release of their new album, “Don’t Go Not Changin’,” in front of a spirited, joyful capacity crowd. And they did it all again for their hometown Kalamazoo crowd on Saturday night at Bell’s Brewery. This band is rightfully making a giant splash across the regaion as it has honed its twangy, rock sound.
Moonlight May: Erlewine on stage at Wealthy Theatre. (Photo/Anna Sink)
MAY ERLEWINE & THE MOONLIGHTERS AT WEALTHY THEATRE – One of the Earthwork Music collective’s most beloved Michigan artists, May Erlewine, brought her newly named band, The Moonlighters, to Grand Rapids’ Wealthy Theatre on Friday night, filling the venue with the sort of upbeat attitude that’s reflected in the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s songs. Erlewine, who unveiled some new material, was joined by husband Seth Bernard, drummer Michael Shimmin, bassist Max Lockwood, mandolinist/violinist Brad Phillips and keyboard player Levi Taylor.
Elsewhere, the week featured folks braving rain and cool conditions to enjoy the polka-laced strains of a variety of bands at this weekend’s Dozynki Polish Festival at Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids, East Lansing jam-band Everyday Junior playing in front of a packed house Thursday at Rockford Brewing, West Michigan’s An Dro firing up Celtic strains at the Curragh Irish Pub in Holland, and Lansing saxophonist Phil Denny performing for a small but enthusiastic bunch at H.O.M.E. in The B.O.B. on Thursday as part of the album-release show for his new recording, “Upswing.”
And check out full Local Spins coverage and photo galleries of two Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park shows this week: The final Tuesday Evening Music Club concert of the summer featuring Ralston & Friends, Peter Mulvey, The Accidentals and special guest, Marshall Crenshaw, and the first-ever appearance at the amphitheater on Thursday by the Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club.
WEEKEND PHOTO GALLERY: Aug. 30, 2015
Click on photo to enlarge gallery
The Crane Wives, Go Rounds, May Erlewine, Polish Fest photos by Anna Sink
Everyday Junior photo by John Sinkevics
An Dro photo by Kristine Carpenter
Phil Denny photos by Taylor Mansen
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
