The early December music news roundup at Local Spins checks in with a couple of popular West Michigan bands uncorking high-profile holiday shows, along with a reminder to musicians.
Seeing the Fan Base Grow: Wayland plays The Intersection on Friday night. (Photo/JR Wyatt Photography)
Since 2012, Wayland has amped up its music and its fan base, playing an astounding 250 to 300 shows a year while crisscrossing the country with its West Michigan-bred hard rock.
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Now, band members are focusing on a new full-length studio album they’re recording with producer Justin Rimer (12 Stones) in Memphis, Tenn., and ready to launch the next phase of their career as Wayland.
Back Home: Wayland played its last Intersection show in May. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
“It’s been an amazing journey together,” said guitarist Phillip Vilenski, a native of Wayland. “The most satisfying aspects have been seeing our fan base grow on a national level as well as growing together musically as a band. We’ve seen our fan base grow all over the country and it’s been really exciting.”
That fan base is expected to be out in full force Friday when the band – Vilenski, drummer Tyler Coburn (Middleville), bassist Dean Pizzazz (Mount Clemens) and lead singer Mitch Arnold (Bloomington, Ind.) – hosts a high-profile homecoming show at The Intersection with Kill All Control, Mutual Live, The After Effect and Reviving the Era also on the bill. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 day of show, with a $60 VIP option also available. Get details and tickets online at sectionlive.com.
“We always look forward to being in front of the hometown crowd,” Vilenski said,
After that, the band’s “main focus will be wrapping up the full-length record,” with the new album set for release early next year.
“Our long-term goals are to reach a listening audience that stretches across the entire world,” said Vilenski, noting Wayland already is booking tour dates out West for the first three months of 2016. “We work as hard as we do because that was the work ethic instilled in us, because of where we’re from. We want to be an example of that West Michigan work ethic worldwide.”
(Friday update: The first person to email john@localspins.com with “WAYLAND” in the subject field wins a pair of tickets to Friday night’s show.)
STARLIGHT SIX OUT, THE CRANE WIVES IN FOR NEW YEAR’S EVE AT WEALTHY THEATRE
After years of hosting The Starlight Six super-group for Wealthy Theatre’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration, the Grand Rapids venue is switching things up with folk-rock’s The Crane Wives headlining the final soiree of 2015.
The Crane Wives (Photo/Anna Sink)
Wealthy Theatre manager Erin Wilson said it was “a hard choice that took several months to be sure, but several members (of The Starlight Six) have entered into various, long-term commitments” that made a repeat of the popular Starlight Six concert “too tricky for all.”
“That was always a super-long tough show for us. We don’t really play besides New Year’s Eve, so we usually load in a day early and spend two entire days there,” said Dominic John Davis, of Nashville, who has made the trip in the past with his wife, Rachael Davis, to play with The Starlight Six, The couple now has a new infant. “That’s tough with a 5-month-old. Plus, I’ve been so busy in the studio, it’ll be nice to come back for the holidays and play just a few shows. It was a tough decision, but it was going to be hard to pull off.”
So, instead of an all-star Earthwork Music collective band featuring the likes of Joshua Davis, Rachael Davis, Dominic John Davis, Seth Bernard, May Erlewine, Michael Shimmin, Mike Lynch and others who’ve performed with the group in recent years, The Crane Wives will grace the Wealthy Theatre stage on New Year’s Eve, with Chicago’s The Way Down Wanderers opening the show.
The Starlight Six: On stage last year at Wealthy Theatre. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
And the folk-rock foursome which recently released a new studio album, “Coyote Stories,” is thrilled with the opportunity.
Drummer Dan Rickabus gushed on Facebook that the band is “honored and excited to play the Wealthy Theatre this New Year’s Eve, carrying the torch of tradition handed to us by The Starlight Six. Sending love and gratitude to Seth, May, Shimmin, Joshua, Rachael and Dominic: The spirits of your past jams will be on stage rockin’ into 2016 with us.”
Advance tickets for the Dec. 31 show are $12.50 and available online at grcmc.org. Doors open at 9 p.m. with the concert starting at 9:45 p.m.
Wilson also assured fans that “there will be several Earthworks shows in 2016” featuring various members of the Starlight Six at the theater.
FESTIVAL 2016 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN TO BANDS, SOLO ARTISTS
No excuses.
With Grand Rapids’ Festival of the Arts announcing today that Festival 2016 performance applications are now available online, bands, solo artists and theatrical performers have plenty of time to fill out the forms and get signed up for the three-day event.
The deadline for submitting applications is Feb. 13.
Festival 2016 will take place in downtown Grand Rapids June 3-5 with hundreds of performances on five outdoor stages (as well as some indoor venues) and organizers have worked the past couple of years to smooth and speed up the application process.
Get the application online here at festivalgr.org.
Participants must be residents of Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo or Ottawa counties, and performers must pay a required $10 non-refundable application fee.
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
