Saturday’s Winter Wheat festival in Grand Rapids highlighted a weekend of tantalizing live music, from Ghost Bunnies to Hannah Laine to Full Cord Trio. Get the recaps, browse the photos at Local Spins.
Dance-Fueled Finale: K. Jones & The Benzie Playboys closed out Winter Wheat. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
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Call Winter Wheat the cultivation of live performances stemming from Michigan’s fertile musical landscape.
The annual one-day celebration of Michigan roots music that serves as a fundraiser for the Wheatland Music Organization — which hosts the iconic Wheatland Music Festival every September — heated things up indoors on two stages at The Intersection in Grand Rapids on Saturday while Mother Nature let Michiganders know that winter is still the season of snow outdoors.
With 10 performances and an open jam session, Winter Wheat’s lineup ranged from a who’s who of the state’s folk, rock and roots scene to a showcase of emerging acts: Ember & Ash, Sweet Dee & The Wild Honeys, Megan Dooley, The Schrock Bros with The Wilson Bros, Josh Rose & The Founding Fathers, K. Jones & The Benzie Playboys, Blue Water Ramblers, Megan Dooley & Bill Jones, Garabilly & Jen and The Reverend Jesse Ray.
One might think it impossible to capture the magic of Wheatland Music Festival in the middle of a harsh Michigan winter. How could an indoor concert venue bring the same energy as the winding woodland paths and rustic stages that the annual festival has to offer?
Back at Winter Wheat: Megan Dooley on the Stache Stage. (Photo/Holly Holtzclaw)
Well, the 2026 installment of Winter Wheat proved that it can, indeed, recreate that magical environment with the help of some enthusiastic Wheatlanders and a lineup full of Michigan musicians who value creating human connection through their music.
The day started with a returning Winter Wheat favorite, Blue Water Ramblers, hosting an open jam session followed by their “Songs of the ’60s” covers set, with a board full of song options near the front of the stage that invited audience members to call out their requests.
Due to its small and intimate setup, The Stache stage played the same role a campfire jam session would at a festival. Each band that took the stage casually shared stories and jokes with the audience and frequently encouraged crowd participation.
Folk group Garabilly & Jen performed songs directly inspired by their time at Wheatland — “Wheatland Way” and “Waylaid at Wheatland” — and reminisced about their fond memories of attending the festival with friends.
Kalamazoo singer-songwriter Megan Dooley, joined by guitarist Bill Jones, also paid homage to Wheatland for introducing her to the festival life.
“Wheatland was the first festival I ever went to at 17 years old and I had no idea there was a whole festival world out there,” Dooley shared, “I thought, ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.’”
Also featured on The Stache stage were the harmony-laden Josh Rose & The Founding Fathers and a new outlaw Americana project from Erin Zindle (The Ragbirds) and Alex Holycross (The Native Howl), Ember & Ash.
LIKING WINTER WHEAT ‘A LOT’
On the main showroom stage, country swing’s Sweet Dee & the Wild Honeys treated the crowd to a unique mix of styles and subject matter. From love songs, to murder ballads, to uplifting sing-alongs, elements of jazz, bluegrass, and country swing all made appearances throughout the set. Despite losing her voice the previous day, Dee Sutton powered through the performance, impressing the audience with her unwavering vocal talent.
“Winter Wheat. The Intersection. I like it here,” the Reverend Jesse Ray declared as he launched into his set of country blues and raw rock — songs that brought the dance floor to life. “I like it here a lot.”
An energetic, rock-fueled set from Nicholas James & the Bandwagon followed, keeping the party going with older tunes as well as tracks from the band’s latest record, “Wild.”
A collaborative performance from The Schrock Bros and The Wilson Bros brought blues, soul, brass and plenty of energy as they warmed up the stage for festival closers and crowd favorites, K. Jones & The Benzie Playboys — a cajun/Zydeco romp that had attendees twirling and circling the dance floor.
Hannah Laine: Leading the charge at The Pyramid Scheme. (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
The night before, Local Spins hosted a special “Winter Wheat Warm-Up” show at SpeakEZ Lounge, starring the Full Cord Trio, guitarist Peter Cavanaugh and bassist Sallie Bacon — a fiery three-set bluegrass affair that packed the downtown venue with enthusiastic fans who especially cheered the instrumental exploits of the 15-year-old Cavanaugh.
Elsewhere, Grand Rapids singer and keyboardist Hannah Laine headlined a female-driven night at The Pyramid Scheme on Saturday, with Kalamazoo’s Fake Baseball and Jessica Ivey also on the bill.
The night before, it was Michigan-bred rock band Finding Amelia lighting up The Pyramid Scheme stage, with Kalamazoo’s The Ghost Bunnies releasing the alt-rock band’s new EP in a performance featuring special guests Griff Paws and Jake Simmons at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe — a show that also featured Red Arrow Highway from Grand Rapids, The Wild Life from Frankenmuth and DJ Chromatic Static.
Bell’s also hosted northern Michigan’s much-beloved singer-songwriter May Erlewine on Thursday. Scroll down to browse images from all of these shows.
PHOTO GALLERY: Winter Wheat at The Intersection
Photos by Holly Holtzclaw, Eric Stoike and John Sinkevics
PHOTO GALLERY: Full Cord Trio, Peter Cavanaugh, Sallie Bacon at SpeakEZ Lounge
Photos by Jamie Geysbeek
PHOTO GALLERY: Hannah Laine, Fake Baseball, Jessica Ivey at The Pyramid Scheme
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
