Sunday, July 19, 2015

It's a great time for Michigan music

I enjoy listening to music and there are some bands that really have caught my fancy, but I can't say that I'm a total audio junkie. However, this month has yielded some news of upcoming releases from several of my favorite musicians, who also happen to be from my home state of Michigan. I'm super excited about this!

Before I get to information about the new releases, though, I recently heard that Dixon, of Dixon's Violin, made his entire catalog available for free to listeners as a special gift. He plays ethereal, haunting, and beautiful electric violin that he loops to create exquisite soundscapes. I've seen him at several venues, joining my friends as we sat under the stars, listening in awe. You can check out his collection on Band Camp with this link. Like his music? Download some and consider making a donation.

On the new release front, I joined my brother and sister-in-law in being excited to wait for the new release from the Crane Wives, an indie-folk band from our hometown of Grand Rapids. While the band is starting to tour nationally, it still feels like a hometown celebration of great music to welcome their new release, which is called Coyote Stories, available for pre-order here. We've attended their concerts, which are just amazing and great energy. My family members have even chatted with the band before a show, not as any special privilege, just as a result of the band members' small-town roots and approachability. I have a special fondness for the band because they were playing at the New Year's Eve party at a local bar. I went with my siblings and it was the last big event we enjoyed together before I left to live in Germany. We were dancing around the table and jamming to the music. What a wonderful memory!

To top off the awesomeness of this month, Tunde Olaniran, a native of Flint, is releasing his next album, Transgressor, in August. I'm not even sure how to begin describing his music (other than to say that it's awesome) so I'll quote the description from his SoundCloud page: "The fictional lovechild of Prince, Kanye, and Robyn, Tunde Olaniran crafts hyper-modern pop music." Even NPR is buzzing about his upcoming album; check out the article here.

The cool thing about Tunde is that not only is he a great singer, he's also talented in many other areas, creating many of his own costumes and jewelry, as well as working on music videos too. He's also a social activist. How many artists are so multi-faceted like this?

It's been a great summer for some local Michigan music. Why not try out some of our local sounds?


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Please note: this article was entirely my opinion and I received absolutely no incentives for writing this. I'm just totally geeked about some fantastic music to get me through the rest of the summer!


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