SPONSORED BY:
Sharkless Boardsports
204 Center St.
FRIDAY, MAY 23 - 8:00 PM - $5 - rock / variety
ALPHABAND SOUP!
featuring An Autumn Abroad, Dear Gepetto, and The Run Abouts.
Foundry Hall's regular independent music series features regional unsigned bands and artists in a variety of styles.
SATURDAY, MAY 24 - 8:00 PM - $5 - hip hop / rap
M.I. HIP HOP SERIES
presented by Northern Exposure Records
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26 - 7:00 PM - variety
Bread 'N Jam Open Mic
hosted by Joe Foster
Free all-you-can-eat peanut butter & jelly sandwiches! Open mic signup begins at 6:30pm.
FRIDAY, MAY 30 - 8:00 PM - $7/$5 adv - gypsy / americana
"Highway Prayer" CD release
with Orpheum Bell
Winnipeg, MB - "Twilight Hotel is the hottest couple to join musical voices in years. The aptly titled band of two presents dark, road songs that sizzle on and seduce off stage. Two guitars or a guitar accompanied by accordion, two rich vocals, two composer-lyricists: Twilight Hotel fills a whole band's bill with only two members" (Folkwax). Twilight Hotel has teamed up with producer Colin Linden to record "Highway Prayer," the follow-up album to their critically acclaimed 2006 release, "Bethune," which was nominated Best Americana Album at the 2007 American Independent Music Awards. Highway Prayer continues the duo's provocative love story showcasing their characteristic dark twang and noir cabaret all centered around their rich vocal harmonies. Recorded in Nashville, Tenn., Highway Prayer features prolific guest musicians including the late Richard Bell (Janis Joplin, The Band), Stephen Hodges (Tom Waits), and Dave Roe (Johnny Cash). The 12 original songs run the gamut from the opening rockabilly jump manifesto, "Viva la Vinyl," the street busker feel of "Shadow of a Man," to the heartbreaking confessional closer "Sand in your Eyes." Their repertoire combines songs inspired by their off stage life together on the road and are informed by their uniquely Canadian sensibilities.
Ann Arbor, MI - From barroom stomps to sultry lounge numbers, from country ballads to gypsy waltzes, Orpheum Bell's unique "Country and Eastern" sound enlists accordion, banjo, guitar, fiddle, clarinet, saw, autoharp, and the double bass. The band's members have been performing together in and around their home town of Ann Arbor since early 2005 and, with the release of their debut album, "Pretty as You" (2007), are expanding their touring presence throughout Michigan and beyond.
SATURDAY, MAY 31 - closed for private event
MONDAY, JUNE 02 - 7:00 PM - $8 - indie / songwriter
An evening with.... Steve Poltz
San Diego, CA - He trick-or-treated at Liberace's house, planned a two-day stay in Amsterdam that ended a month later with him escaping the city under the cover of darkness, and was Bob Hope's favorite altar boy. Alone, these anecdotes go well with a fistful of peanuts at a cocktail party. But on top of all this, he also co-wrote the longest-running song on the Billboard Top 100 (Jewel's "You Were Meant for Me"), had a debut solo album that earned three and a half stars in Rolling Stone, and was awarded the title of "San Diego's Most Influential Artist of the Decade" at the San Diego Music Awards. What you end up with is one of the most engaging, twisted, and prolific songwriters of our time - Steve Poltz. Poltz has cultivated his reminiscences into a heartbreakingly gorgeous collection of songs for his new album, "Traveling." But Poltz is not just another golden-voiced honey dripper, belting out ballads for tender make-out moments. This is the same Steve Poltz who pioneered punk-folk music as the front man for The Rugburns, the San Diego-based band whose repertoire boasts a thunderous collection of fist-pumping anthems about cannibalism, football, and the peaks and valleys of the Epicurean life. Poltz even released an album called "Answering Machine," consisting entirely of 45-second songs that he recorded for his outgoing answering machine message. Fans all over the world have ordered copies faster than they can be printed, and Neil Young himself has remarked that he counts this among his favorite albums.
THURSDAY, JUNE 05 - 8:00 PM - $8/$6 adv - alt-country / indie
with Annie & Rod Capps
Knoxville, TN - "Like a good cry-and like the best country music-Jill Andrews and Sam Quinn's songs are all shuddering sighs, aching confessions and upturned hearts spilling out over layers of pedal steel, fiddle and acoustic guitar, delivered by two of the most disparately beautiful voices to ever meld" (Paste Magazine's "Top Albums of 2007"). The everybodyfields from Johnson City, Tenn., are rapidly gaining a reputation as the front-runners of the newest generation of the alt-country movement. Their melancholic interpretations of universal human stories are set to achingly beautiful melodies and put to life with such instrumentation as lap steel, lead guitar, electric bass, piano and acoustic guitar. The members cite their influences as country, rock and roll, and folk. Fronted by Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews, the two share instruments and seamlessly merge their wildly different voices. Quinn's echoing twang reverberates like a long-lost radio broadcast and provides a hard edge to Andrews pure, soothing tones. Straightforward and sure, the everybodyfields are more accessible to listeners than many modern musicians. Their sets' gentle humor combined with songs about real-life sorrows demonstrate an appreciation for tradition, while at the same time conjuring up something that is not, in fact, traditional at all.
FRIDAY, JUNE 06 - 8:00 PM - $5 - variety
Alphaband Soup!
feature bands TBA
SATURDAY, JUNE 07 - closed for private event
TUESDAY, JUNE 10 - 7:30pm - $5 - acoustic / pop
Los Angeles, CA - Born in Michigan to a large music-making family, Tony Lucca began playing guitar and singing amidst a backdrop of natural talent and endless charisma. By age 10 he was performing in various bands and by age 15 had found his way to the world of television, having been cast in Disney's All New Mickey Mouse Club. From there, a career in entertainment was all but inevitable. In 1995, Lucca moved to Los Angeles. After starring as a lead character in the short-lived NBC/Spelling series, Malibu Shores, as well as numerous made-for-television movies and indy films, Lucca returned to music, writing and performing throughout the LA area. After garnering the 2001 LA Music Award for best male singer/songwriter, Lucca took to the road opening for recording mega stars like *NSync and Marc Anthony, and sharing the stage with a diverse array of artists such as Macy Gray, Johnny Lang, and the late great Chris Whitley. Currently, Lucca is working on material for his upcoming fifth album, and touring non-stop from coast to coast.
THURSDAY, JUNE 12 - 8:00 PM - $10/$5 adv - po'folk / eclectic
with Curtis Eller
South Haven, MI - Since 2001, South Haven's wandering son Andru Bemis has traversed the ends, edges and in-betweens of North America more times than he can count. A turtle in a land of private automobiles, Bemis wends his path by foot, thumb, bus and passenger train, performing each day in the cities and towns along his route. While his travels and lifestyle earn frequent comparisons to Carl Sandburg, John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie, it's Bemis's unmistakable voice, expressive self-taught styles on banjo and guitar (and occasional fiddle or banjo-ukulele), engaging stage presence, and exquisitely crafted tunes of travel and longing which have earned him rapid respect and a dedicated following throughout Mexico, Canada, the U.S., and beyond.
New York, NY - Curtis Eller is New York City's angriest yodelling banjo player. He sings about pigeon racing, performing elephants and Jesus, all of which he has seen with his own eyes. He started his show-business career at the age of seven as a juggler and acrobat in the Hiller Olde Tyme Circus in Detroit, but has since turned to the banjo because that's where the money is. His biggest musical influences are Buster Keaton, Elvis Presley and Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Eller and his band, The American Circus stubbornly perform and record in New York City. They have appeared at funerals, horse races, burlesque revues and punk rock dumps. Haunted by the ghosts of silent film and wearing a dead man's clothes, Mr. Eller and the band have staggered their way into the hearts of audiences from London and Amsterdam to Los Angeles and Montreal.
FRIDAY, JUNE 13 - all day - $5 - variety
Southwest Mitten Fest!
featuring The Implodes, Their Teeth Will Be Of Lions, Matt Blasco & the Domestics, The Plurals, Simien the Whale, Me3Mind, Hornet, & more.
THURSDAY, JUNE 19 - 8:00 PM - $5 - German / polka
FRIDAY, JUNE 20 - 9:00 PM - $5 - rock / punk
SATURDAY, JUNE 21 - 8:00 PM - $5 - folk / acoustic
Foster Family Concert
featuring JOE FOSTER
with Morgan Foster
South Haven, MI - Joe Foster is a folk singer/song stylist known for his pleasant voice, sense of humor, and wonderful renditions of the 40s to 70s folk tunes from a variety of our classic folk artists. Joe has performed for the past 30+ years at various venues throughout the Midwest, and always leaves his audiences with a few smiles, some good laughs, and humming some the memorable folk songs of the last 50 years. Joe's son, Morgan, is lead singer and songwriter in the up and coming folk-rock group Common Shiner, originally from Grand Rapids, but now performing throughout the Midwest and in Chicago venues regularly. Their first CD, So Long..., received accolades from local press and earned radio airplay in West Michigan. From their sophomore CD, Viennas, the song No Melody placed in the top 150 songs on the national adult contemporary charts. Since their move to Chicago in late 2007, Common Shiner have showcased at Chicago's Elbo Room, numerous other clubs, and now are regulars at Goose Island Brewery in Wrigleyville. As a solo performer, Morgan was invited to open for Tim Reynolds during Tim's national tour stop in Grand Rapids. Morgan is known for his poignant and poetic lyrics, his skill on both the electric and acoustic guitars, and his moving vocal renditions. His songs stimulate, entertain and touch the hearts of audiences of all ages.