Deerfield Run & Carrie McFerrin
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only Formed in 2016, Deerfield Run blends blues rock with a touch of country and a dash of funk, serving up a tasty musical blend that’s irresistible to audiences. Hailing from Grand Rapids, MI, the band delivers strong original songs and surprising covers pulled from a deep back pocket of classic tunes. As a group of seasoned West Michigan musicians with influences ranging from Al Green to Eric Clapton to the Eagles, their powerful instrumental and vocal performances captivate audiences of all ages. With 2 albums released in 2017 and 2020, the group’s newest single, “15 Days To Birmingham” drops on 8/31/23. Keep an eye out for Deerfield Run as they groove on through West Michigan and beyond! “Michigan’s Sweetheart” Carrie McFerrin has been a staple in the Michigan music scene for over a decade. She brings a fierce country twang with an indie twist that is sure to give you the warm fuzzies and kick you in the teeth at the same time. She captivates a room within her first few notes, showcasing her swanky-twang, old country style. Her stage presence is a force full of wit and hilarity as she shares stories about her life and inspired songwriting. For this special night, Carrie is pleased to take the stage in trio fashion, joined by Justin Wierenga (pedal steel and lead guitars) and Jason Huber (bass) as they lend their talents to her original music.
The Ladybug Transistor w/ Memory Cell
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only The Ladybug Transistor was initially formed in 1995 in Brooklyn, New York by singer and trumpeter Gary Olson initiallyas a home recording project. After the release of Beverley Atonale (Merge Records, 1997) Ladybug soon evolved into agroup with Pittsburgh siblings Jeff and Jennifer Baron (guitar and bass) followed by Sasha Bell (keyboards, flute), SanFadyl (drums) and Julia Rydholm (violin, bass) This lineup recorded their landmark The Albemarle Sound album(dubbed the last great pop album of the century!) released in 1999, followed by Argyle Heir (2001) and the self titledLP The Ladybug Transistor (2003). The trio of albums all share a refined psychedelic pop approach that often featuredistinctive string and brass arrangements. These years proved to be the most active for the group, touringinternationally and recording at a steady pace and occasionally all living under the same roof at Marlborough Farms inFlatbush, Brooklyn. Jeff and Sasha eventually departed to focus on their parallel band The Essex Green, Jenniferformed The Garment District and Olson made his first solo record. San Fadyl passed away in 2007.In 2019 Gary, Jeff, Jennifer, Sasha and Julia reformed for shows in New York City and Norway to mark the 20thanniversary of The Albemarle Sound. 2023 finds them back on the road with a run of shows this summer and autumn.The set list will highlight songs from 1999 2003 along with a few other surprises. In 2019 Gary, Jeff, Jennifer, Sasha and Julia reformed for shows in New York City and Norway to mark the 20th anniversary of The Albemarle Sound. 2023 finds them back on the road with a run of shows this summer and autumn. The set list will highlight songs from 1999 – 2003 along with a few other surprises.
Emily Nenni w/ Rachel Brooke
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only The sun sets over the ranch, a can of beer cracks, and an acoustic guitar wrangles the day’s thoughts and memories into a semblance of order. During moments like these, California-born and Nashville-based singer and songwriter Emily Nenni chronicles her life through delicate songcraft rife with honky-tonk spirit and spiked with just the right amount of soul. In possession of a deep understanding of music stoked by a lifelong passion and sharp chops shaped by endless sets in smoky bars and sizzling doublewides, she asserts herself as the consummate country storyteller on her full-length debut album, On The Ranch [Normaltown/New West Records]. Her story represents the difference. Growing up in the Bay Area “in a family of music nerds,” her father worked in radio, and she even attended her first Bruce Springsteen show in utero. Mom and dad took her to countless concerts as a kid and regaled her with endless tales of music lore. Emily’s mother introduced her to the likes of Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Hank Williams, while her father spun James Brown and John Coltrane. Following high school, she attended Columbia College with a major in audio engineering. After a year, she dropped out and saved up enough money to move to Nashville — despite not knowing a soul in the city. In order to break into the iconic Robert’s Western World on Broadway, she baked cookies for the bouncers and house band, finding herself on stage not long after. Simultaneously, she sharpened her skills at Santa’s Pub, often playing all night and building a buzz in the process. Eventually, she linked up with producer and frequent collaborator Mike Eli. Together, they cut her independent debut LP, Hell of a Woman, in 2017. Next up, she joined forces with Teddy and The Rough Riders for the I Owe You Nothin’ EP before serving up 2020’s Long Game EP. The latter’s title track cracked over 1 million streams as she caught the attention of Normaltown & New West and signed to the label. Plus, she earned critical acclaim from the likes of Glide Magazine who proclaimed, “Nenni possesses a unique and deeply charismatic vocal charm.” Around the same time, she ventured to Colorado for a job at a ranch. She recorded On The Ranch with Eli and Alex Lyon. Fittingly, Emily introduces the album with the title track and first single “On The Ranch.” The beat simmers beneath slick dobro and a rollicking lead riff. Her bright verses give way to an unshakable rhyming refrain, “Out on the ranch to avoid my troubles, looks like I’ve got double.” “During lockdown, I heard a lot of people who aren’t musicians say, ‘Oh, you have all of this time to write,'” she recalls. “I felt useless, because I wasn’t able to go out and play or even work my restaurant job for a few months. My first shift back was weird. Here I am at a James Beard Award-winning restaurant, and I’m putting food in plastic containers with stickers on them. It felt good to have a purpose though. When I got back in the car after my first shift, the melody came into my head. It was great energy all at once.” Affirming her outlier voice, “Can Chaser” musically nods to nineties country as it pays tribute to “women in the rodeo” with nothing but love. “I wrote a song about female barrel racers that’s not demeaning,” she counters. “It was a good way to start my first record, because it has feminist themes.” In the end, Emily gives country a new perspective altogether. “When you listen to me, I hope you relate,” she leaves off. “I hope you laugh, cry, and want to hear more. I’m a honky-tonk girl who’s just getting started.”
Major Murphy, Crooked Spires, Phabies
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only Major Murphy is a band from Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Since playing their first show in 2015, they have released four EPs, two LPs, and performed in many cities and towns across North America. Some people that have seen them play (or put on one of their records) say, “they have a chill sound”, but the band themselves will be quick to tell you they also like to rock. Some folks say “Major Murphy has a retro sound”, and the band wouldn’t disagree with that, but they also aren’t out here just trying to dredge up the past. One track might find them nodding towards 90’s alternative and the next back towards 70’s soft rock. It’s a wide palate of sounds that inspires the band and from which they draw on; depending on what each song is trying to say. If you catch the band live, most of the time it will be a trio: guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. And of course, Jacki and Jacob’s harmonies are a big part of the sound too, undoubtedly indebted to one of their favorite bands, the Beatles. Their last full-length release was an album called, ACCESS. Released in the spring of 2021, the album connected with a lot of folks locally and abroad, achieving “Album of the Year” award from their hometown radio station, WYCE in Grand Rapids, as well as favorable reviews across the pond from the likes of The Sunday Times and UNCUT magazine. The single, “In the Meantime” broke into radio and their song, “Attention” was placed on Spotify’s “Best Indie Songs of 2021” playlist. ACCESS was also covered by NPR’s All Songs Considered, SPIN, Stereogum, and many other reputable publications. Brooklyn Vegan said, “the whole album is a gem”. In 2022 the band expanded the ACCESS universe with the Access Point EP; featuring new material and reworked songs from the full-length release as well as remixes by, ghost orchard, Triathalon, Psymon Spine, and Moonrun. These days, the band continues to write and learn new material and the songs are piling up! It might be time to head back to the studio soon… They are still finding new ways to be inspired by three or four chords on a guitar and a 4/4 beat on drums. Maybe this is in part by digging a little deeper into their roots? In late 2022 they released a cover of Bob Dylan’s, “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” and in early 2023 participated in a Bob Dylan tribute show. So, what do you think? If you haven’t heard them yet, look for their music at your favorite record store or on your favorite streaming platform. And if you are the type to go to a concert, lookout for a date near you and go see ‘em live.
ZoSo
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only Over the 28 years and over 4500 shows since ZOSO came together as a group in the mid-‘90s, the seemingly tireless quartet continues to earn its well-deserved reputation as being, in the words of The L.A. Times, “head and shoulders above all other Led Zeppelin tributes.”The reasons for that are manifest. For starters, surely no singer has ever captured the distinctive timbre, range, power, and seductive force of Robert Plant’s vocal delivery as adroitly as ZOSO’s lead vocalist and founder, Matt Jernigan, whose flowing, corkscrew blonde locks and leonine stage moves evoke the Plant persona perfectly.ZOSO co-founder Adam Sandling, the band’s multi-instrumental master of electric bass, keyboards, and mandolin, likewise echoes John Paul Jones’ myriad gifts to a tee, allowing the four-piece ZOSO to perform fully fleshed-out versions of classics like “Kashmir,” “Trampled Under Foot,” and “Stairway to Heaven” that demand up to six members or more to execute in other Zep-inspired ensembles.That’s not the ZOSO way; instead, the band draws liberally and meticulously from Led Zeppelin’s recorded live output to present a vivid performance picture of the classic live Zeppelin of 1970-1977. No wonder the St. Petersburg Times noted that, in addition to their virtuosity and spot-on visual presentation, ZOSO was also “the most exacting of all the Led Zeppelin tributes.”Meanwhile, the band’s new blood has turbo-charged the ZOSO formula even more. Drummer Bevan Davies, the band’s burly, black-haired batteur since 2015, flattens the band’s fans nightly with his Bonham-approved triplet blasts, tympani thunder, and fat, lumbering grooves. Davies boasts an impressive pedigree that includes touring tenures with the likes of Danzig, Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains, Static X, and regular gigs with The Cult’s Billy Duffy.Taking on the demanding Jimmy Page chair for ZOSO in May of 2021, new lead guitarist James Volpe Rotondi (aka “Jimmy”) brings an equally high-level CV to the table, as a former member of Humble Pie, Mike Patton’s Mr. Bungle, and French superstars AIR. Decked out in Page’s iconic dragon matador jacket, two-tone shoes, and cascading black hair, Rotondi wields his Gibson Les Paul and double-neck guitars like he was born to it, with a huge, crafted tone and a stunning technique that weaves together Page’s roots in blues, country, funk, and fingerstyle.Still, while the players’ provenance, and the band’s deep history, speak for themselves, it’s that high-wire musicianship combined with ZOSO’s spot-on recreation of the mythic presence of Led Zeppelin onstage that keeps their dedicated longtime fans coming back for more year after year. What’s more, new generations of ZOSO devotees in their teens and Twenties are likewise lining up to experience for themselves the power and majesty—and yes, the alluring combination of danger, spontaneity, skill, and sexuality—that define a world-class Led Zeppelin concert.“[ZOSO is] the closest to the original of any Led Zeppelin tribute,” proclaims the Chicago Sun-Times, and they are not wrong. ZOSO’s ongoing invitation to all generations, all ages, all backgrounds of Led Zeppelin fans, then, is a very simple one: Relive it . . . LIVE.—JVR © Copyright 2022/All Rights Reserved
Kalamashoegazer
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only “Yes, There Really Is A Kalamashoegazer.” After a 3 year hiatus due to the pandemic, Kalamazoo’s own Dreampop and Shoegaze music festival, KALAMASHOEGAZER, returns, Saturday, October 14th, at Bell’s Backroom. This year’s line-up features 6 bands from the Midwest and beyond, including… Bluhm Melodic, ambient dreampop duo from Detroit, MI. Bluhm.bandcamp.com Cult of Lip Noisy, alternative, Shoegaze from Madison, WI Cultoflip.bandcamp.com Tambourina Jangly, Post-punk-ish (C86 type twee) dreampop from Kalamazoo, MI. Tambourina.bandcamp.com Brief Candles Noisy, alternative, Shoegaze from Milwaukee, WI Briefcandles.bandcamp.com Dead Leaf Echo Nouveau wave, Alternative, Shoegaze from Brooklyn, NY Deadleafecho.bandcamp.com ….so what exactly IS Kalamashoegazer? Not *exactly* a full-on fest, more of once a year family gathering of “The Scene that Celebrates Itself” where fans and bands can meet each other, hang out, enter to win effects pedals and prizes, dance, listen to Shoegaze djs, and have an all around awesome time.
Kalamazoo Academy Of Rock
This is an all ages event. Kalamazoo Academy of Rock is back at Bell’s! These youth bands have been wow-ing audiences for years – come on down for a show like no other! For more information about KAR visit www.kzoorock.com
Kalamazoo Academy Of Rock
This is an all ages event. Kalamazoo Academy of Rock is back at Bell’s! These youth bands have been wow-ing audiences for years – come on down for a show like no other! For more information about KAR visit www.kzoorock.com
A. Savage w/ Annie Hart
This is a 21 and over event.Standing Room Only Parquet Courts frontman A. Savage presents his new single/video, “Thanksgiving Prayer,” and announces a fall North American tour. “Thanksgiving Prayer” marks Savage’s first new solo music since 2017’s Thawing Dawn — “a handy guide for keeping your cool as the world degenerates into a hot mess” (Pitchfork) — and follows the release of Parquet Courts’ acclaimed 2021 album, Sympathy For Life. “Thanksgiving Prayer” is anchored by Savage’s poetic musings, observations that are accentuated by saxophone flourishes from Euan Hinshelwood. “Thanksgiving Day is every day I write a song like this,” Savage croons atop instrumentation from Magdalena McLean (violin), Jack Cooper (guitar), and Dylan Hadley (drums/percussion). “When I get down on all four paws and drag myself // by my own jaws toward a feeling.” Of the single, Savage adds: “Well, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and every year on that day I write down some words having to do with gratitude. Some years are better than others, but the last one I celebrated these words just sort of came out of me. It was a pretty special holiday actually, because in fact we were recording this song, but I made everybody take a day off. [Producer] John Parish and his wife Michelle were kind enough to allow me to take over their kitchen to cook the meal for everyone. Dylan and I were the only Americans, so there was a bit of explaining to do. So it was the band, the studio staff and the Parish family, and it was an absolutely lovely day. I was in awe of the kindness and mercy, and that’s what the song is about; being in awe of humans. When I got back to my room I was on such a high so I started writing and this song is what was on the page the next morning, when we recorded it.” The accompanying “Thanksgiving Prayer” video — directed by Tiff Pritchett —is a black-and-white homage to silent film, with Savage adorned in makeup and surrounded by his band and handmade decoration. Of the “Thanksgiving Prayer” video, Savage adds: “The video is directed by a brilliant young director Tiff Pritchett, and she had this idea to sort of do a silent film tribute. The scene from Renoir’s film Rules of the Game where Danse Macabre is played was referenced, as was Klaus Nomi.”
The California Honeydrops – Bye Bye Baby Tour
This is a 21 and over event. “The California Honeydrops…evoke the greasy rumble of Booker T and channel the spiritual ecstasy of Sly and the Family Stone.”-Rolling StoneFormed in the subway systems of Oakland, retro-soul outfit The California Honeydrops are an electrifying group that defy convention at every turn. They’ve become a mainstay at festivals including Byron Bay Blues fest (Australia), Outside Lands, Monterey Jazz, Lightning In A Bottle, and touring with B.B. King, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, and Allen Toussaint. Led by the enigmatic and energetic frontman, Lech Wierzynski, and drummer Benjamin Malament, each member of the band is a virtuoso in their own rite—Yanos “Johnny Bones” Lustig on saxophone, Lorenzo Loera on keyboards/guitar, Beaumont Beaullieu on bass, and regularly accompanied by Scott Messersmith on percussion, Oliver Tuttle on trombone, Leon Cotter on saxophone/clarinet, and Miles Lyons on trombone/sousaphone—navigating through a vast repertoire of original songs and timeless classics every night. But what truly sets them apart is their unwavering commitment to the art of improvisation-a skill so finely honed that they have completely abandoned the use of set lists and no two shows are ever the same. Off stage, their music has been streamed more than 200 million times, and placed in a variety of TV and films, including “Dead To Me,” “Alaska Daily,” “Black-ish” and more. They are currently touring North America in support of their new deluxe album, ‘Soft Spot’.
