STEPPIN’ IN IT
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian Steppin’ in It are a roots-based quartet from Lansing, Michigan, featuring singer/songwriter Joshua Davis on guitar, Dominic John Suchyta on standup bass, and Andy Wilson on harmonica with twin brother Joe Wilson on steel guitar. The original lineup, which included all but Joe Wilson, formed in early 1998 with Joe Khalifah on drums and banjo. Khalifah was replaced in 2000 with drummer Bob Bryan, and fiddler Jonathan Price and Joe Wilson were also added. That same year saw the band release its debut album, Children Take Your Shoes Off, on Hippo Coop Records, a label that was created by the band for the release. The following year, the band slimmed down to its current four-person lineup in order to focus more on an acoustic sound. The Wilson brothers have both worked at Elderly Instruments, Lansing’s legendary instrument store, and the bandmembers credit the music store with playing a key role in their formation and with helping to define their sound through its vast arsenal of stringed instruments. In 2002, Steppin’ in It released their second album, Last Winter in the Copper Country, and in 2004 they released Hidden in the Lowlands, which ended with a pair of Woody Guthrie songs, “Pastures of Plenty” and “Bound for Glory.” Again, both albums appeared on the band’s Hippo Coop Records label. Joshua Davis released a solo album in 2005, and in 2006 the band joined forces with singer Rachael Davis — no relation to Joshua, but married to Dominic John Suchyta (who has since taken her last name) as of October 2009 — to form Shout Sister Shout and record a ’40s jazz-themed album that was released in 2007. Steppin’ in It re-emerged in 2008, releasing Simple Tunes for Troubled Times, an album heavily influenced by the Band. Unlike their first three albums, Simple Tunes for Troubled Times was released by Earthwork Music, a collective label for roots-oriented musicians located in Northern Michigan. To confuse matters slightly, throughout their acoustic existence, Steppin’ in It have also plugged in once a week with two additional members. Since 1999, the band has had a steady Monday night electric gig at the Green Door in Lansing, with drummer John Cassidy and Mike Lynch (aka Larry McCray/The Lash) on Hammond organ. And in 2009, Steppin’ in It actually began touring as both a quartet and sextet. The band has also developed a reputation as a superb backing band and has played in such a capacity with the likes of Greg Brown, Ellis Paul, Peter Mulvey, and Jeff Daniels. Joe Wilson even occasionally tours with jazz legend Wayne Hancock, while Dominic John has played with Daniel Johnston and recorded with childhood pal Jack White. Lead singer and guitarist Josh Davis left the band as 2014 dawned and was replaced by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Elden Kelly.
Hell’s Belles wsg. Dead Fervor
18+ Standing Room Only Show 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian HELL’S BELLES are first and foremost dedicated AC/DC fanatics. This is what we all have in common. We’re all part of a huge community of devotees to one of the greatest rock-n-roll bands in the world. This is who we all are, and this is what HELL’S BELLES strives to deliver with mechanical precision and passionate fury. Endorsed by Angus Young himself (Blender Magazine, 2003), HELL’S BELLES are the closest one can get without actually moving to Australia and joining AC/DC’s road crew. HELL’S BELLES are indeed ALL female, all the way to their rock-n-roll cores, all the time and without exception. Representing for a whole new generation of women that won’t be intimidated, HELL’S BELLES actively encourage our legions of lady fans to stand up and be counted, and collaborate with women musicians and causes as a part of the mission towards rock and roll inclusion. Not some down-your-throat feminism, but a proactive support and action spirit towards the continued march towards balancing of the gender scales. The thousands of shows HELL’S BELLES have played around the world, including Jordan, Singapore, Japan, Canada, and the good ol’ USA (including Alaska), have become legendary nights of epic proportions. Consistently sexy and sold-out shows – there’s not a HELL’S BELLES audience that hasn’t been blown away by the raw power, attention to AC/DC details, and undeniable appeal that these bad ass belles deliver with undying devotion. From the Angus stripping “Bad Boy Boogie” to “Dirty Deeds” to “TNT”, not to mention AC/DC’s landmark hits “Highway to Hell”, “Thunderstruck”, and “Back in Black”. The marathon set lists change to include a fresh variety of classics, but the perfection and passion of the show never dies. It’s an all out rock-n-roll assault that leaves you both satisfied and begging for more. And, more you’ll get as HELL’S BELLES keep conquering new cities, new states, and new countries. They’ll be in your back yard bringing AC/DC in sound and spirit to you with their recording VOL. II, so you can always count on taking a little piece of HELL’S BELLES home with ya. HELL’S BELLES – committed, ferocious, meticulous women rock musicians delivering authentic AC/DC to the unbelievably supportive and wicked awesome fans. All day and all night long, all over the world, pitch perfect AC/ DC delivered with a highly charged vigor. Let there be rock!
Chris Knight w/ Mic Harrison
This is a 18+ event with standing room only17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian After 23 years as a recording artist, singer-songwriter Chris Knight remains boldly empowered to make music that always delivers the unflinching truth. In fact, the man raised in Slaughters, Kentucky uses a simple, direct barometer to regularly check his muse: “If I can’t believe myself, I won’t sing the song.” That brutally honest, no-frills philosophy fits his Americana-fueled, backwoods-grown merger of folk, country, and rock. It’s been at the backbone of nine studio albums, beginning with 1998’s acclaimed self-titled debut and traveling through scorchers such as the one-two punch of 2001’s A Pretty Good Guy and 2003’s The Jealous Kind, two demo-styled discs (2007’s The Trailer Tapes and 2009’s Trailer II), and the recent, electric guitar-fortified opus, 2019’s Almost Daylight. Because Knight’s music has always sat outside of the mainstream, onstage is where he makes his fans one show at a time. It is exactly where his searing tales of rural characters, fringe survivors, and tumultuous small-town existence find a captivated audience. A few edgy, raw gems that immediately come to mind are “It Ain’t Easy Being Me,” “Carla Came Home,” “I’m William Callahan,” and “Everybody’s Lonely Now,” the latter two from Almost Daylight. What Knight writes about is what he knows. He was raised in mining country, so it’s no surprise that he would earn a degree in agriculture from Western Kentucky University and then work as a mine reclamation inspector and then miner’s consultant. But eventually his passion for writing songs and playing guitar, both inspired by his musical hero, the late John Prine, led him to chronicle his surroundings in words and music.
Dale Hollow w/ Jessi Phillips
This is a 18 and over event with standing room only 17 and under admitted with a parent or guardian “Stupid is as stupid does / does that make me the dumbest one of all time?” — Dale Hollow, “Hack of the Year” A bit Andy Kaufman, a little Orville Peck, a hint of Father John Misty, Dale Hollow possesses “a fascinating combination of performance and purveyed authenticity,” as the lifestyle magazine Mundane once posited, while also noting that “no other country music artist has ever claimed to be the best, except for Dale Hollow.” Legend has it that Dale actually tried to trademark the phrase “The Country Music Superstar,” so every time someone like Luke Bryan, Loretta Lynn, Jessica Simpson or Darius Rucker attached that phrase to their names, Dale gets some cash. And while Hollow can be purposely self-elevating, that seemingly tall tale is true. “I sent $150 to the copyright office…and I got denied instantly,” he says. “That’s why I use that parenthetical justification (trademark pending).” A mysterious figure in the country music world, here’s what we do know: Hollow, who hails from Nashville and is named after the Kentucky reservoir, had an inauspicious start to his music career. The future country legend was just trying to pay off $35,000 in back taxes. “I was trying to get cash fast,” he admits. “One day, sitting in an internet cafe, I read this article that detailed how Luke Bryan was the most profitable artist in streaming. So I just thought, ‘I’ll do what he does.’” Thankfully, that odd inspiration has led to some not-so-seriously good music. Dale’s new record, Hack of the Year, is a hoot, full of crooning, shuffling beats, yelps and plenty of self-effacing singalongs. While there’s a bit of an arched eyebrow that comes along with some of Hollow’s work, the record itself and the live show are musically savvy. Credit there goes to Hollow’s partners in crime and backing band, The Long Con. “My best talent is finding more talented and capable musicians,” says Dale. Which doesn’t mean Hollow isn’t the focal point when it comes to the live setting. “There’s a lot of energy from me on stage — it’s a very kinetic show,” says Hollow. “There are a lot of jumps and kicks and unnecessary and unorthodox things. But it’s not frenetic that you can’t pay attention! Also, I’m 6’5” — throw on a cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, I’m pretty good at making myself look goofy. A tall guy with a hat on stage, that’s amusing.”
Katy Kirby w/ Mei Semones and Jes Kramer
This is a 18 and over event with standing room only Let’s face it: There’s no such thing as “real life”. There is only experience and the negotiations we undertake in orderto share it with other people. On her second album Blue Raspberry, the New York-based songwriter Katy Kirby divesheadlong into the artifice of intimacy: the glitter smeared across eyelid creases, the smiles switched on with an electricbuzz, the synthetic rose scent all over someone who’s made herself smell nice just for you. An exegesis of Kirby’s firstqueer relationship, Blue Raspberry traces the crescendo and collapse of new love, savoring each gleaming shard ofrock candy and broken glass along the way.
Over the Rhine
This is a 18+ event with standing room only When you listen to Over the Rhine, the supremely talented musical couple comprised of Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, you quickly fall under the spell of Karin’s timeless voice “which has the power to stop the world in its tracks” (Performing Songwriter). But then the songs start hitting you. Paste Magazine writes, “Over the Rhine creates true confessional masterpieces that know neither border nor boundary” and included Bergquist and Detweiler in their list of 100 Best Living Songwriters. Rolling Stone recently wrote, Over the Rhine is a band “with no sign of fatigue, whose moment has finally arrived.” That’s quite a sentiment for a band celebrating 30 years of writing, recording, and life on the road. But as Karin Bergquist states, “There is still so much music left to be made.” Love & Revelation, the brand new album from Over the Rhine, is a record for right now. The songs have been rigorously road tested and burst at the seams with loss, lament, and resilient hope. The LA Times writes, “The Ohio based husband and wife duo has long been making soul-nourishing music, and the richness only deepens.”
Max Lockwood w/ Hannah Laine of Earth Radio
21 and over This is a partially seated performance “[Lockwood has] proven himself to be far more than just an engaging sideman. He’s an emerging Michigan star in his own right.” -John Sinkevics, Local Spins Songwriter, vocalist, and poet Max Lockwood channels the flair of Tom Petty and the eloquence of the Beat Generation’s finest to create a sound rooted in songcraft and heartfelt lyricism and bound with elements of rock and roll, folk and pop. With full arrangements and rich poetic focus, the listener is led into a deep sonic landscape by songs that seek to uncover truths of love, adversity, and growth. The first note Max Lockwood sings has the undeniable ability to capture the attention of any crowd. His powerful voice, akin to the likes of Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen, grips listeners with its raw emotion and sheer possibility. With each song, a story is told with rich, vulnerable tones and unbridled emotions.
