Stargrazer w/ Cold Mountain Child, this Saturday!

We are pleased to announce that Stargrazer will be topping a bill with old friends Cold Mountain Child at (SCENE) Metrospace in East Lansing this Saturday evening!  This will be the homecoming show for Kalamazoo-based Cold Mountain Child following a Midwest tour.  Also performing will be singer/songwriter Nate Z.

If you're a Facebook user, you can RSVP to the event and invite your friends here!

You can listen to the new Stargrazer single, "Filestarter" here, and to one of our favorite Cold Mountain Child songs here.


The show will be all ages with doors at 8 PM.  It will be an evening of immersive, ambient folk at East Lansing's premier art space.  There will be a $5 cover at the door.

Viking Moses & Mother McKenzie to perform at SCENE Metrospace!

March 21st!  With special guests Joshua Barton (of Fields Of Industry) and Malls.  ALL AGES.

Details and RSVP here!

 

doors at 7:00 PM, music at 8:00 PM, listen to 88.9 FM The Impact for chances to win tickets, only $6 at the door!

Two Stargrazer Shows In Two Weeks, Part Deux!

...Announcing the second Stargrazer show of 2012 (following this Saturday's show at Gone Wired w/ Teag & PK and Delicious Bass -- see the previous post):   

Stargrazer, Concepticons, Hampshire, and Confusing Sarah will perform at The Loft (414 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933) Thursday, January 26!  Doors are at 8:00 PM, showtime is 9:00 PM.  This is an 18+ show, and there is a $5 cover.  The Loft is a large space and it sounds good when it's packed, hint hint.

Two Stargrazer Shows In Two Weeks!

...and this is the first of them:

...this is a FREE show at Gone Wired Cafe, 2021 E. Michigan Avenue  Lansing MI, Saturday January 14th.  Music starts at 7:30.  Also appearing will be Teag & PK and Delicious Bass.  The second Stargrazer gig will be at the Loft on the 26th.  More about that later...

GTG Festivus Part III Tomorrow + Two Calliope Sightings

Beginning tomorrow (that's today -- July 31 -- for many of you reading this) at 4:00 PM and closing out the month of July with a full afternoon of music, Lansing recording collective GTG has pulled together a line-up of raw and raucous sounds with a vicious habit for pop hooks, infectious discord and/or uncanny melody, and real deal songs:

Jack Pine Snag
Narc Out the Reds
Calliope
Stargrazer (full disclosure: that's me!)
Cat Midway
The Break-Ups
Braver
Middleman
Fade To Black
Velouria Caywood
The Hat Madder

...and more?  The Hat Madder and Narc Out The Reds will be fresh off of tour (is "fresh" the right word here?), and I'm excited and honored to get to share a stage again with Cat Midway, The Break-Ups, Veloura Caywood, and Middleman.  I don't have any idea of what the order is, but really who cares?  These are all excellent artists and this showcase/annual celebration/gathering will take place at Basement 414.  Admission, I believe is free, however as is customary some cash money for the touring acts would probably be a good thing to bring along with you.

Then, in about two weeks, I'll be playing a unique crossover show at East Lansing's art & performance hub (SCENE) Metrospace.  The show will take place on Saturday, August 13th, under the glow of late summer stars.  This will also be my second time sharing a bill with Calliope in a two week period!

When I first started going out and actively seeing shows, I went to see Calliope and Apollo 9 at the Atlantis co-op.  Might've been 1993.  It was my first brush with both bands.  A string of great albums later, Calliope is still making music and appearing live on special occasions.  On this particular date, the mighty Calliope will engage both a Gnome Village and the Drinking Mercury, as well as the rare Stargrazer.

Sorry, slipped into the character of the poster there for a second...

 

(this is also the latest offering from the ITAV design studio!)

Upcoming Stargrazer Show w/ Gnome Village: July 20th at The Loft!

The show starts at 9:00 PM -- a Mid-Summer Night's musical extravaganza!  Check out the Facebook Event for details, and please share and invite people to the event!  Looking forward to seeing everyone at this, as a new Stargrazer song or two will be unveiled, plus there will be pandas and penguins.

April 19 - Indie Rocks Lansing's Core: Paleo/Alex Hug/Night Thoughts/Stargrazer/Jazzy Knives

Nestled at the end of an unassuming alley that also contains the landmark, lugnut-topped brick chimney that looms over the intersection of Michigan Avenue and southbound Cedar Street, Basement 414 combines all the best attributes of an intimate live setting with the unassuming decor of a DIY art space and/or bicycle co-op.

ITAV is excited to present eternally-touring songwriter Paleo, best known for 2008's 365-song mega-album Song Diary.  For the first time ever, Paleo will be touring with a backing band, which includes bassist C.J. Boyd (you may remember C.J. from our post about his compilation supporting Wikileaks).

Also appearing will be Lansing's Night Thoughts, a '50s and '60s inspired R&B/R&R juggernaut featuring ex members of Squonky Tonk and the powerful pipes of singer Cathy Illman (a.k.a. Veloura Caywood).

Bringing things into the acoustic indie-folk realm with electronic flourishes that run the gamut from cinematic soundscape to krautrock will be Alex Hug and a newly revitalized Stargrazer.

And grinding everything into a spiky, colorful pulp, sound-saboteur Jazzy Knives will engulf your musical sensibilities with cut-and-paste sonics and unexpected textures.  Last time we played with Jazzy Knives, his tape deck nearly caught on fire -- really!

The show goes down Tuesday, April 19th at Basement 414 (click the link for a map).  It's all ages and free.  Doors are at 7 PM, music starts at 8.  

It would be thoughtful if you brought a small contribution for the touring acts, or bought some of their merch. 

Several of these artists appear on ITAV's compilation In The Orchard Of Osiris (stream/purchase here), which came out this past December -- alongside tracks by White Pines, Drunken Barn Dance, Small Houses, James Collin, Arms And Sleepers, Horde Of Two, and more.  Come see what they can do in the live setting!

[by the way, In The Orchard Of Osiris is now available at Encore Recordings in Ann Arbor, as well.  We'd like to thank them for their continuing support of original music.]

Fiona Dickinson / The Break-Ups / Stargrazer / Families - LIVE March 13 at B414

Sunday March 13, Stargrazer (my solo project) will have the distinct honor of opening for Bellaire, MI-based singer/songwriter Fiona Dickinson, who is making her first Lansing appearance at the free-thinking art spot Basement 414.  Here's a map to B414.  You can get there by walking to the end of Jay Street, a half-block long street that runs off of southbound Cedar St., behind The Nuthouse Bar.  You'll know you're there when you see a tall brick chimney (however I suggest parking on Michigan Ave. or in one of the lots nearby, as Jay Street itself is a tow-away zone.)


Dickinson's debut album, Duende, can be streamed or downloaded here, and it is truly a gorgeous and emotionally evocative set of songs displaying her incredible range and songsmithing abilities.  Here's a short bio I clipped from her bandcamp page:

Fiona Dickinson is a British singer/songwriter currently residing in Michigan. Taking a cue from Bjork-esque vocalists, as well as adding elements of shoegaze, old time folk, and lush string arrangements, Fiona creates a beguiling dark sound. While the instrumentation of reverberated guitars, violins, and cellos is invariably complex and often provide unexpected hooks that draw a listener in, Fiona's most affecting instrument is her voice. Rich and mature, she drives it fluidly between sweetly breathed coos and full-throated wails. Her live shows are intimate and deep, begging the undivided attention of the listener. You can feel her voice pushing back the demons as she digs deep into a growl, and then angelically welcome in the healing process with the voice of tranquility. 

I'm truly looking forward to seeing her live performance, as I find the album quite bewitching: sonically timeless and yet very of-the-moment with current Michigan independent music.

Also playing Sunday night will be my labelmates at GTG Records, The Break-Ups.  Led by Timmy Rodriguez, the Break-Ups have the ability to shapeshift from Beatles-meets-Velvet Underground noisy pop to thrilling forays into 90s-style alt rock that hits the sweet spot.  They're one of Lansing's best kept secrets and put on a hell of a show.

The fourth band on the bill, Families, hail from the Detroit area, however a google search of "Families" and "Detroit" proved fruitless, so if anyone can provide a link to them I'd really like to check them out.  I've heard good -- albeit vague -- things about them, so they'll be the surprise treat for the evening. 

As for Stargrazer, I'll be debuting a half-electric, half-acoustic set -- bringing out all my toys for a live one-man-band debut that probably owes more to Can and The Mountain Goats than to more polished loopmeisters like Andrew Bird.  I'm pretty excited for this!  The electric set will consist of a single song that I've been calling "Thing," followed by a set of new songs and old favorites on my trusty Ferrington acoustic bass with some witchy atmospherics thrown in.  If you've seen my set before, this will be something else entirely, the culmination of several of my lo-tech experiments of the past coupled with my purchase of a decidedly hi-tech Boss loop station.  I am having so much fun with it!

Doors are at 8 PM, and the show will probably kick off around 9 PM.  There is no charge at the door, and this is an ALL AGES show.  Bands will have music and other merchandise on sale, and it'd be great of you if you could bring a donation to help cover the travel expenses of the bands from out of town -- I'm sure they'll pass a hat or something.  Also, B414 is a spacious, inviting, and acoustically pleasant art gallery, so please drag your friends with you for an evening of music they won't regret.  

Lansing Event: (SCENE) Folk Fest IV - February 11 & 12

For the past few years, Earthwork Music has been teaming up with the like-minded arts promotion organization Fox On A Hill and downtown East Lansing art gallery/performance space (SCENE) Metrospace to put on a two-day mid-winter folk festival.  Organized by musician Brandon Foote (of Gifts Or Creatures), the event is centered around the prolific Michigan independent singer/songwriter community, for which "folk" is a somewhat inadequate term.  A quick glance at this year's lineup reveals what might be the best year yet, with a strong showing from the indie-folk camp as well as some of the Mitten State's more forward-thinking traditionalists.

Since opening in 2004, (SCENE) Metrospace has steadily built a reputation as the premier all-ages music venue in East Lansing.  Just steps away from the campus of Michigan State University, (SCENE) is a wide-open, contemporary space that showcases cutting edge art in all mediums.  I've witnessed everything there from motion-detecting, inflatable sculptures to experimental film.  From rock shows to modern classical performances, (SCENE)'s stage has seen a constant stream of performers -- especially since moving to their current location at 110 Charles Street, in the lower level of the colorful "Habitrail," a.k.a. the Division Street Parking Garage (next door to Georgio's Pizza).

Earthwork Music is a collective of musicians founded by singer/songwriters Seth Bernard and May Erlewine (Daisy May).  Headquartered in Lake City, Michigan, Earthwork' s artists are scattered across the state, and in the case of a few, like Daniel Kahn and Luke Winslow-King, call New Orleans their home.  Earthwork blends social consciousness with a DIY work ethic and a passion for contemporary folk music.  The collective hosts an annual gathering, The Harvest Gathering, at the Bernard family's Lake City farmstead, which has bloomed from a simple weekend of camping held for an extended family of friends, into one of Michigan's most acclaimed mini-festivals.

Jen Sygit, Sam Corbin, and Gifts Or Creatures all appear from the Earthwork artist roster.  Brandon from Gifts Or Creatures commissioned the poster, pictured above, that I designed to promote the festival.  I've had the pleasure of designing the posters for this festival ever since its inception in 2008.

Also appearing are two artists who appeared on ITAV's most recent release, the In The Orchard Of Osiris compilation.  Steven Leaf, a Lansing-based songwriter, contributed the lush, layered instrumental "India Pale Ale" from his recent debut album We Are Ghosts.  Leaf's music belies the folk tag: although it is primarily acoustic it is also clearly informed by electronic music and indie rock.  We'd love it if Steve would consider ITAV as a home for his sophomore release!  The other artist who appears on I.T.O.o.O. is mid-Michigan musician Chris Bathgate, who contributed vocals to the Syscrusher track "Between The Breath Of Infinity."  We are big fans of Chris's music, and eagerly awaiting the follow-up album he's working on to A Cork Tale Wake, which is the album my wife and I fell in love to.

Someone I'm really looking forward to checking out is Photographers, based in Chicago.  I've just heard intriguing things about Photographers, and tantalizing scraps of music.

My label-mate on GTG Recordings, Small Houses, will also appear at the (SCENE) Folk Festival.  Small Houses is a unique blend of sparely gorgeous melodies, economic arrangements, and rich brevity.  I happen to know there's some new music coming out soon from Small Houses, because I am designing the cover art -- utilizing some breathtaking photography by Maren Hoopfer (of Photographers, the band).

Also in the old friends category is the folk duo Nervous But Excited.  Nervous But Excited is the fusion of two dynamic singer/songwriters, Kate Peterson and Sarah Cleaver.  Both powerful performers in their own rights, Nervous But Excited have been touring and performing together since 2004, evangelizing their extremely engaging brand of "pleasantly aggressive folk."

And the wild cards, for me, are Doug Mains and Ryan Anderson.  Who are these enigmas?  Everyone loves a good mystery.

A quick hopscotch through the multitude of links in this post should give you a pretty good idea of the caliber of performance you can expect at (SCENE) Metrospace next Friday and Saturday.  I would advise not showing up late, as the venue can only hold about 150 people and is known to sell out.  Tickets are $10, available at the door only, and the music starts at 8 PM each night.  Doors each night are at 7 PM.  

Perhaps I'll see you there?

I have some other exciting things to write about, like a friend who found a cache of ridiculously out-of-print ITAV CDs that I'll probably devise some sort of giveaway for; an upcoming Stargrazer show; new developments with the 3-Way Singles Club... but those will have to wait for another post, because it's time to hit "Publish."