Tagged: music

This Saturday, the University Musical Society at the U of M is celebrating a hundred years since the opening of Hill Auditorium.

The celebration will feature a premiere screening of a documentary about 100 Years of UMS Performances in Hill Auditorium that will teach visitors about history of Hill as a performance hall and as a landmark building in Ann Arbor.

Michigan-based Frontier Ruckus has a new CD, Eternity of Dimming out from Quite Scientific Records. The double album with 20 songs is “dense,” according to Matthew Milia, lead singer-guitarist for the band.

“They’re not two-minute-long pop songs with recurring choruses that people can latch on immediately to…but the people that do take the time to dig in and listen, seem to find themselves being rewarded… in ways that exceed the simply pop song,” he said.

Milia’s inspiration comes from his memories of growing up in metro Detroit. Banjo player David Jones calls the lyrics “obsessively suburban,” a kind of homage to the 90’s era.

The country folk-rock band  draws inspiration from Michigan, specifically from the geography and landscape of suburban Detroit, along with the complications of coming of age.

While some artists choose to move away to places like New York or Los Angeles to pursue a career in music, Jones says “It would be heart-breaking to leave Michigan," and adds there's an "overwhelming love and nostalgia for just being here."

Check out Frontier Ruckus performing songs from their new album. Matthew Milia, lead singer-guitarist; David Jones, banjo and vocals; Zach Nichols, trumpet, singing-saw, other instruments; and Ryan Etzcorn on percussion.

A portion of the record collection belonging to Detroit artist J Dilla (James Yancey) is now for sale.

Since his death in 2006, the seminal hip-hop producer’s record collection had lain dormant in a storage unit maintained by his mother.

Now Dilla’s mother, Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey, is selling records from the collection through weekly Ebay auctions.

Troy Evans preaches at Edge Urban Fellowship in a rundown Grand Rapids, Mich., neighborhood known for prostitution. Inside what looks like an abandoned office building are walls covered by graffiti. There are tattooed people wearing baseball caps and jeans. Three 20-year-old men holding mics get ready to bust out some elaborate dance moves.

It may seem like a hip-hop show, but it's actually church.

This week on Seeking Change, Christina Shockley talks with Kenny Hemler of Ben's Encore. It's an organization that aims to give kids in the Detroit area the tools they need to continue the Motor City's rich musical heritage.

It was created after the death of Ben Borowiak. Hemler talks about how the organization has impacted the Detroit area and about the life of Borowiak.

In 1954, jazz went to college.

That's thanks to music legend Dave Brubeck.

He was looking for a way to bring jazz to a wider audience, and decided on a North American tour of colleges and universities.

One of those schools was the University of Michigan.

The tour resulted in the album Jazz Goes to College, with five of its seven tracks recorded in Ann Arbor. Here's one of the tracks recorded on the campus of the University of Michgian, The Song is You:

Listening to Dana Falconberry's lush music, it becomes clear the artist draws inspiration from Michigan's western coast.

We spoke today with Falconberry about her latest record, "Leelanau," and the role that Michigan's landscapes play in her music.

"It's so beautiful up there, it's easy to be inspired by the land," said Falconberry.

With track titles like "Pictured Rocks" and "Sault Ste Marie," Falconberry's latest is in many ways a musical homage to a state beaming with beauty.

Listen to Falconberry's interview and music in our podcast.

There are two ways you can podcast "Stateside with Cynthia Canty"

• Podcast of the entire show
• Podcast of each segment

Motown favorites, the Marvelettes, have been nominated for a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Starting out as a group of high school students in Inkster, the Marvelettes went on to give Motown its first number one single—the 1961 hit, “Please Mr. Postman.”

From the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Oakland County hip-hop group Insane Clown Posse is taking the Federal Bureau of Investigation to court.

A lawsuit filed in Flint federal district court on Tuesday contends the F.B.I. violated the Freedom of Information Act by failing to turn over information that led the agency to classify fans of the group as a gang.

"Basically, it's just free and fun."

That's the motto of Pianos 'Round Town, an event beginning today through Oct. 9th in Ypsilanti.  Pianos are set outside in the open for the public to enjoy. Anyone at anytime can sit down and play.

Korin Hancherlian-Amos, the founder of Pianos 'Round Town, got the idea from British artist Luke Jerram. Jerram began the project, Play Me I'm Yours, in 2008 in London, which has since grown to cities all around the world. 

In 2010, Hancherlian-Amos called her long-time friend, Tim Hoy, owner of Steinway Piano Gallery in Detroit. Hoy agreed to lend the pianos for the event, making Pianos 'Round Town possible.