The Capitol Steps
When the Capitol Steps return for their annual Fourth of July shows at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, it will be their twenty-first consecutive visit. “They’ve become a part of the culture of the holiday in this...
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The Deep Fried Pickle Project
The organizers of the free Top of the Park series at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival have generally favored local acts, but it’s easy to see why they chose Kalamazoo’s Deep Fried Pickle Project for this year’s...
Read MoreCAECC Spring Festival
A Chinese New Year performance in April? I was confused, but Auntie Ning explained that the Chinese American Educational and Cultural Center (CAECC) Spring Festival event was going to be like a “Chinese Nutcracker,”...
Read MorePaul Thorn at the Ark
Singer-songwriter Paul Thorn has said that his music is “kind of like going to church with a six-pack.” Thorn knows whereof he speaks. He grew up in Tupelo, MS, the son of a Pentecostal preacher, soaking up deep soul...
Read MoreThe Appleseed Collective 2011
The Appleseed Collective is true to its name, at least the “collective” part; “appleseed” I can’t vouch for. Members of the Ann Arbor band–Andrew Brown on guitar, Brandon Smith on fiddle and...
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Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart
Soon after Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart began their set at the Nor-East’r Music and Art Festival two years ago, our then fifteen-year-old daughter turned to my wife and me and whispered, “They have voices that make...
Read MoreThe Mini-Maker Faire
The first time my children and I attended the Mini-Maker Faire, we were greeted at the entrance by two young men in silk vests and top hats. They doffed their hats and bowed with a flourish I have not seen since my last...
Read MoreSome Couples May
The Purple Rose is twenty years old this year. If it were a person, it would be old enough to vote and almost old enough to drink. And maybe that’s why it seems to be acting out a little bit this year. Earlier this year...
Read MoreSean Dobbins & the Modern Jazz
Some years ago a boy named Sean Dobbins joined the jazz band at Washtenaw Community College that was directed by Morris Lawrence. Lawrence took in kids of every level of ability and had developed a repertoire of original tunes...
Read MoreSherlock Jr.
My great affection for the Buster Keaton classic Sherlock Jr. was the reason I didn’t get hired as the Detroit Free Press film critic back in the 80s. At least I presume it was, because when as part of the application...
Read MoreBreakin’ Curfew
Breakin’ Curfew is marketed partly by way of flyers that flower on utility poles all over town with the coming of spring. It’s a teen talent show, and those with experiences of dutifully attending such things may...
Read MoreJeni Lee Richey
Jeni Lee Richey and lead guitarist Fred Beldin first met and became friends in the mid-1990s, while working together in East Lansing. Beldin tried to convince Richey to sing in one of his bands, but she was too shy to do it, and...
Read MoreUnhooked from Time
Whatever you do, don’t let the rather hokey title Unhooked from Time dissuade you from visiting the new show at Gallery Project. There are some real gems here.Nicole Gordon’s Asylum is one. A large...
Read MoreTime and technique
The climax of the Ann Arbor Symphony season will unquestionably be its performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony in the Michigan Theater on April 30. That mighty work not only calls for a huge orchestra, plus women’s...
Read MoreRachel DeWoskin’s Big Girl Small
Rachel DeWoskin grew up in Ann Arbor, and her new novel, Big Girl Small, makes it clear that she remembers it well. Here her smart and witty protagonist, Judy, tries to imagine what the city might have been like before she was...
Read MoreOff and Running
A few mainstream movies lately have focused on kids searching for birth parents (The Kids Are All Right, Mother and Child). If you’d like to see a decidedly non-Hollywoodized treatment of that issue, it’s worth a...
Read MoreBreathe Owl Breathe
A Breathe Owl Breathe concert is musical performance art at its most fun. The members of the band, however, might actually enjoy themselves more than the audience. Comprised of guitar-playing singer-songwriter Micah Middaugh,...
Read MoreAdrian Legg
With testimony from rock and jazz guitar gods, the publicity materials for the British finger-style guitarist Adrian Legg makes him out to be a dazzling virtuoso–which, to be sure, he is. But he’s more about...
Read MoreGebhard Ullmann & Steve Swell
During the first decades of its existence, jazz was uniquely American. From London, where Louis Armstrong performed before King George V, to Bangkok, where King Bhumibol Adulyadej became an accomplished improviser, American jazz...
Read MoreClayton Eshleman
Since his move, a few years ago, into emeritus status at EMU, Clayton Eshleman has been publishing important books that solidify his contribution to literature. Juniper Fuse: Upper Paleolithic Imagination & the Construction...
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