NOISE: Local Music Beat

Weekend Riff: Paramore rocks the Deltaplex, all-day metal fest in Lansing, Echoes of Pink Floyd at the Loft

-Thursday: Rapper JYoung The General is an alum of Michigan State University and a regular on the Detroit hip-hop scene. He releases his new EP, "Jahshua 1:6," on Thursday at The Loft in Lansing (poster right). JYouth's last EP, "Black History Year," was produced by G-Unit's Nick Speed. Find the new EP on iTunes and here. Crank it up!

-Friday: Detroit-based prog-rock group Bump stops at The Loft (above Harem Urban Lounge) on Friday. The four-piece makes layered art rock, and they've played over 700 shows in 35 states.

Concert News: Dave Matthews, Green Day, Rihanna Among Palace Summer 2010 Line-up

Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) have announced their 2010 summer concert schedule, and it includes Green Day, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Sting, Toby Keith and more. PS&E covers three Detroit-area venues: DTE Energy Music Theatre, Meadow Brook Music Festival and The Palace.

Weekend Riff: Tim McGraw, Lady Antebellum in Detroit, Grammy-nominated R&B Singer in Downtown Lansing

-Friday: Like many great artists, Lalah Hathaway (below) grew up in a musical household. Her father was great soul singer Donny Hathaway, and her mother was also a musician. The Grammy-nominated contemporary R&B and jazz singer is in town Friday at The Loft in downtown Lansing. Popular Lansing-based jazz group Too Smooth for Notes opens. (Fellow NOISE blogger Darryl Evans is a big fan!) The show is sold out. Read stories on Hathaway and Too Smooth in this week's NOISE.

Flashback: Reminiscing on Past Common Grounds

The first acts for Common Ground 2010 will be announced this week. So, why not take a little trip down Common Ground memory lane? Here are some past performers at Common Ground Music Festival, and you can find the full list at the official Common Ground website. (Photos of past Common Ground acts: credit LSJ.)

Weekend Riff: Comedian Steve Martin on Banjo, Free Music on National Record Store Day

-Friday: "I think any artist you find from Michigan, from Eminem to Kid Rock, is so proud to be from Michigan," says Leigh Kakaty, lead singer for Pop Evil (right). The Grand Rapids-based band is a regular on the national active rock charts. The guys have been holed up in the studio, recording an album to be released on Universal Records, but they take a break to play The Loft (above Harem Urban Lounge) Friday. Read an exclusive interview with Kakaty here. Opening is Lansing metal band Silent Lapse (below), who releases a new CD Friday.

Common Ground: Setting the Stage for 2010

Common Ground Music Festival brings dozens of classic and up-and-coming musical acts to downtown Lansing each year. With the absence of Rothbury Festival this year, Common Ground is becoming one of the most high-profile music extravaganzas in the Midwest.

Weekend Riff: Daughtry in Detroit, DJ Rock City plays East Lansing, Hip-Hop Show at the Loft

-Friday: Say you dig good, positive hip-hop? The Loft in downtown Lansing hosts, "Hip-hop the Way It Was Meant to Be," on Friday featuring a collection of local rappers. Click here for the NOISE story.

-Also Friday: It's a homecoming of sorts for Lansing alternative indie band Cheap Girls, who has been on the road on-and-off since February and plays its first local show in months on Friday at Mac's. Read more in this week's NOISE.

Venue Alert: Inside Uli's Haus of Rock in South Lansing

-Music has always been my panacea. So after the heartbreak of the MSU loss on Saturday, it made perfect sense to find some live music to remedy the pain. My friend Rebecca (below) from Saginaw came into town, and we headed to see her friend Markus' band, Hollow Drive, play at Uli's Haus of Rock in Lansing. Plus, it was Rebecca's birthday. Let the mini-adventure begin.

-If you've never been to Uli's (this was my first visit), it definitely has a biker feel. But even if you don't dig Harley-Davidsons, Uli's brings in live music several nights a week-- mainly, Thursdays though Saturdays. As the venue's name implies, most of the bands fall into the metal or hard rock vein.

Saturday's line-up included popular local outfits Death Valley Drag Line (Lansing metal/rock), Purgatory Grove (Lansing metal), Hollow Drive (Jackson metal, pictured left) and 4 Foot Ravine (Lansing metal). Bands played raging metal tempered with melody and songs that, at times, crossed over into thrash and straight-ahead rock.

Weekend Riff: MSU vs. Butler in Live 3D, Vaudeville in East Lansing, Detroit Rock at Mac's

-Friday: Detroit rock band The Satin Peaches makes alternative rock in the vein of The Velvet Underground, with an edgy, Detroit flavor. The group just released, The Arsenic EP, and they bring that collection of rock 'n' roll ditties Friday to Lansing's Mac's. Read more here. A collection of great local groups open: Jet Set Drag, The Hat Madder and The Breakers. Rock!

More Musical March Madness: MSU Fight Song (Acoustic)