NOISE: Local Music Beat

Live Music: Elderly Instruments Hosts Free In-stores and Workshops

Elderly Instruments in Old Town is a one-stop instrument retail and repair shop, offering a wide variety of instruments: acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitars, banjos, mandolins and ukuleles, not to mention sheet music, books, CDs and other accessories. The shop also carries special order and custom instruments.

Case in point: Red Hot Chili Peppers bass player Flea offers a line of basses available at the shop, called the Fleabass, which retails around $499 (pictured right).

Elderly also hosts regular workshops and in-stores, many of which are free. Yes!

Here are some upcoming Elderly in-stores. Keep posted on new dates here.

-Friday, July 9: Mr. B's Joybox Express Ride By, 12:30 p.m., free. "Bass, piano, guitar and drums, pulled across the state by bicycles."

-Tuesday, July 13: Dynamics of Banjo Sound Workshop with Tom Nechville, 5 p.m., free.

-Monday, July 19: Tele-Techniques Workshop with John Jorgenson, 3 p.m., $50. The John Jorgenson quartet also appears at Creole Gallery in Old Town 7 p.m. on July 19th.

Weekend Riff: Cartel, Steppin' In It at Festival of the Sun and Moon in Old Town, Benefit for Rebel Pictures

-Friday: It's summer festival season! This weekend, head to historic Old Town for the Old Town Commercial Association's biggest fundraiser of the year: Festival of the Sun and Moon. Friday, check out pop-rock band Cartel, who once appeared on the MTV reality show, "Band in a Bubble." Read an interview with lead singer Will Pugh here. And here's a link to more on the entire fest.

Common Ground News: Sick Puppies, Plus Discounted Night on Sunday

Common Ground Music Festival announced another round of acts for the 2010 roster: '80s rocker Cinderella  (opening for Bret Michaels), '90s heavy metal band Jackyl, Australian modern rock outfit Sick Puppies (right) and New Orleans brass funk group Rebirth Brass Band.

 

This year's festival also will feature a special "Low Dough Show" on Sunday, July 18. A one-day ticket for Sunday will cost $11 and offer discounted food and beer, a fireworks display, a show by Gregg Rolie of Santana and a cross-performance with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and Pink Floyd band The Machine. For ticket information, click here.

 

New performers:

 

-Sick Puppies (July 16): Gutsy, angst-filled tunes from Australian alternative rock outfit Sick Puppies. "You're Going Down," "Odd One," "All the Same" and "My World" are staples on active and alternative rock radio. The band's video for "All the Same" started a hugging frenzy on YouTube with the video's concept of giving "free hugs" to random passers-bys.

-Here's the "free hugs" video:

-Jackyl (July 12): Formed in Georgia in 1990, Jackyl takes cues from greats such as AC/DC and Lynyrd Skynard, crafting their own mix of hard rock, heavy metal, blues and Southern boogie. In May, Jackyl released a new full-length, "When Moonshine and Dynamite Collide." Jackyl opens for Buckcherry, along with Drowning Pool, on Monday, July 12.

-Gregg Rolie of Santana (July 18): Keyboardist, organist, singer and producer Gregg Rolie is one of the founding members of Santana and Journey. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 along with Carlos Santana. He hits Common Ground on Sunday, July 18, as part of the "Low Dough Show."

-The Machine performs Pink Floyd, with special guest Lansing Symphony Orchestra (July 18): In a matter of years, Pink Floyd went from being a cool rock band to one of pop music's biggest phenomena. On Sunday, July 18, the group performs alongside the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, closing out Common Ground 2010.

-Rebirth Brass Band (July 14): New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band plays originals, spirituals, rags, marching numbers, R&B and more.

-Cinderella (July 15): A quarter century has passed since Jon Bon Jovi discovered Cinderella and signed the Philly hair-metal act to his label, Mercury Records. It was a good move, as Cinderella's breakthrough record, 1986's "Night Songs," went triple platinum thanks to such hits as "Nobody's Fool," "Somebody Save Me" and "Shake Me."

 

Weekend Riff: Summer Solstice in East Lansing with Somi, Joe Lovano, Rockapalooza Festival, Yankee Doodle Days in Grand Ledge

-All weekend: Summer Solstice is here! The 14th annual Summer Solstice Jazz Festival returns to downtown East Lansing, promising three days of soulful, free-flowing jazz music and performances from world music's Somi, Okemos-based jazz vocalist Sunny Wilkinson and her quartet, Detroit jazz group Hot Club of Detroit, saxophone player Joe Lovano and countless others. Get all the deets here, and read all about Joe Lovano in this week's What's On.

-Friday: Acoustic band Gossip in the Forest plays a free show 7 p.m. at Coffee and Friends in Okemos. If you're out in Grand Ledge on Saturday for Yankee Doodle Days, catch the group performing at 11 a.m. Sample tracks here.

-Saturday: Altu's Ethiopean Cuisine in East Lansing hosts free music from Hall and Morgan, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Expect traditional Appalachian tunes.

-Road Trip: Rockapalooza is an annual rock festival in Jackson, Michigan. This year's fest is Saturday at the Jackson County Fairgrounds, serving up heavy bands Sevendust (above), Otep, Egypt Central, Adrenachrome, Know Lyfe, Sin Theorem and more. Check it out here.

-Plan on it: Chiodos (right) isn't just another teeny-bopper rock band. With a unique mix of emo, punk, post-hardcore and progressive metal, Chiodos defies characterization. The Davison, Michigan, band plays The Loft in downtown Lansing Wednesday, and read an interview with bass player Matt Goddard here.

Video Interview: Drowning Pool at Common Ground

Heavy metal band Drowning Pool is slated to kick off Common Ground this year, and it's good timing, since the band's new single, "Feel Like I Do," is No. 3 on the rock charts.

Drowning Pool broke out of the post-grunge scene with 2001’s hard-hitting, fist-pumping anthem “Bodies,” but soon after, tragedy struck when the group’s lead singer passed away. After years of mourning, the band came back with singer Ryan McCombs (SOiL) to score big with 2007’s rock hit, “37 Stitches.”

Here's my video interview with the band at Common Ground '08. Thanks for watching!

Weekend Riff: East Lansing Summer Concert Series Kick-off, Saving Abel at NASCAR, Lansing LIVE Offers Free Music in Downtown Lansing

-Friday: The East Lansing Summer Concert Series kicks off on Friday in the heart of downtown East Lansing. The series offers free music every Friday and Saturday through August 7th, with the Friday night series happening at the Fountain Square from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the Saturday night series at Ann Street Plaza, the same times. This week, it's New Orleans jazz group Bayou River Band on Friday and Steppin' In It on Saturday. 

-Saturday: In town on Saturday, country star Chely Wright performs as part of the Michigan Pride 2010.  Click here for more information on the festival. Out of town, it's "Metal for MS" at Allen Park in Allen Park, Mich.-- a benefit concert for the National Muscular Sclerosis (MS) Society. Read more here. 

-Sunday: Southern rock band Saving Abel headlines the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday, June 13, at the Michigan International Speedway. Bass player Eric Taylor checked in with NOISE about the band’s new album and their USO Tour, and you can read the whole thing here.

-Plan on it: Underground hip-hop dude Spose makes a stop at Lansing's The Loft on Wednesday. Signed to Universal Republic, Spose has a Billboard Hot 100 hit with, "I'm Awesome," and tons of underground buzz. Details, puhleeze? Find them, here.

-Thursdays in downtown Lansing: Lansing LIVE is a free downtown concert series for ages 21 and over that happens Thursdays on the 200 block of S. Washington Square, all summer long. Urban Feast, the restaurant management firm that works with Tavern on the Square and Troppo, and Traction, a local advertising agency, present the event. Shows highlight local artists and bands, and food and beverages at the event are served by Tavern on the Square. For more information, please visit the offical website.

Concert Review: A.F.I. at The Orbit Room in Grand Rapids

A.F.I. (A Fire Inside) brought its Misfits-inspired goth-punk to Grand Rapids' Orbit Room last week. With a Lollapalooza gig this summer, plus a tour with Green Day, this was a chance to see AFI in a 1,400-seat rock club. A rarity. (Read an interview with guitarist Jade Puget here.)

Lead singer Davey Havok (right) dashed onstage, opening with "Medicate," off 2009's Crash Love, swinging his mic, jumping atop the drum riser, pushing all of his emotion into a set of raw-voiced vignettes. Puget (bottom left) is full of energy, spinning himself in circles while riffing, holding his Gibson Cloud 9 high in the air and adding the occasional, smartly-placed shredding solo.

With almost every song a singalong, the crowd celebrated every new tune, from singles "Girls Not Grey," "The Leaving Song Pt. II," "Silver and Cold," "Love Like Winter" and "Miss Murder" to lesser-heard treats such as "...But Home Is Nowhere."

Next show at The Orbit Room:
The Smashing Pumpkins. July 8.
Tickets on sale July 11 at 10 a.m.

Weekend Riff: Free Music at East Lansing's Pumpstock, Metal at The Loft, Old Town's Perspective2 Hosts Free Dance and Photography Open House

-Friday: Two local folk favorites, Wally Pleasant and The Fabulous Heftones, meet on Friday at Mac's Bar, for a show billed as "Wally Pleasant vs. The Fabulous Heftones." More popular local talent opens, with Flatfoot (Lansing rock-country) and Jenny Lee Richey and the Great Tribulation (Ann Arbor electo-acoustic).

-Saturday: Free music abounds on Saturday at the first annual Pumpstock, a new annual music festival in East Lansing, presented by The East Lansing Pump House. The show runs from noon to 6 p.m. at the East Lansing Bailey Community Park. Read more about the performers, including Nashville songwriter Phil Lee, here.

Twitter Poll Results: How far would you travel to see a show?

How far would you travel to see a concert? I asked that question via a Twitter survey last week, and here are the results:

As you see, the highest percentage (31%) would drive over four hours for a concert. 80% of voters would drive an hour or more. 20% prefer to stay close to home. Overall, the results show voters' willingness to go the extra mile - literally - to see a favorite performer.

Big thanks to everyone who voted in the poll!