Kris Hitchcock is a native boy of Grass Lake, Michigan, and splits his time between his home in Grand Rapids with his dog Fender, and Nashville where he performs, writes, and records with his band Small Town Son. His pop take on country and folk are sure to get this guy some serious attention beyond these Michigan borders.
Don’t miss your chance to see him live! Check here for tour dates and upcoming projects!
Wanda Degen is a veteran folk musician who has helped build the scene we know and love here in Michigan. She crafts songs and delightful stories of traveling abroad, building, (and accidentally ruining) dulcimers, alongside tales of festivals and teaching. She plays and sings live, is a trove of knowledge, and a gracious woman to continually share with us.
You can find out more at her website.
Doug Mains brings along a couple members of the City Folk to talk about songwriting, touring, open mics, and the chance encounters that lead to the formation of friends, who also happen to play music together as a band.
Check out his tour dates and music here!
Photo: City Pulse
Derek Smith brings a guitar and Sally Potter along to discuss reprising his role as Hank Williams for a Ten Pound Fiddle show. He first portrayed the legendary singer on stage for LCC’s production of Hank Williams: Lost Highway, and again at Williamston Theatre for a night with the Drifitn’ Cowboys. He walks, talks, and sings like him, and even the publicist couldn’t be sure which photo was the real Hank when sending out flyers. He shares the stories and songs of his research into the man and the myth.
Lora Helou and Pat Power join in the studio to talk about the MSU Museum Great Lakes Folk Festival coming up August 10-12 in East Lansing. We talk culture and diversity from food-craft to song-craft and travel from Slovenia to Ethiopia to Persia, north to Ireland, south to Tennessee, and back home again to Detroit. This premier international festival celebrates community and culture in our own backyard.
Mike Stratton, host of The Vinyl Side of Midnight on LCC Radio and Jazz aficionado comes in to the studio to discuss 18 years of the Jazz Festival in Lansing, its changes, its legacy, and what it means to the community. We have a few laughs as we tell stories and play a series of tracks from this and last year’s line-up.
The show begins with a short tribute to celebrate Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday, and transitions into an interview with Australian blues singer, turned Nashville resident by way of Vietnam and L.A. We talk about travel, what it means to really “get” the blues (turns out the chords aren’t enough) and how creation takes many forms in anticipation of her upcoming film work and concert at the East Lansing Pump House Concert Series.
