Chicago is coming. It’s coming to Kalamazoo. It’s bringing music with it. Not the blues though. No, it’s different than that. But it’s good.

Real good.

Folk music that borders on spoken word sometimes, mania other times, and brilliant musicianship all the time, Perpetual Dusk at Curtsy Caverns is making some cool sounds with whatever they’ve got. Very excellent.

Also from the Chitown, Bowl of Dust brings the folk-Americana, and brings it strong. Great songwriting, twangin’ guitars, and calming vocals singing old tunes about the modern age. Very digable.

LOCAL LEGEND FRANK FUZZ will be performing music with himself. Great performer, and a personal favorite local act. DO NOT MISS, as there is no guarantee that he’ll ever play again!

Finally, Jesse Duke will be making his first show appearance in nearly 2 years! Good times to be had by all!

The SHOW will immediately be preceded by a POTLUCK at 7, so bring some FOOD to SHARE. Also, if you could stack some bills up for to toss in to the hats of the wayfairing musicians, that’d be pretty stellar, too.

Hope to see y’alls!

Tonight, the rock is coming up, and all the way up, from the land of classic westerns and the Delorean Automobile. How can you argue with that?

Short answer? You can’t. Here’s why.

CHOIRS is loud, fast, energetic, with a little bit of chaos and noise thrown in for measure. Their screamo, like Bruce Lee’s kung fu, is superior.

MOTHS could be ambient, but they’re too busy being melodically hardcore instead. Cool, clean guitars. Serious vocals. Lots of power. Danger, Will Robinson.

GEORGE COSTANZA does whatever he wants. Including playing music. Presumably, that’s what’s going on tonight.

Show starts at 9pm and DOESN’T COST A DANGED DIME. It’s occuring below Shakespeare’s Pub in the Globe Theater. It will be good times, man, so come on out and have you one.

Courtesy http://geekology.com

Former Michigan / current Chicago musician Abbi Rajesekhar is on tour again, and making another stop at the No Fun House. Abbi’s music is strong and heartfelt, with a great aesthetic that sticks with you long after she’s done playing. I strongly recommend you check it out.

Also playing is Kalamazoo’s very own (even though we stole him from Traverse City), Cat Peril (Pat Carrol). Scarcely will you find a better, more emotive musician than Pat. A great songwriter, guitar player, and generally awesome dude, Pat Carrol is an asset and boon to the scene for sure. Plus if enough people bug him, he might play an R. Kelly song. Finally, a (now rare) acoustic performance by Kalamazoo’s Birdfingers will also take the stage. Deep voice, tasty guitar work, and songs about things people used to write songs about but don’t write songs about much anymore these days. A great performance for sure.

Doors open at 8 and the music starts shortly thereafter. Bring a little bit of cash for donation for the travelin’ act. Bring some soda or chips or cookies to share if you can manage. See you guys tonight!

Courtesy htp://www.ballade.mo

Tomorrow night, Louie’s Trophy House is playing host to a fantastic and phenomenal set of free jazz musicians. Their caliber is top-notch. Their quality is unquestioned. Their licks are wicked. So it is with Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad and his compatriots, Paal Nilssen-Love and Jon Rune Strøm.

Frode, ever an improviser, is bringing some serious fire to this big little city. As an avant-garde saxophonist, he is a fantastic player. Strøm is no slouch himself on that doghouse bass. Meanwhile, Nilssen-Love may be one of the best drummers alive. Don’t believe me? Well then.

And Nilssen-Love doing his thing:

Opening the show, Kalamazoo locals and similarly-minded experimental musicians UNITARD will be bringing their all to the fore. If you haven’t seen Unitard before, this would be a good chance to check them out. If you have seen them, then you know what to expect and how excellent this event really should be.

Photo Courtesy Mark Wedel

If you’re a fan of experimental music, this is the show for you. If  you’re a fan of sheer instrumental virtuosity, control and technique, this is the show for you. If  you simply want your brain to melt a little bit, I’d show up all the same.

The cost is 8 bucks at the door – a paltry sum for such a fantastic display of musicianship. Plus, you didn’t have to buy a ticket to fly to Norway to see the Trio, so that’s a savings of roughly 1300 dollars off the bat.

Doors open at 8. Show starts at 9. I’ll be there.

Courtesy myspace.com/theesoupcans

Experimental music is hitting the Strutt again, and with force tomorrow night. The Soup Cans are coming down from Canada, and bringing their own brand of noise-infused punk rock with them. Frantic sometimes, downright frightening others, The Soupcans will make you fell something you’ve not felt in a long time – if ever before.

.Also up on the bill, local Kalamazoo noise-rock post-everything band Forget The Times will be out en force. Featuring members of such prominent local groups as Rotten Wood Moon, The Philly Crawlers, Lincoln County War, The Reptilian, and Son Drop, this batch of fellas are out to do something they’ve never done before. One thing they have done, however, is put out a tape, and they’re gonna do it again: This is FTT’s official second tape-release on Already Dead Tapes. This is a collection of older live recordings, in case you’re in to that.

Finally, local long-time noise musician Sid Redlin of Boron Nuzzle will be bringing his strange drone electronica to bear against the minds of the willing. His is a mesmerizing set, and should be a lot of fun.

Courtesy http:theatomage.net

If your preference tomorrow night is a more straight-forward approach to music, however, you can always pop down to Louie’s Trophy House Grille and check out The Atom Age. These guys are punk-influenced rock from Hollywood California, and one of the hardest working bands I’ve ever met. Loud, high-energy rockin’-out is to expected in full.

Supporting these cats is the local Ska outfit The Mushmen. They just put out a new album last week, and that show was a display of The Mushmen being high-energy as they have ever been. Dancing is not just a suggestion with these guys, it’s the rule.

The music for both shows start at 9pm. The Strutt’s cover is 5 bucks, Louies’ cover is 6 bucks. Both are great deals for excellent shows. See you out and about.

You like guitar-and-vocals singer-songwriter living-room shows on a warm Monday night, don’t you? Well if so, The House Of Love has a treat for you, with three phenomenal guitar-and-vocals singer-songwriter types bringing their six-strings and singing tunes for ya.

All the way from Columbus, Ohio, Maryn Jones’s new project Wolfs is going to grace us with an acoustic trio that cools you down even in this humid Michigan heat. It’s soft, it’s wonderful, and it’s beautiful in a variety of ways. Be excited!

Providing local support, Peggy Wray will be performing her trademark brand of dark, soulful acoustic music. A strong voice and beautiful compositions make Peggy a gem and treasure of Kalamazoo’s diverse music scene, to be sure.

Finally, the lead guitar player for Kalamazoo / Traverse City joint-custody band Birches, Dylan Lancaster, will also be doing an acoustic set of his music. His is an interesting and classic approach to songwriting that will make your girlfriend cry.

The show starts at 8:30 promptly. There’s no cover, but if you bring some change (or even some cash dollars) to throw in a hat, that would sure help Wolfs get down the road a little further so they can keep playing music!

Tonight, the Strutt plays host to a trio of most excellent songwriters and guitar-players the likes of which are hardly ever tucked under the same roof. David Dondero is one of them, and it’s a triumphant return that I know many folks have been waiting for.

Also taking stage tonight is the lead singer of Kalamazoo’s own Nightjars, Aaron Young. He’s doing a rare solo performance, and if it’s anything like his last rare solo performance, it’s going to be a real good one. Make sure you check it out.

Finally, The Go Rounds’ Gitis Baggs will be pickin’ and grinnin’ and doing those things that Gitis Baggs does. His tunes are more than killer, and similar to Aaron Young’s in that his solo sets are few and far between.

Music starts around 9pm and the door will cost 5 bucks to walk through. Not a bad price for a good time on a Monday night.

This is a relatively exciting post for me personally, so I’m just going to get all the way down to business: Michael Chapman is a 70 year old man from the United Kingdom, over by way of Europe. he is also a brilliant musician and phenomenal guitar player. He is also playing The Strutt tomorrow here in Kalamazoo.

This is going to be an excellent show just in regards to Mr. Chapman. But in case that wasn’t enough, Kalamazoo locals Lincoln County War will be providing support. In case that’s still not enough, Matt Motzell – the drummer for local rockers Coma Nova – will also be performing a solo set, and his first solo set in a very long time.

It should be a night of excellent music, and for a mere pittance of $5 at the door, what more do you want on a Monday Night?

Music should start around 8:30, so get ready to rock right around then!

You like folk music? You like Rock music? You like when the two are recklessly smashed together and performed on stage in front of a live studio audience? Well that’s what’s going to happen tonight at The Strutt, and that’s pretty cool.

Coming in all the way from New York, former University Of Michigan student Charlene Kaye is on tour and playin’ the house.  Her music is less folk-rock and more folk-jazz – not that she doesn’t rock per se, just that she be swingin’, and that’s okay. She’s got a set of pipes too, which further aids in the process of getting down.

Spencer Michaud hails from Ann Arbor currently, and is a bit more straight-laced in terms of his folk music. It’s good though, real good.

Finally, local Folk Rock Heroes Birches are providing the jams, the grooves, and the hometown support. This is one of my personal favorite Kalamazoo outfits, and it’s always good to see ’em playing at home. The doors for this one open at 8:30 and it cost 5 bux to stop by, but don’t let that deter you from some awesome music.

If a funkier, bluesier sort of night is what you’re looking for, though, you could always swing by Bell’s Eccentric Cafe and check out the BMF Band and Marble Garden. It’s gonna be good times either way though!

Courtesy BMF Band

Every once in a while, the garage-rockers leave the garage and rock elsewhere. Sometimes that elsewhere is a long, long way from home. That’s what TV Ghost is doing this Wednesday at Louie’s Trophy House Grille, and it is so good to hear it. Their special brand of music is crunchy, punky, relatively manic and mildly insane. I caught these guys last time they came through the ‘Zoo (even had a chance to open for them) and they are most excellent. But don’t take my word for it, come check it out tomorrow night!

Joining them will be The Spits, formerly-local rockers with a synthesized twinge that gets the hairs on the back of your neck standing up just right. These fellas know how to pound through a tune and make it count. Check ’em!

Finally, Kalamazoo locals No Bails will provide the hometown support. Zombie Surf music at it’s finest!

Show starts at 9 and it costs 5 bux to get in, but what price do you put on good old Rock and Roll? See you cats there!