Are you looking to see some Midwest Americana and simultaneously support one beloved cat named “Beige Presents Matt Wood the Cat”? Then head down to the Walnut house tonight at 8 p.m.
All five groups are composed of staples from the Kalamazoo Roots scene, featuring old and new folk faces. Walnut House resident and show organizer, Jeremy Quentin says that the line-up is, “definitely a bunch of old strutt kids getting together,” referring to the Stutt’s formerly vibrant bluegrass scene.
Gitis Baggs fills venues with his haunting noise samples, relaxed minor guitar chords, and smooth, lazy vocals explaining dark weirdness, like in “Sales Convention”. Mostly Midwest caught Gitis Baggs’ “Song of Innocence” at the Keweenaw peninsula Folk Festival, Farmblock 2011. See below:
Gitis Baggs : Farm Block Session from Mostly Midwest on Vimeo.
Apart of the Double Phelix recording collective, Birdfingers is vocalist Bennett Young’s brainchild. Young’s voice, lower than most, is a deep and constant paddle stroke in his band’s ever-changing lineup. However, the ascetic of Birdfingers‘ 2011 self-titled debut pulls together a common thread, of 50s-reminiscent-jingly-beach-pop, throughout the album.
In Andy Catlin’s project, Lasso, we find a soundtrack to a low-fi, indie, horror, sci-fi spagetti western. In 2011 Lasso’d, the romantification of the Final and American Frontier are not dead, but are instead combined and thriving in Kalamazoo. In The Return of the Lasso, nasal and dissonant vocal harmonies are smoothed over by effect filters. Lasso is also a member of Double Phelix.
Small Houses is Jeremy Quentin’s project. His songs include technical acoustic guitar, a little piano, and intensely tender vocal delivery about the human condition, all set in Michigan. “When it’s Morning” from Our Dusking Sound could slow down any Sunday Afternoon.
Also apart of the Kalamazoo Folk scene, Adam Danis has appeared on Fiona Dickinson’s “My Lovely Friend” and at local open mic nights.
Matt Wood (the cat), for short, is a community owned pet, residing at The Walnut House. He’s named after a Kalamazoo sound engineer. According to Quentin, all of the musicians playing tonight have lived with Matt Wood (the cat) at some point.
Quentin says that Matt Wood (the cat) is not feeling well and needs more than just a regular check-up at the vet. He says, ” I’m excited to get Matt well and get him the medicine he needs.”
Quentin is also excited about an upcoming show on August 2, at the Walnut House. It will feature a claw and hammer banjo player from Wisconsin called Kalispell along with The Hill and Wood, a six-piece pop band from Charlottesville, VA. Quentin, of Small Houses, says, “I’ve played around a hundred shows this year. These are the two best acts I’ve seen this year.”
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