The Kalamazoo Gay And Lesbian Resource Center proudly present a night of talented women!
Artists include Ferron, who has put out 14 albums since 1977, a Kalamazoo favorite Jes Kramer, as well as Carrie McFerrin, Dana Scott, Kathryn Tapper, Mechele Peters, and Desi Taylor.
The event is at Metro/the 411 and will begin at 7PM and there will be music all night! Tickets are 10 dollars, as the event is a fundraiser for Kalamazoo’s annual Pride event.
Sunday night Fat Guy House is the place to be! Uppin’ the punx with Astpai, Making Friends, Protected Left, Natural Disasters, and One Win Choice.
Astpai (all the way from Australia!)
astpai.bandcamp.com/
One Choice Win (Philly)
onewinchoice.bandcamp.com/
Natural Disasters (Hometown Heroes!)
naturaldisasters.bandcamp.com/
Making Friends (Flint)
makingfriends.bandcamp.com/
Protected Left
protectedleft.bandcamp.com/
This is definitely worth checking out!! For fans of Bad Religion, Alkaline Trio, and Alexisonfire.
8 pm, you got booze, you got bux for the bands. And stay outta the front yard plzzzz.
HullabaZOO
Kalamazoo and southwest Michigan in general are teeming with talented individuals who are full of knowledge and inspirational hobbies. On April 14th, from 1pm-8pm at the Wesley Foundation on Western Michigan University’s campus, there will be local vendors selling handmade crafts and goods, local community members giving free workshops, and local artists playing music for free.
Folks, this is a large part of what DIT is all about : forming strong communities that connect and sustain a culture of independence. How do we represent those things? By celebrating and demonstrating, of course!
Local vendors will be selling handmade and up-cycled crafts. Supporting these artists will help keep money local and support hard-working micro-businesses these people maintain. Buying locally helps people value their purchase more, allows them to know the maker of the product, and forms a relationship that isn’t based on consumption or profit for either party. Some handmade things that will be for sale include : quality leather-goods, recycled notebooks, zines, scarves, clothes, jewelry, buttons, and magnets. Some vintage clothing will also be for sale and Already Dead Tapes and Records will be selling items from their label.
Local and touring artists are playing music free of charge. As vendors sell their goods, mostly acoustic artists will play music to soothe your ears. Some local favorites include Arms Akimbo, Tim Tapper, and Jarad Selner. A special visit by the Grand Rapids band Patchwork will be sure to delight all. Touring musicians include Kyle Thomas and Brian Franklin. Several all of these artists will have merchandise to purchase in support of their project and out-of-town/touring acts will be taking donations for travel.
Workshops are free. This means that a whole handful of people are passionate enough to share the knowledge they’ve gained in certain areas to those who are interested and willing to learn it. This is a sacrifice of their time and planning beforehand, all to bring you something you can benefit from. This is because communities should provide for one another. Here is the schedule of workshops:
1:30 — 2:30 : Screenprinting with Clem.
2:30 — 3:30 : Tie-Dying with Rory Svekric.
3:30 — 4:30 : Bike Maintenence with T.O.A.D. Bicycle Cooperative.
4:30 — 5:30 : Community Organizing with Marlee Grace of Brave Habits.
5:30 — 6:30 : Zine Making with Karen Heerenga of Mixtapers Do It Better.
6:30 — 7:30 : D.I.Y. ’til We Die: How and Why we Create Alternatives to Mainstream Culture with Lori of Sprout Anarchist Collective.
Food is in the process of being figured out, but it is possible that Food Not Bombs will provide some food, as well as the Campus Beet providing snacks for a small fee. If nothing else, HullabaZOO planners will be sure to give you a list of places nearby that you can easily find delicious grub.
This event is a chance to make new friends, learn new things about this wonderful city, and appreciate those around you. Embrace what you have. HullabaZOO!
TONIGHT! TONIGHT! TONIGHT!
That’s right, folks, everyone’s favorite Traverse City expat all the way from NASHVILLE, TN, Jon Timm is making a special guest appearance for one night only at The Black Lodge! Do you like country music? Do you hate country music? Do you like a good rock and roll dream team that’ll get ya shakin’ in yer boots? In any case, you’re in for a real treat! You’re hearts will melt as this boy’s fine croonin’ abilities and dashing good looks sweep you off your feet!
Also joining the races are Thickest Thieves and Traverse City/Kalamazoo’s own Springsteen-lovin’ Rust Whip, featuring members of Evelyn, The Jeremies, and Birches.
Come on out for a whompin-good time that’s sure to rival karaoke at any dive bar and blow it out of the water! Traverse City’s heavyweights will take Kalamazoo by storm! This is a show not to be missed, folks!
Then, of course, afterword y’all should head on over to The Anthill for the T.O.A.D. Benfit show. Or don’t. But seriously: http://www.facebook.com/events/376395875733482/ DO IT!
9 p.m. / The Black Lodge / Be there or be a dingus
Saturday the Fourteenth! At the Anthill! At about eight o’clock!
Guaranteed awesomeness from Brian Franklin
http://www.facebook.com/bullshitSwearWords
Ann Arbor’s Kyle Thomas
http://kylethomas.bandcamp.com/
And I don’t know why I’m not in a band that sounds like this yet, Tiny Moving Parts
http://tinymovingparts.bandcamp.com/track/de-la-exsorta-2
Everybody bring a different kind of cheap beer and we’ll have a big beer swap. Cheaper the better, you cannot lose.
Also, crack open the mayonnaise jar perched atop the fridge and throw a fistful of dollars in the hat. Don’t be a jerk.
It’s been a while but CRS Kalamazoo will be doing a one off show. Just like the old days! Gonna clear out the back vinyl room and make way for a high class rock show.
The show will be centered around the touring act, MANY ARMS. They’re traveling from Philadelphia in support of their new self titled album released on John Zorn’s Tzadik Records!
This band is beyond mind blowing. Deftly crossing sounds between complex prog rock, spiritual noise and cascading free jazz. This will be a night to remember. See fr yrself:
Many Arms will be sandwiched between two locals desperately trying to keep up:
LOST IN TRANSLATION
Ryan Pate’s latest project. Three piece groove based prog rock. They do it right.
HARTMAN & SAXSQUATCH
Duo performance featuring yours truly. Jarad Selner and I will be giving you our own take on free jazz. Didgeridoo, saxophone guitar and maybe a few other randon instruments. No drums, just flow. Close yr eyes and think of a place you’ve never been.
Music starts around 9pm once Saffron closes. Please bring donations/merch money for the touring band! Your generosity is the only way they are getting paid. Gas ain’t cheap and they’ve got a long road ahead of them.
Corner Record Shop is at 1710 West Main St. (next to Tiffany’s)
Respect the venue. Respect the bands. Respect yrself.
It’s fairly simple to make a flyer. Though the imagery can be really important as far as grabbing someone’s attention, first and foremost is the importance to the details of the show. It does you no good to have an eye-catching image if information is missing, or is difficult to read, so keep in mind:
-Who is playing
– where are they playing
-if you can or cannot contain an address
-how much does it cost
-when is it
-and where can you find more information
The way I’ve been designing flyers is to first draw the image that I want to use. I like to use high-contrast black and white as my style, as printing black and white is cheap, and you don’t want details getting muddled in the transition from color to b&w. You could do something much more detailed/colored/cut and pasted, which a lot of people have done to good effect as well. Just make sure you have in mind where your text will be, and that it can be big enough to be legible.
I’ve started designing my text on a separate piece of paper, and then digitally editing the text and image together. Depending on your style, or access to digital editing, this might not be viable. There’s always the effective old school way of cutting, pasting and xeroxing at kinkos. It works well, and requires no major computer knowledge.
Some other tips I can throw in is, if the show or event is free, make sure that’s known! Not having to spend money is really enticing. If you don’t collect a specific amount of money, but do have touring groups to help out, it would be good to include that donations are taken, just so people can know to have a bit of cash on them when they show up. In this digital age, telling people a website or a keyword to search for to find more information is generally a good idea. I make sure to put DITKalamazoo.com on all of my flyers.
Lastly, keep in mind that this is a fun way of having a bit of visual expression. You don’t need to be a visual artist to make a good flyer. Ann Arbor flyer maker Shelley Salant’s style is to make the only imagery on the flyer the relevant text, done in bold magic markers. This is clear, concise, attention grabbing, and is a signature style.
On April 7th, Glowfriends (along with Cold Mountain Child) will be kicking off the release of their new album with a performance at 4th Coast Cafe. If you’ve never been to a show in Kalamazoo before, see this one. It’s shows like this that we do what we do.
Glowfriends – Nothing bad can be said about this band. They somehow turn dream pop, shoegaze, energy and vibraphones into pure sunshine. Plants can grow on this.
Cold Mountain Child – A band based out of Kalamazoo, “Cold Mountain Child” have a sound I’ve decided to call “Acoustigaze”. Have a listen:
If you find yourself looking for a party with some rad music (or music with a rad party), Kalamazoo has a lot of options for you. Unable to make it out to Spraynard/Paul Baribeau at Fat Guy House or just not interested? Have no fear! Slaughterhouse is hosting Buffalo thrash punx D.W.I. with Bruxism, White Lightning, and more on the same night so plenty of opportunities for a party!
Details for the event are located here: https://www.facebook.com/events/253155888108734/ The show will start later to give those of us interested in both shows a chance to attend both. As always, please bring cash for the touring bands, respect the space, and others around you. See you there.
Saturday, March 31st, Fat Guy House will be play host to the most righteous of shows. Pennsylvania Pop Punkers Spraynard are touring with Michigan native Paul Baribeau in one promises to be a basement show you don’t want to miss out on. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s happening that night:
The dudes in Spraynard will bring us punk rock vaguely similar to Set Your Goals and Four Year Strong. I’m talking the good stuff. The stuff that makes you want to dog pile with your best friends and shout along with reckless abandon. Maybe throw in a few PBRs in there for good measure. I can’t imagine a better way for you to spend your night.
Twee folk extraordinaire Paul Baribeau (of Plan-It-X ilk) will be bringing us heartfelt stories of falling in love, falling out of love, and everything in between. If you like artists like Kimya Dawson, Toby Foster, or Ghost Mice, I think you’ll be interested in checking this guy out.
Joining us from Lansing is Homelife, who will be performing emotionally-driven punk tunes in the vein of Title Fight and Basement. Local support includes Bike Tuff and Natural Disasters, who are both just by themselves worth your love and support in going to this show.
I, personally, am extremely excited about the fact that this is happening in my hometown. I encourage you all to make it out if you are able. Remember: these are donation based, so bring some cash for the touring acts. If you don’t know how to get there- ASK. Email us at ditkalamazoo(at)gmail.com or message one of the facebook organizers! The show will start close to 9 or so- see you there.
DITKalamazoo 