An interview through the Portals with Krillin!

Just wanted to catch you up on the latest episode of the Podcast...

Featuring Krillin

Just Catching Up: Jerry Dreams, Black Shampoo, Summer Like The Season, French Method, Sara Marie Barron

There's so much new coming out of Detroit this summer that I haven't been able to cover everything in depth. Nevertheless, I still wanted to use this blog as a platform to bring in some new ears to these tracks; presuming any readers coming to this post haven't heard any of these songs yet... I know these tracks aren't arranged into a handier playlist, so you won't be able to take these tunes on the go, but hopefully there are more than a few of you out there hunched intently over your laptops with snug headphones on......and if you're like me to track down the songs of these local artists, online, and spin them back a few times, getting lost in them, immersing yourself, taking it all in.....


Jerry Dreams put out their dazzlingly vibed-out psychedelically twangy and tuneful drifters on the California EP.


Black Shampoo released a new EP this weekend - with expressive, funky guitar jams wafting over mellow tempos that amble through valleys of atmospheric reverb and cool crooning vocals


Summer Like The Season blends a trippy electronica with crashes of post-rock percussion, funky bass rhythms and soaring/ethereal vocals

And Sara Marie Barron (pictured above^) has new music coming out August 15 at Willis Show Bar! Her piano-centric soul-pop is magnetic and elegant, feeling contemporary and throw-back simultaneously. You can preview her album here.


Oh, and this last one isn't new music, but The French Method are back together! Take a listen!

White Bee's Music Video ~ Beat State

It's a pleasure to premiere this new music video by White Bee, because it's a reminder of how the songwriting, guitar-styling and vocal talents of Shannon Barnes can continue to enrich the local music scene around Detroit. The reason I treat its continuation with a preciousness is not merely because I think Barnes has an excellent sensibility as a soul-pop/indie-funk hybridist, but because her band, White Bee, very nearly came to an end several months ago. I'd qualify Barnes as a dynamo merely for her guitar playing..., or merely for her voice, or merely for her songwriting, but all three fire at respectively high and impressive calibers, coalescing to make the magic that is: White Bee.



The percussive arrangement for this tune, as well as the expressive guitar playing, is dynamically embodied by the energetic sway of the dancers (of Ballet Detroit). You can't see any action shots of Barnes on the guitar, but it's enough to hear her voice coming through those languid willows.

Barnes has a new cast of collaborators (Valerie Kraft, Andrew Hintzen, Craig Shephard, and Arianna Bardoni), and White Bee flies forward! This song was written by Barnes before the band-shuffle, but it's interesting how even before the shift, Barnes was singing this dreamy song about a sunrise..., about being saved from falling, about uniting with a friend and gliding off into the future. It's already a radiant song, sonically, but now we have these visuals....filmed by Sisse Finken and Elise McCoy. (McCoy also recorded the tune, as well as directed and edited this music video).

White Bee is on Bandcamp

1. Elise McCoy for recording the song, filming, directing, editing the music video. And being a boss. 
2. Ballet Detroit (the featured dancers) and Katja Rowan and K. Natasha Foreman for helping me get all those dancers together and choreographing. 
3. Sisse Finken for Filming and using her awesome gear. 
4. Valerie Klaft, Andrew Hintzen, Craig Shep Shephard, and Arianna Bardonifor playing on the track!!

Soviet Girls - New EP ('Filled Up With Nothing')

Soviet Girls are a new luminary among Detroit's recent renaissance of lo-fi melodic indie-pop. Their debut E.P. came out just last week, blending hazy dreamy surf-rock slowed-to-a-pensive-stroll ("Caught In A Lie"), to the rougher-around-the-edges ("I'm Not Your Girl") that kicks up the tempo, the cathartic chorus coiling into a melodic yell and the distortion bubbling over into a reverberating crescendo.

Soviet Girls are Anna Baghina (vocals/guitar), Devin Poisson (drums) and Jonathan Franco (vocals/guitar). And this band hits all the sweet spots that Deadbeat Beat, don't., and the ever-missed Rebel Kind have splashed upon on their respective recordings. A song like the E.P.'s titles track, "Filled Up With Nothing," is a shining and all too brief example of their knack for knowing how much space to get each instrument, with arrangements uncluttered by showy riffs or busy fills, it's like the drums, guitars and vocal melodies are gracefully interlocked in a sweet sway across a linoleum floor with socks on.... And, damn it, that image came in to my head before I looked up to notice the album cover... "Think Back" closes things out with decorous guitars jangling out those idyllic warm tones perfect for a summer road trip soundtrack, kicked along by an eager snare and an invigorating crash of cymbals, while the vocals attain an airy, far but near quality, like a beckoning horizon that you're driving towards.... Always driving towards....

Anyway, that's how I hear it...! Soviet Girls are performing kind of a release party for this new EP on Monday, August 6, at El Club. Well, technically they're opening for Austin-based singer Jess Williamson--but nevertheless, it's your next opportunity to hear these songs live! MORE INFO. 

Soviet Girls

Nick Piunti - Temporary High (Interview)

The aerodynamic pop/rock ballads of Nick Piunti are perfect examples of the temporary high that I personally hit when I'm immersed in a taut patchwork of sweet melodies, driving rhythms, and adrenaline-raising riffs. But 

 Nick Piunti is a longtime Detroit-area singer/songwriter who started playing in bands before he could drive. In 2013, he released his second proper solo album, 13 In The Head, and began making his way back into the Detroit music scene, following a break after his previous group, The Respectables, came to an end.

On Friday, Aug 10, at the Loving Touch in Ferndale, Piunit celebrates the release of this fourth album (in six years), titled Temporary High; backed by his band, The Complicated Men, and joined by Chris Richards & The Subtractions and The Cortown Popes.

The album's title track, Temporary High, was just featured as the Coolest Song in the World This Week on Little Steven’s Underground Garage radio channel on Sirius XM. And while I spoke of a general "high" being this temporary span of a typical four minute song, you'll have to listen to the album to hear about the actual stories of this singer/songwriters highs (or lows...) But in the interview we particularly cover the "highs..." of the last 5-6 years.

Temporary High follows after Piunti’s 2016 album Trust Your Instincts, which came out on New Jersey-based Jem Records. I haven't caught up with Piunti since he put out Beyond The Static in 2015, but we've got a recent Q&A with him about the newest record, below...

The Complicated Men features lots of vets from the local rock scene, including Ryan
Allen on guitars/vocals, Ron Vensko on drums and Jeff Hupp on bass. What they capture is a pure and effervescent kind of rock n' roll energy that glides like modern indie-pop, but rollicks with a timeless sound that could fit the Americana crowd as much as it could the garage or power-pop crowd... But Piunti's songs stand apart because of an emphasis on lyrical storytelling, which we'll get in to, in the interview.

"...A great guitar riff, melody, and strong lyrics.  That's the recipe for me...."

Let's talk about just what you love about music... What drew you to rock and above all, to melody? And whatever it is, is it the same, now, as it was way back when you were a teen with the Dwarfs? 

Dwarf was my first band! We started out with the intention of playing our 6th grade talent show.  The first song I ever performed and sang live was "Be My Lover" by Alice Cooper.  I remember watching The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan show, so of course that was monumental, but it was probably The Monkees that really got me hooked.  I was 6 years old, couldn't miss a show and bought all of their albums.  And they had some great pop songs.  Of course there have been hundreds of bands through the years that I fell for, but the songs had to be great.  I still search out new music, and I occasionally still get flipped out and its close to the excitement I've always had when hearing a song that just hit me the right way.  A great guitar riff, melody, and strong lyrics.  That's the recipe for me.

Are there influences you had when you were younger, or when you were with the Respectables that have stayed with you into your solo career? And, are there other nuanced influences that you've taken to more recently? 
Of course The Beatles are always there as an influence! And through the years there's always something new that inspires me.  When I first started writing songs I was 13, and it was probably the Stones that I tried most to emulate.  Then maybe Slade, or The Raspberries.  Then Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Ian Hunter.  The Knack's first album knocked me out, as did The Cars.  I then got heavily into  Pretenders,Tom Petty, Springsteen, R.E.M., Plimsouls, Replacements, Crowded House.  So many bands through the years.  Probably the difference now is that the bands I used to like back then would've also been some of the most popular, biggest selling... ,But these days its mostly independent small indie bands that get my attention.  There's still a lot of great music out there, but for my ears I'm not going to find much of it on the radio, unless it's WDET or Little Steven's Underground Garage or The Loft, and other stations on Sirius XM.  And there's so many great online radio stations.  A lot of them play my music and other like minded musicians songs.  

Let's go back to 13 In My Head in 2013. What was that experience like, or what was it like 5-6 years ago, when you started on the solo singer/songwriter path...?

I was actually very close to maybe hanging up making records. The Respectables released 2 albums and a 3 song EP, and we definitely had some success; we had a song in an NBC network series and in a film (Jeff Who Lives at Home) but my songwriting was slowing down and it didn't feel especially inspired.  I then found out about a local band called Friendly Foes, and their debut album blew me away.  I got to be friends with singer/songwriter Ryan Allen and we got together, worked on a couple songs together; I played him some other songs I was working on and after almost a year of doing some GarageBand demos, I headed into the studio with Geoff Michael at Big Sky Recording to see if what I had was as good as I thought it was.  I didn't have a band, just a bunch of songs.  Geoff recommended Donny Brown (Verve Pipe) to be the studio drummer.  And Geoff's engineer Chris played bass, as well as Todd Holmes (from Chris Richards and the Subtractions) on a couple songs.  I played most of the guitars while Ryan Allen added some harmonies and played guitar on a few tracks as well.  Donny is great at backing vocals, so he and Andy Reed added some great stacked harmony vocals on a few songs as well.  I wasn't exactly sure what we made, but by year's end the power pop community was really behind the record and it found its way in a lot of year end top 10 lists.  Locally, Ann Delisi, Rob Reinhart and Jon Moshier all got behind the album, so I received a lot of local airplay.

"...It's so easy to want to create that wall of guitar sound every time, but we used some restraint in that department...."

How did you approach Temporary High? And, for you, what distinguishes it from the past few albums? 

I recorded "Temporary High" atthe same place and with the same people (for the most part) that I worked with on "13 in My Head", "Beyond the Static", and "Trust Your Instincts" so chances were good that it wasn't going to sound that dramatically different.  But it comes down to the songs, and I felt that I had 10 songs that could stand beside anything else that I recorded.  We tried to make the record sound a bit more intimate, let the vocals be a bit more upfront and not double track every rhythm guitar track.  It's so easy to want to create that wall of guitar sound every time, but we used some restraint in that department.  I've been writing and recording for years, so I definitely have my own style and sound, but Geoff and I wanted to tweak it a bit.  Each song also has a pretty strong story to go along with the guitars and melodies.  We also used more keyboards on this album.  Andy Reed, who played bass on the album also added Hammond B3 on several songs.  I added some keys as did drummer Donny Brown.  Geoff played synth on a song or two, and a cat from Jersey, Plink Giglio added piano on one song and some great synths on another.  So for a guitar based album there's a lot of keyboards too.  Geoff does the mixes on his own, then I chime in with a few suggestions.  I used to insist to be present during mixing, but it really works better when I can come in with fresh ears and offer a couple of thoughts.

Some guys like punk and speed and flash and shambolic stuff, or metal and noise and distortion... But a Piunti record is crisp, tight, angular, hooky, clean, punchy--- what, overall, draws you to that aesthetic..., that energy? 

I just write what I like.  I love great songs, I love guitars, and lyrics that make me think.  The trick is to take what you like and make it sound like yourself.  If I find that I'm writing a song and part of it sounds too familiar to something else, I'll change it.  And surprisingly, almost all of my songs are written on acoustic guitar.  Of course I'm imaging the riffs on an electric guitar, but I've always thought that a good song should stand on it's own with an acoustic guitar and one voice.  Plus it's easier to strum along at the kitchen table than locking myself in the basement with my electric guitar and amp.

What have you enjoyed most of all about the last 5-6 years? 

The best part, musically, is that I can still be inspired to write so many songs that I'm proud of.  Four albums in my 50's?  No way would I ever think that would happen! 

What are the highlights?
The power pop community has been so receptive, Bandcamp makes it so easy to sell records all around the world.  I had a song that Ryan and I wrote that was featured on a Mojo Magazine CD.  Being able to hear my music on Detroit's best radio station, WDET!  I performed at The Concert of Colors alongside Don Was, Luis Resto and Was Not Was in 2017. I got signed to a label (Jem Records) which led to airplay on Sirius XM's The Loft, and just this week the title track to my new album was named "Coolest Song in the World" in Little Steven's Underground Garage.  And I have a new band, The Complicated Men, which is  Ryan Allen, Jeff Hupp and Ron Vensko.  

It's been a crazy handful of years...Yes. With all of this is happening now, when I was so close to calling it a day just seven years ago; it means a lot.  And the friends that I've met in the music community are just the best.  Chris Richards is someone whose music I admired, is now one of my closest friends .  Same with Ryan, Andy , Donny, Geoff.  Todd and Larry from The Subtractions.  Awesome guys. Photographer Tim Meeks is a friend.  Fantastic!.  I play golf with Dave Feeny .  And I never would have known any of these people without our shared love of music,  But without a doubt, the best of the best is having my wife Kelli being the most supportive wife any middle aged musician playing rockstar could ask for.  All this songwriting, recording, rehearsing takes a lot of time.  I couldn't do it without her patience and understanding.  I just can't push my luck in the guitar purchasing department. 

Nick Piunti
Temporary High - Release Party
Aug 10
with Chris Richards & The Subtractions
and the Corktown Pops
INFO

Aston Neighborhood Pleasure Club

"...the idea is that this kind of music—like orchestral, one might say—is best heard (and recorded) live, with no studio trickery..."

The Aston Neighborhood Pleasure Club plays a bit of a different tune than most of the artists that come up on this site. Not rock, hip-hop, neo-techno, psych-pop or whatever else... No, this quintet is more jazz-inclined, but specifically tapping in to street bands in New Orleans tradition. We're talking Dixieland; we're talking ebullient, strut-and-swing, shimmy-and-smile string-band jams; finger-snapping, toe-tapping, frenetically-melodic ditties, graceful and versatile to improvisation. The ANPC is Erik McIntyre: banjo and guitar / Matt LoRusso: guitar / Dave Vessella: Trumper and vocals / Jorian Olk-szost: Upright bass and Joshua James: sax, clarinet, vocals.

"We draw inspiration," said James, "from the sounds of many bands and street ensembles currently active in the New Orleans music scene. Though its labeled as 'trad-jazz,' the music (that ANPC enlivens) encompasses early blues, Americana, folk and gypsy music." The ANPC is getting ready to record their next album, and they're planning to do it LIVE with YOU in the audience. On Sunday, Aug 5, they'll perform two sets (12:30pm & 2:30pm) at Howe's Bayou in Ferndale. After that, they'll get to mixing the magic and preparing a proper album, and if you're in attendance, that Sunday, then you're going to receive that hard copy once it's completed (as part of your ticket purchase). Both sets will be completely unique in arrangement, each song will be captured onto the album. Oh, and you'll also have the full bar service and a special limited brunch menu, when you get to Howe's. Click here for more info.

I caught up with James to chat about ANPC and the exhilaration of the live performance...

What do you enjoy most, -actually, what do you think it is that all of you cats enjoy most-- about playing this style of music as an ensemble...compared to your other avenues, be it jazz, folk, or whatever else
Of course inherent within this music is a sense of improvisation, which speaks to all of us. But rooted within the musical tradition is the art (and irreverence) of the busker. This music forces us to develop a patter with the audience that is equal parts vaudeville and carnival barker. The music also allows us to develop characters, which we’ve honed to our present show. Dave and I are two sides of the same coin when we sing, and the patter between us in a song is distinct and part of the show.

Describe the build up, psychologically? emotionally? to a LIVE recording...what's that like as an artist/performer? What's the key to fighting off whatever it might be, anxiety or whatever else...
The concept for the live recording actually came from two places. The first was the success of my last recording with my other band, the TBO. That album, “Dance with the Devil,” was performed and recorded in the same way. (That album won a DMA for best jazz recording, I might add.) The second bit of inspiration comes from my friend Charlie Halloran, a fantastic trombonist based out of New Orleans. His most recent recording, which is doing quite well, nationally, was done in a similar way: live to tape. (Actually, his was live using one mic only, direct to acetate, and it sounds amazing!) The idea is that this kind of music—like orchestral, one might say—is best heard (and recorded) live, with no studio trickery. Since this musical tradition is based upon the interaction with and energy that comes from an audience, it seemed only right to record our next album in a live audience setting.
And since we’ve been holding down a monthly residence there at Howe’s Bayou for well over a year now, it seemed like the best place to do it. As far as mental preparation, beyond our regular time spent in the (practice) shed, it’s more a matter of selecting the right tunes, considering who to feature at any one time, and being as convivial as possible.


And, I hear that you've been working with The War & Treaty? That's unrelated to ANPC, but we still wanna hear about it...
Michael Trotter and I struck up a friendship, and he asked me to arrange several songs for him, hardening back to an earlier Motown style, with strings and horns. For now I’ll say there’s more to come...

Seth Bernard - Eggtones 4 Directions + Clean Water Campaign

Seth Bernard has been on an Eggtone odyssey. Below, you can listen to a song from his latest, Eggtones 4 Directions, which is the capper to a series of Eggtones albums that included Fun, Blues, and being for Peace. These post-millennial folk odes flourish a colorful kaleidoscope that inverts and refolds and expands and observes the human experience--specifically the experience that we humans have in a world of slow-awakenings to swift calamities, calamities of ecosystems and of ethics and calamities of compassion and of spirit, providing potential answers to this social entropy such as community, collaboration, reverence and a 21st century common sense.





Each of the four Eggtone albums have had their own distinctive feel, style, energy..., but each have found unique ways to transmit the same message of an urgent need for a more soulful intuition in our regard of our environment, of public policy, and of elemental truths. Yes, they've covered a lot of ground, but always with the calming and welcoming air of a raconteur around a campfire. Directions blends in jazz, Americana and some groovy twang, with Bernard indulging melodies that are effervescent and lighthearted in their aural ambles but often bringing it back down to the brass tax with pleas and poetic spoken word.

Beyond these albums, Bernard has joined the Clean Water Campaign for Michigan: An advocacy campaign inspired into action after the crisis in Flint and the subsequent failed response, as well as the aging oil pipeline known as Line 5. Using storytelling and music, the CWC events have been hosted across the state as a means of amplifying the groundswell of public support for clean water issues, (particularly heightened in the aftermath of the decision to grant Nestle permission to increase its permitted amount of groundwater pumping). The priority is simple and clear: protection of our water...….. ….which leads us into this next event:

Bernard joins Audra Kubat, Will See, Gregory Stovetop, and O N E F R E Q at HopCat Detroit on Thurs., Aug 2.  Click here for more info...

Eddie Logix - 'Why Would You Splash Me?'

You'll find this new beat-tape by the Detroit producer/emcee online FRIDAY, July 27

Eddie Logix just unveiled a new beat tape called Why Would You Splash Me. Logix is a producer/emcee who's been honing his knack for taut composites of spacey jazz, cinematic soul and future funk over the last decade. 

While he may have made his early marks on the local scene primarily in the realms of hip-hop, he's since diversified his musical modes to meld a signature swath of ambient electronica that demonstrates an adventurous mind for arranging complex rhythmic patterns with atmospheric drones, frenetic flashes of melody, and propulsive bass. 

Two videos for songs off Splash dropped online--created by Evan Zott

Logix is making his case as a potential future soundtrack composer, as "Cold Sweat" could easily fit as a b-side to a Blade Runner sequence. But "Large Freeze" is in a whole other zone, cultivating a pulsing bass and an urgent kind of beat that blends trance-like dance with a hi-hat crashing march, recalling a kind of Shigeto-esque vibe. Elsewhere, he's not afraid to get a bit weird, noisy or disjointed with "Fish Faces," and later he's bringing in some swooning pianos and chimes over one of the slickest beats of the bunch with "Appetite." He employs found sounds and spoken-word samples throughout, most strikingly on the closer, "Young Birds From a Truck." And while his voice becomes garbled, one word cuts through to the top, for me... "drum..." The drum is incessant; the perpetual flow of the spirit, the heartbeat, the pulse, the progression... The final track fades away into an ellipses, and we're left to wait for Logix' next 24 tracks...

Eddie Logix Music

Height Keech "Zen On Ten" -ft Mister (VIDEO)

.



Computer Rocker is the latest album from Baltimore rapper Height Keech, featuring this stellar/gnarly single with Detroit-based emcee Mister. Keech oversees his own label, Cold Rhyme Records, which I highly suggest checking out. These two have distinctive voices that you might not otherwise expect to fuse together so fluently, but something about Mister's baritone growl goes nicely with Keech's higher register drawl. This video was, obviously, produced while they were on tour--showcasing some ingenuity by framing and lighting the otherwise mundane ambiance of a Super 8 Motel room.

Dan (Height) Keech and Bryan (Mister) Lackner have been touring pretty regularly together throughout the year, much of which was discussed in a recent episode of a podcast that's produced by Chad Stocker of the High Strung. I mean, this is probably a good time to remind any of my readers that I also have a podcast on Soundcloud, where I sit down with musicians and pick their brains...If you like the audio-version of my interview style, consider following Chad and I on soundcloud.



For more info, follow Cold Rhyme Records. 

Shady Groves: And the future of Quiet Wolf, Quells, and Underflow Records

Shady Groves is giving us an album before they go on hiatus. The Detroit-area dream-pop five-piece are still going to be making music in the year ahead, but with one of its key contributors moving away to Scotland soon, it's uncertain when they'll each be able to get back into a studio together. Nevertheless, their second album, Dreamboat, is coming out soon, and "Quiet Wolf" is the lead single...



Shady Groves manifested in 2015, the collaboration of songwriters Adam Fitzgerald, Dylan Caron and Jeff Yateman. Colt Caron (piano), Sage Denam (drums) and Jamie Dulin (bass) would eventually join, filling things out after Yateman left the band in late 2016. They found a slick, smooth electro-pop sound that was keen on rich tones, propulsive arrangements and a hushed kind of crooning vocal melody. I always felt like they found this serene musical field where they could fuse something melodramatic the Smiths, contemplative like the Shins, post-chill-wave vibe-outs like Wild Nothing and an adventurous sense for reconstructing the possibilities of pop, like Tennis.

Fitzgerald is heading to Edinburgh to continue teaching and pursue another dream of becoming a published author. Dylan Caron, meanwhile, is going to launch a solo career under the moniker Quiet Wolf. Yateman, meanwhile, is better known as Hazeman, Jemmi Hazeman, that is, the musical leader of the Honey Riders. While he's overseas, Fitzgerald is going to continue releasing music with his own solo project, Quells, while the members of Shady Groves keep in creative partnership with their new label Underflow Records.



Both of these two new tracks appeared on Underflow's new soundcloud this week, click here. 

Crash Detroit

July 20-22 at various locations

It's a pity how much music is relegated to various backgrounds. It's white noise for study-work, it's amorphous muzak for department stores, or it's chill-wave ambiance at house parties to avoid awkward silence. But there will be no awkward silence this weekend in Detroit...

...Crash Detroit is a refreshing remedy to the troubling trend of an audience-nonchalance that can sometimes be observed in clubs where the crowd opts to chat and drink at the bar instead of participate or engage with the live music happening on a stage. You know "crash bands" even if you don't know their name, because you'll often see them (like, say, The Detroit Party Marching Band), manifesting as a flash-mob-style music parade of 20 players bandying brass and bass drums, voluminously spicing up (or splicing through) another event, locale, or otherwise unrelated (and unaware) gathering.

This three-day festival will include live rogue marching bands from across the country at various locations, Lincoln Street Art Park, the Marble Bar, and the Dequindre Cut Freight Yard. The Detroit Party Marching Band (pictured above) launched this free annual music event launched in 2014. Several unamplified (and ultra exuberant) ensembles will perform multiple sets of brass-heavy music. But there will also be kids craft tables, build-your-own-instrument workshops, an "instrument petting zoo" facilitated by Charity Music, and lots of food and beverages from local businesses.

On Friday night, bands will "crash" through Detroit by roaming the city and bringing pleasant surprises of boisterous music to unaware audiences at local bars, restaurants and public spaces. The idea is to make the music an impromptu, drop-everything sort of celebration. Let the music take over!!

The Detroit Party Marching Band will headline day-long performances and musical exhibitions on Saturday at Lincoln Street Art Park; the party keeps going that same night, when Crash Detroit transitions into the Marble Bar at 9pm. Then, on Sunday, Crash coordinates with the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy to roll through the Dequindre Cut Freight Yard in Eastern Market.

Proceeds for the event will benefit Youth Crash Corps initiative. Youth Crash Corps provides music education to kids in Detroit who do not have access to music programs at their school. Certified music educator Nichole Hartrick helps students learn how to perform and read music, providing them free access to a band instrument. The YCC classes culminate with a performance during the Crash music festival!

“We know that students who don’t have access to a quality music education are missing out on the benefits of learning to play an instrument," Hartrick said. "Students who study music perform better in their core classes and on standardized tests, and we’re excited to be able to provide this opportunity for students in Detroit.”

Going back to allowing yourself to fully engage with music, it makes Crash an excellent time to consider how crucial music can be to the cultural and intellectual development of young students. So if you happen to have any used instrument(s) that you'd like to donate, Crash will be collecting them for next year's YCC, with a drop-off area at the information booth on Saturday (2-8pm).

The featured lineup of bands includes:
Detroit Party Marching Band
Hungry March Band
Bitch
Thunder!
Gabriel Brass Band,
Filthy FemCorps
The Drumadics
Chaotic Noise Marching Corps
Big Blitz
Jefferson Street Parade Band
Youth Crash Corps
and The Party Band

FIND OUT MORE VIA FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/crashdetroit/


Visit www.crashdetroit.org or the Facebook event for the full schedule of performances.