Kristi Kates | Author

Timberlake is Ready for Some Football

Nov. 11, 2017

Justin Timberlake will again headline the 2018 Super Bowl halftime show. Fans found out during a hilarious video featuring JT and his pal Jimmy Fallon; JT tweeted the video to his nearly 63 million followers last Sunday. Super Bowl LII, which will air on NB… Read More >>

The Storytellers

Nov. 11, 2017

Long before there were books, plays, television, or movies, there was storytelling — stories shared while traveling, tales told around campfires, legends and myths passed from generation to generation.
        
Though the electronic … Read More >>

The Barr Brothers – Queens of the Breakers – Secret City

Nov. 4, 2017

The Barrs dig into a deep well of the folk-rock that originates across their Canadian homeland. This third collection from the trio (brothers Brad and Andrew Barr on guitar and drums, plus harpist Sarah Page) even takes tentative toe dips outside of the ban's usual genre, adding an appealin… Read More >>

A Home for the Brave

Nov. 4, 2017

“Brave hearts” is an apt term for those who have served in the military. Well trained and strong of body and mind when they embark on their military journeys, many servicemen and women return physically injured and emotionally and mentally struggling.
   &nb… Read More >>

Reviving History

Nov. 4, 2017

The American Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865. A year after its end, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) formed to helped link and advocate for veterans of the Union army, marines, navy, and cutter service (which would become the U.S. Coast Guard). The GAR dissolved in 1956, af… Read More >>

Kelly Clarkson – Meaning of Life – Atlantic

Oct. 28, 2017

Clarkson is already on her eighth album, an impressive accomplishment considering she only won American Idol in 2002. Her latest effort gathers together an equally notable team of industry songwriters and producers, including Grammy fave Greg Kurstin, to generate another soul-pop c… Read More >>

Automatically a R.E.M. Special for the People

Oct. 28, 2017

R.E.M. will release a 25th anniversary edition of its smash 1992 album Automatic for the People next month, with four discs included in all. The special edition, in addition to the main multi-platinum album itself, will feature a Blu-ray with two different mixes of… Read More >>

Michigan Native Jeff Daniels to play City Opera House with son Ben Daniels

Oct. 28, 2017

Actor, musician, storyteller, voice-over artist, playwright, theater founder, Broadway performer, Emmy Award winner.
        
Shall we go on? Jeff Daniels is a man of many hats, not the least of which is his musicianship. We chatted with … Read More >>

The Most Important Meal of the Day, Reinvented: Traverse City's Sugar 2 Salt

Oct. 28, 2017

 

Sugar 2 Salt co-owner Stephanie Wiitala knows the value of teamwork. Not only between her and her partner and co-chef/co-owner Jonathan Dayton but also with the entire crew at her and Dayton’s new breakfast and brunch spot at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons in Tra… Read More >>

Modern Masters of Ye Olde Arts

Oct. 28, 2017

It’s a given that work, like life, was far more difficult in the past than it is today. With a long list of modern equipment and refined tools to help us complete tasks and create products, it’s a wonder that some of our age-old arts have survived. Here in northern Michigan, how… Read More >>

Espresso Bay’s Golden Espresso

Oct. 28, 2017

Dan Guy has a small problem. So much so, that he was actually roasting beans during this interview.
        
“I have a coffee obsession,” the Espresso Bay owner said with a chuckle.
      &… Read More >>

Lana Del Rey Leaves L.A. for the Road

Oct. 21, 2017

Lana Del Rey is making the rounds to continue support for her newest album, Lust for Life, and she’ll be embarking on a 24-date tour beginning in January of next year to pump up the volume on the set. The trek will kick off on Jan. 5 at the Target Center in M… Read More >>

Behind the Scenes of a Nightmare

Oct. 21, 2017

Monsters lunge out of the corners, dead-eyed faces stare out from the darkened walls, undead pirates brandish their cutlasses … and thrilled guests make their way screaming and laughing through it all.
        
This is the Nightmar… Read More >>

What to Wear, Who to Be

Oct. 21, 2017

There’s only about a week to go until Halloween. Have you picked out your costume yet? Or are you going to wait until the last minute, wear your everyday clothes, and say you’re an undercover cop? Clever, slightly. But fun? No way. Lucky for you, there’s a slew of costume … Read More >>

The Retro-now Sound of Postmodern Jukebox Coming to Traverse City

Oct. 21, 2017

Trends are said to always happen in cycles, with everything old becoming new again. Few manage to capitalize on that phenomenon better than the music collective Postmodern Jukebox — aka PMJ — an ever-rotating group of performers that recasts hit songs of recent decades as throwb… Read More >>

Vincent October – Monster A Go-Go: Transylvania Mania – Goblinhaus Records

Oct. 21, 2017

Who knew there was actually a music genre called ghoul-rock? Halloween aficionados, that’s who. Vincent October — a hybrid of Vincent Price and garage-punkers The Misfits — helms this creepy collection of cacophony, from the spine-chilling complex instrumentals “Haun… Read More >>

Tastemaker: Candy Corn

Oct. 21, 2017

Care for a small Snickers in your trick or treat bag? How about a miniature Mounds bar? A tiny Twix?       
      
If you’re a Michiganian, chances are you’d set all of these aside for a bag of our state&rs… Read More >>

Shut Up, Dance, and Walk the Moon

Oct. 14, 2017

You’ll probably best recognize ’80s-inspired Cincinnati synth band Walk the Moon from its massive hit “Shut Up and Dance,” but that isn’t the only move this quartet has. It’s returning with a brand new album, What If Nothing, on … Read More >>

Beck – Colors – Capitol

Oct. 14, 2017

He’s been working on this album since 2013, and the wait was well worth it. The latest from Beck still offers complexity, but it’s sharper, more to-the-point ’60s-inspired pop-rock that’s equal parts psychedelia and Greenwich Village folk. “Dear Life” fea… Read More >>

Traverse City’s M.O. Hair and Beauty Lounge is a Hair Ahead

Oct. 14, 2017

 

According to Green Circle Salons, a recycling and sustainability program for the beauty industry, North American hair salons reportedly toss out 63,180 pounds of hair clippings, 42,122 pounds of hair color, 109,512 pounds of foil and hair-color tubes and 206,392 pounds of was… Read More >>