Kristi Kates | Author

FourScore

June 3, 2017

Helium – The Magic City Plus No Guitars - Matador
This project of singer-songwriter Mary Timony, who is by turns fierce or Joni-Mitchell-esque, depending on the song, is quite a departure from her previous work with Wild Flag. There’s more focus on… Read More >>

Aerials Get Aquatic

June 3, 2017

You’ve probably heard of a half-dozen vintage automobile rallies, motorcycle meetups, or airplane fly-ins around Michigan. But if your passion is seaplanes, there's only one place to go: Gaylord, for the annual Otsego Lake Fly-In.

Randy Rhodes is one of the founders of the eve… Read More >>

Chicago Gets Alternative with Riot Fest

June 3, 2017

Chicago’s Riot Fest just announced their 2017 lineup, with an eclectic roster of artists sure to bring in something for nearly every variety of alternative music fan. Headlining night one is Nine Inch Nails, with Queens of the Stone Age taking over the headlining spot on night two; ni… Read More >>

Hipsters Be Damned

May 27, 2017

At its most basic definition, a lumberjack is “a person who fells trees, cuts them into logs, and/or transports them to a sawmill.”
        
Not only were lumberjacks a critical important part of America’s growth from th… Read More >>

Robin Lee Berry’s Introspective Folk Experience

May 27, 2017

Robin Lee Berry is an in-demand collaborative musician around the local Boyne City/Petoskey/Traverse City music scenes. So you’ve most likely heard about her in relation to a wide variety of bands, other peoples’ musical projects, and the concert venue she co-runs with her … Read More >>

FourScore

May 27, 2017

Craig Finn – We All Want the Same Things - Partisan
It’s always tough to develop a sound when you’re away from your main band, but Finn’s side venture from his band, The Hold Steady, works. He’s approaching things from a minimal, … Read More >>

Lucky Bean’s Love Potion #9

May 27, 2017

With a claim of “the fastest Wi-Fi in town” (a real boon on tiny Mackinac Island), plenty of cool tunes streaming over the cafe speakers, and lots of local artwork to peruse, Lucky Bean Coffeehouse is a favorite hangout spot for both islanders and visitors.
  &nb… Read More >>

Ansel Adams, A Capella & Bruce Hornsby

May 27, 2017

Founded in the late 1800s by a group of Methodists looking to create an idyllic Up North retreat for their religious gatherings, Bay View is perhaps best known today for two things: Its picturesque Victorian cottages, and an unflagging embrace of the performing arts. As you’d expect f… Read More >>

Music Fans Mourn Loss of Chris Cornell

May 27, 2017

The music scene was shocked last week at the loss of one of Seattle’s best-known and most accomplished musical exports, Soundgarden/Audioslave singer and solo artist, Chris Cornell, who died in his hotel room at Detroit’s MGM Grand after performing a concert with Soundgarden at … Read More >>

Rockin’ and Rollin’ in Harbor Springs

May 27, 2017

It started as a rollicking secret speakeasy venue called Club Manitou, founded by a guy named Abe. Its second life was as a teen gathering spot called Club Ponytail, where kids would pour in to hear big-name pop acts of the ’60s. Today, it’s nothing but memories of a very differ… Read More >>

Mackinac Island Mainstays

May 20, 2017

If you’ve ever been to Mackinac Island and marveled at the many, many different varieties of fudge (the island’s signature export), then you should definitely meet the people. The residents of the island — some who live there full-time, some who only stay through the summe… Read More >>

Great Lakes Buffalo Wing Potato Chips

May 20, 2017

Call it chip nirvana: Great Lakes Potato Co.’s Buffalo Wing Potato Chips — sliced thick with the skin left on, drenched in 100 percent non-GMO sunflower or canola oil, seasoned with Frank’s RedHot® Cayenne Pepper Sauce, and finished with sea salt — are a tangy-he… Read More >>

Memorial Weekend Makes Moves in Detroit

May 20, 2017

Every year on Memorial Day weekend, the list of possible holiday activities and concerts you can choose from is longer than one of Seth Troxler’s marathon DJ sets. But true electronic dance music fans know that the only place to go on this long weekend is Detroit’s Movement Fest… Read More >>

Detroit Band Adult. Welcome House Guests

May 20, 2017

Has it really been 20 years since Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller, the married Detroit electronic dance-punk duo known as Adult., started playing music together? It has, and in that time the pair have recorded six albums, 15 EPs, and founded their Ersatz Records label. Now they’ve … Read More >>

Mackinac Island’s New Doctor on Duty

May 20, 2017

If you’re picturing an exciting, fast-paced hospital drama akin to what you might see on medical shows like Chicago Med or Code Black … well, you won’t find much of that at the Mackinac Island Medical Center. And Dr. Gregory Hessler, the island’s n… Read More >>

A Really Big Show Arriving in Boyne City. Literally.

May 20, 2017

Ed Sullivan is perhaps most famously known in music circles for having introduced The Beatles to American television audiences in 1964 with the simple phrase “Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!”
        
He also called Elvis P… Read More >>

Preserving the Porch

May 20, 2017

The Grand Hotel’s porch, said to be the world’s largest, stretches 660 feet. Five U.S. presidents have taken a stroll on it. Hundreds of thousands of feet walk on it every summer. Its decorative flower boxes hold over 2,500 geraniums in seven tons of potting soil.
 &n… Read More >>

Two Mackinac Island must-dos for June

May 20, 2017

TITANIC AT THE GRAND  
The Mackinac Straits might be a world away from the icy North Atlantic waters that swallowed up the famed “unsinkable” passenger liner RMS Titanic in 1912, but distance doesn’t make the Grand Hotel’s annual Titanic a… Read More >>

FourScore

May 20, 2017

Ulrich Schnauss – No Further Ahead Than Today – Pias America
Schnauss’ first album since joining the band Tangerine Dream seems to have been affected by his work with the pioneering outfit, with more broad — dare we say, friendly &mdas… Read More >>

FourScore

May 13, 2017

 

Blondie – Pollinator - BMG
Sonically ageless and endlessly cool, ’70s/’80s outfit Blondie returns with a new album as if it never left its original era, yet somehow manages to infuse these tracks with a modern sound that locks right in … Read More >>