April 18, 2025

The Bootstrap Boys' New Beginnings

Nab their new EP
By Lynda Wheatley | Jan. 15, 2022

Hot on the heels of a new year and — we pray — the end of this getting-very-old pandemic, The Bootstrap Boys have hit exactly the right note with their latest release, New Beginnings. We’ve been fans of this Grand Rapids quartet since they sauntered into the woods to play a show at the Michigan Legacy Art Park in the summer of 2019. Their boot-stomping Americana-bluegrass not only had the forest’s aspens quaking; kids, grandparents, and millennials alike couldn’t help but shake their aspens, too. New Beginnings proves that two years of world chaos and limited touring has done little to slow these boys down. Equal parts chest-thumping and heart-aching, New Beginning’s six-track lineup runs the country-rock gamut, making love, loss, and hard truths sound so good you’ll think they’re something to aim for — if only so you can sing and dance along. Find it at www.thebootstrapboys.com, where you can treat yourself to the closest the North can get to a live BB performance: Big Jake Bootstrap’s online streaming show, Country Music Hour, 6pm Fridays.

Trending

Michigan’s Marijuana Tax at Work

Cannabis has become a big business in northern Michigan, and local governments are putting tax dollars earned from dispensar… Read More >>

California Sober: Why People Are Switching from Alcohol to Weed

They call it “California sober.” Generally speaking, this term applies to folks who use marijuana but abstain f… Read More >>

The Legacy of Student Activism

“It’s a physical letter to your representative,” Alex Tank says when asked to define the word “prote… Read More >>

A Guide for the Pot Newbie

Michigan is now home to over 1,000 cannabis dispensaries and tenfold more cannabis products. As a newbie, navigating the evo… Read More >>