Donna the Buffalo Headlining Buttermilk

Modern Rock

By Kristi Kates | March 31, 2018

The 2018 Buttermilk Jamboree is just a couple of months away — good news for roots music fans who especially enjoy this family friendly music festival that’s held every spring just south of Grand Rapids. Headlining Buttermilk this year is Donna the Buffalo, the reggae/zydeco/bluegrass/folk mix ensemble, which will be joined on the bill by an impressive lineup of Michigan musical acts including Joshua Davis, Mustard Plug, May Erlewine, Luke Winslow King, and more. The fest will also feature an appearance from Latin folk-rockers Radio Free Honduras, who will be making the short trek up from Chicago …

Pop singer Meghan Trainor is ramping up to release her third full-length album, which she worked on with members of her family. Trainor reportedly had her family singing background vocals on every song on the new album, calling them “the best choir”; her first single from the upcoming set is “No Excuses,” a women-first anthem that Trainor called her modern version of the Aretha Franklin classic “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” Accompanying “No Excuses” is a pastel-shaded music video featuring several different Trainors (often all on screen at the same time) in a range of quirky fashionista ensembles. No 2018 tour dates have been announced yet …

Will Bates has been tapped to compose the original score for a new upcoming original series on Starz. Bates will contribute the music for the show Sweetbitter, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by author Stephanie Danler. The show follows actress Ella Purnell’s character as she tries to navigate New York City’s cutthroat and chaotic restaurant world. The first episode of Sweetbitter will premiere on May 6 on Starz …

Heading west this summer? If you’ll be anywhere near Pasadena, California, in late June, make sure you snag yourself a ticket to the second Arroyo Seco Weekend, ’cause it’s going to be a big one. At the top of the bill is Detroit rocker Jack White, along with his fellow co-headliners Kings of Leon, Alanis Morrissette, and Neil Young. Also on the roster are Belle and Sebastian, Los Lobos, Kamasi Washington, ’80s standouts The Bangles and The Pretenders, and Nashville singer-songwriter Margo Price. The 2018 Arroyo Seco Weekend will happen June 23–24 at Brookside, near the Rose Bowl … 

LINK OF THE WEEK
Just an eight-hour drive from northern Michigan is the setting for this year’s 2018 Forecastle Festival — Louisville, Kentucky — and you can snag tickets now for this summer’s July 13–15 event, which will include performances from Arcade Fire, Jenny Lewis, Vance Joy, The War on Drugs, and many more. Get all the info and those tix (going fast!) at forecastlefest.com …

THE BUZZ
Post Malone has just announced its summer tour dates for this year, and among them is a stop in Detroit on May 29 at the Freedom Hill Amphitheater …

Jackson, Michigan, alternative rock band LVRS is making a big buzz in Grand Rapids and beyond with its edgy-pop sound, so catch the band while you can …

Musicians Angela Gail Mattson and Jeffrey Jacob Mendel have teamed up to make the duo In the Valley Below, an indie-pop outfit also based in Grand Rapids …

And one more piece of Grand Rapids news this week: Popular music venue The Intersection is opening a brand new concert space called Elevation, along with a new VIP room, The Mint … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.