Kristi Kates

Modern Rock Kristi Kates How to Have a Modern Rockin’ Halloween
With Halloween right around the corner, music fans as well as “regular” folk are pondering just what to be for this year’s festivities. It’s Modern Rock to the rescue - how can you lose with any of the great looks put forth by this year’s colorful crop of performers? The frontrunner, of course, is Lady Gaga - choose any one of her bordering-on-insane combos (bubbles, orbits, or, uh, meat, anyone?) and pop fans will have no problem knowing who you are. But popular rockin’ costumes this year can also be had by approximating the looks of Kanye West (just think shutter shades), Justin Bieber (you’ll need a blow-dried wig), Devo (one word: flowerpot), the modern-punk sensibilities of Green Day, or the country-pop-glam of Carrie Underwood. And, hey, if you can sing like any of ‘em, all the better...

Dining Kristi Kates Do-it-yourself is on the Menu at Murray’s
By Kristi Kates
Doing things themselves is one of the main ways that the owners of Murray’s Bar and Grill in East Jordan keep their restaurant unique.
“Murray’s uses only the freshest ingredients and many Michigan-made products,” Murray’s co-founder Emily Welsh says. “We slice all of our own meats and cheeses, cook our own ribs, and pull our own pork. We make our salsas, dips and sauces from scratch. And Murray’s buys fresh Angus beef, local fish and local fruits and vegetables when in season.”
Founded in 2003, the restaurant/bar was part of the fulfillment of an “Up North” goal, and a way for Murray’s other co-founder, Welsh’s husband Owen, to recover from a serious illness.

Features Kristi Kates Picking the Perfect Pumpkin
By Kristi Kates
Are you getting ready to pick out this year’s Halloween pumpkin?
Perhaps you can make that experience a little more interesting than
your basic stop at the grocery store.

Music Kristi Kates Trapt Without Apology: Live in TC
By Kristi Kates
“The name ‘Trapt’ came from feeling like you’re trapped by authority
figures,” Trapt bassist Peter Charell explains, “and kind of morphed
into being trapped by personal issues as well.”

Music Kristi Kates Sevendust Searches for its Soul
By Kristi Kates
Beautiful fall colors, a short drive - and some impressively aggressive rock music - are all great reasons to head up to Sault Ste. Marie for the evening on October 19. Especially if you’re a fan of Georgia-based band Sevendust.
Just don’t try to pigeonhole them - the band themselves aren’t even sure where to place their sound within the alt-rock genre, according to Sevendust guitarist John Connolly.
“I don’t know - I’ve been trying to figure that out,” he said in a recent interview, “people, for five minutes, called us progressive, and then it was nu-metal. Then, all of a sudden, we were playing alternative metal. We are some kind of heavy, and some kind of rock, and some kind of metal.”

Music Kristi Kates Incognito - Transatlantic RPM - Shanachie
Best described as a modern day Earth, Wind and Fire with a dab of Stevie Wonder thrown in, Incognito’s acid funk/jazz sound has set the groundwork for plenty of imitators. But the legends know who to collaborate with, hence the appearances of Chaka Khan, Leon Ware, and Al McKay (of the aforementioned Earth, Wind and Fire) on this set. These tunes tool along with plenty of momentum, propelled by horns and strings while the drums keep the groovin’ beats on track; “Lowdown” throws Mario Biondi into the mix with Chaka Khan, “Put a Little Lovin’ in Your Heart” is five minutes of moving-your-feet music, and closer “Tell Me What to Do” wraps these jams up with soul.

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Moogfest to Welcome Massive Attack, MGMT
The inaugural Moogfest, an event put together to celebrate the life and accomplishments of the legendary Robert Moog (the inventor of the influential Moog synthesizer), is set to take place October 29th through the 31st in Asheville, North Carolina this year. Mr. Moog was well-known for crafting a line of the synth instruments that have been used by everyone from Kraftwerk and Daft Punk to Radiohead. Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation, MGMT, Hot Chip, and Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi are among the acts that will pay homage to Moog at the event, which will include live performances as well as workshops, panels, art exhibitions, and film screenings; go to moogfest.com for more info...

Features Kristi Kates Jewelry begins at Bead Hollow
By Kristi Kates
Buffy Monahan ‘drew a bead’ on a new profession after getting yelled
at one too many times serving legal papers on people in Minneapolis.
“Before we decided to do the bead store, my husband and I owned and
operated our own legal processing company in Minneapolis,” she says.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision to make considering the line of
business we were in - it’s not fun serving people papers.

Music Kristi Kates Alan Gerber Brings on the Boogie
By Kristi Kates
He’s been called eccentric and professional; boogie-woogie and groovy;
and has played at jazz, rock, and blues venues across the continent.
Alan Gerber - who you might recognize from his work with the late ’60s
band Rhinoceros (Gerber wrote songs, sang, and played keyboards for
the group) - is difficult to define, but also difficult to forget,
especially once you’ve seen one of his energetic and distinctive live
performances; and Northern Michigan audiences will get a chance to see
this transformative performer at concerts in Petoskey and Traverse
City this weekend.

Music Kristi Kates John Digweed - Structures - Essential Music
Digweed mixes himself into his latest three-disc collection edition,
right alongside plenty of equally accomplished dancefloor and
electronica talents like King Unique, Nick Muir, Dimitri Nakov, Luis
Junior, and Christian Smith, among others. Digweed’s skills at flow
and beat can’t be - well, beat - and the spins that he crafts linking
up these artists are both a great showcase for their music, and a
platform for Digweed’s own abilities. It’s difficult to pick a
highlight here as far as singles, but overall, this particular set is
marking standards for the DJ patterns of the future.

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Kings of Leon Return with... Sundown
Kings of Leon have wrapped work on their fifth album, which was
recorded in New York at Avatar Studios. The band’s Nathan Followill,
in a recent Billboard interview, said that the new songs, which the
band has been playing on tour this summer, have been going over
“really well, a lot better than we thought they would.” Fans have even
been seen singing along to the new tunes, which can be heard here and
there on YouTube. The album itself, titled Come Around Sundown, is due
in stores on October 19...

Music Kristi Kates Jason Mraz Is “Yours” at Interlochen
By Kristi Kates
2010, so far, has been quite the year for singer-songwriter Jason Mraz.
Not only has his most recent album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal
Things, gone platinum, but he also snagged two Grammy nods for songs
from that same set.

Music Kristi Kates Pete Yorn - Pete Yorn - Vagrant
Singer-songwriter Yorn, a veteran of the indie-folk scene, threw this
set together with far less foresight and planning than one would think
for a collection of songs of this quality. The album was actually
recorded in five days by Yorn along with The Pixies’ Frank Black in an
impromptu studio, eleven songs in all with minimal production and a
whole lot of Yorn-style musical introspection. The album’s first
single, “Sans Fear,” finds Yorn pondering the end of a relationship,
but he recovers fairly quickly (at least album-side) once the
follow-up tunes arrive, from “Rock Crowd” (an ode to his fans), the
witty “Velcro Shoes,” and the singledom anthem “Future Life.”

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Belle and Sebastian Ready for U.S. Tour
They haven’t toured in over four years, but Belle and Sebastian have finally decided that it’s time to pack those suitcases again - and they’re heading for America. Set to launch on September 30, the band’s trek will take them through Brooklyn NY (9/30), L.A. (10/3), Chicago (10/11), and Toronto (10/12) among other stops; the Brooklyn show will also feature performances from fellow Scots Teenage Fanclub

Dining Kristi Kates foodie fun at Fustini’s
By Kristi Kates
Their Traverse City shop has already snagged rave reviews, some from
this very publication. But lately, it’s the Petoskey incarnation of
Fustini’s Oils and Vinegars that’s the talk of the foodie part of
P-town.