Kristi Kates

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Yo Gabba Gabba! Rockin’ North America
The rock-meets-education Nick Jr. TV show Yo Gabba Gabba!, which has featured musical performances from the likes of Weezer, The Aquabats, and The Shins, and Mos Def, Biz Markie, and Jack Black, is taking its live show across the U.S. and now into the fall. Subtitled There’s a Party in My City! the show has already snagged a sold-out debut performance at the White House and a highly-rated album, and will also be doing its part for the cause while on the road, with one dollar from every ticket sold going to the local city’s Habitat for Humanity fund. Dates on the Yo Gabba Gabba! There’s a Party... tour will include stops in Toronto (9/4), Cleveland (10/6), Detroit (10/8), Chicago (10/9), Huntsville AL (10/20), Atlanta (10/23), Los Angeles (11/26), and Houston (12/10), among other stops...

Dining Kristi Kates Cookie Magic: Jolly’s opens in Petoskey
By Kristi Kates
“When you say the word ‘Petoskey’ downstate, it’s like throwing magic
in the air,” says Jolly’s Cookies and Cafe founder and owner Keith
Jolly. “People always get that dreamy look on their face. What’s not
to love about the Petoskey area? The scenery is spectacular, the local
people are a delight - it’s all here.”

Music Kristi Kates Sanborn’s Everything arrives at Interlochen
By Kristi Kates
Saxophonist David Sanborn’s studio and live performance resume reads like a Who’s Who of jazz, R&B, and pop/rock music.
He’s performed in-session and/or live with -- among others -- James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Cat Stevens, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Carly Simon, The Eagles, Elton John, and, perhaps most recognizably, David Bowie, for which Sanborn contributed the distinctive sax solo on Bowie’s 1975 classic hit “Young Americans.”

Music Kristi Kates Various Artists - Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: The Songs of John Prine - Oh Boy Records
Progressive bluegrass/folk artist John Prine has been called one of the most influential songwriters of his time, and his poetic lyrics and tunes been compared to everyone from Neil Young to Bob Dylan. Today, a who’s who of current indie-rockers pay tribute to Prine’s songwriting, from The Avett Brothers’ version of “Spanish Pipedream” to My Morning Jacket’s attempt at “All the Best”; Conor Oberst’s (Bright Eyes) take on “Wedding Day in Funeralville” to Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon’s version of “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow).”

Art Kristi Kates Welcome to SOBO: Northern Michigan’s hip new destination
By Kristi Kates
Barrios, quarters, districts, arrondissements, neighborhoods. No
matter what you call them or what geographic location you’re in,
chances are if you’re reading this, you’re part of a neighborhood in
your own community.

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Legendary Grand Ole Opry Aims at Return
Nashville’s landmark Grand Ole Opry venue, which has hosted performances by everyone from Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, and The Byrds to Josh Turner and Carrie Underwood, is in the midst of $17 million worth of renovations to repair the damage the Opry sustained during May’s Tennessee flood. The Opry was partially submerged under two feet of water, which destroyed the stage, store, dressing rooms, and most of the wiring throughout the building. Now, it’s set to reopen on October 1, so keep your eyes out for a revitalized show schedule...

Features Kristi Kates Walloon‘s New Balloons: Aeronaut Lesley Pritchard offersan uplifting new business
By Kristi Kates
“I became involved with ballooning in 1968 when my father, Frank,
formed a balloon club in the Flint area with nine other men,” aeronaut
Lesley Pritchard explains, “it was a real quirk, as none of them had
ever even seen a balloon - yet they each contributed $500 and bought
one. Only my father and one other man learned to fly, so I had many
opportunities and I never passed them up.”

Music Kristi Kates Red Wanting Blue:Has Designs on Union Street
By Kristi Kates
“We have performed in Traverse City only once before, and fell in love
with the town,” Red Wanting Blue singer/guitarist Scott Terry says.
“This time it won’t be in the middle of winter, which we are excited
about.”

Music Kristi Kates Sheryl Crow - 100 Miles from Memphis - A&M
Crow grew up 100 miles from Memphis, in a small farming town, and
returns on this set to the music she used to listen to then. Echoes of
those influences, from the Stax records to Stevie Wonder and Al Green,
are heard throughout these songs, with their funky/bluesy rhythms and
AM-radio retro arrangements. “Summer Day” is a well-honed pop-rock
number, while “Stop” shows off her vocal range. Crow’s friends show
up, too - old pal Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) stops by to add
distinctive guitar riffs to “Eye to Eye,” Justin Timberlake drops
backing vocals into Crow’s cover of D’Arby’s “Sign Your Name,” and
Citizen Cope duets with Crow on his shoegazy-blues tune “Sideways.”

Modern Rock Kristi Kates White Stripes’ Documentarian to Tribute Nick Drake
You may know his work from his duo of recent documentaries, namely travel/environmental doc 180° South and music film The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights. Now, filmmaker Emmett Malloy has gotten the approval of Nick Drake’s sister, Gabrielle, to pursue an as-yet-untitled documentary on late Brit folk-rocker Nick Drake. Malloy will reportedly also be working on an album and a book to accompany the film project, on which he’s likely to collaborate with (so far) Jack Johnson, Andrew Bird, and Matt Costa, among others...

Music Kristi Kates Dunegrass gets Back to its Roots: The best of Michigan’s music crop blossoms in Empire
By Kristi Kates
Founded in 1992, when it was “more of a private party,” according to
current festival overseer/producer Ryan Lake, the Dunegrass Music
Festival’s goal was simply to promote local music and help people
enjoy it.

Music Kristi Kates Lyle Lovett: Livin‘ Large
By Kristi Kates
Four Grammy Awards, one Large Band, 40 cities on the tour schedule, and one acclaimed all-American performer. The components that make up Texan Lyle Lovett’s success are varied and many, but for the singer-songwriter himself, it all breaks down to the songs.
“My songs can be just a stray thought that’s a reaction to something going on, or a reflection of what’s going on in my own life,” Lovett says. “My songs are about people, about trying to figure out what every day is like, what every day means.”
But writing those songs is most definitely more than just a job, Lovett explains.
“It’s not something that ever seems like work, or that I have to do,” he says.

Music Kristi Kates Going ’Round with Graham A. Parsons
By Kristi Kates
Self-taught Upper Peninsula singer-songwriter Graham A. Parsons got an
early - and heavy-metal - introduction to music while he was still in
his teens.

Music Kristi Kates Herbie Hancock - The Imagine Project - HH Records
Hancock took “collaboration” to the nth degree on this, his latest album. No less than 18 fellow musicians assist Hancock in his goal of sharing themes of global peace and universal responsibility on these songs, which blend world music with Hancock’s own distinctive electronic sounds. Highlights include an “Imagine” suite on which Hancock works with Seal, Jeff Beck and India Arie; “The Times, They Are A-Changin’” with Irish talents The Chieftains; and a left-field assist from Dave Matthews on Hancock’s version of “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Re-energized STP to play Grand Rapids, Detroit
Stone Temple Pilots are snagging special guests Cage the Elephant and are hitting the road for a big North American tour, which is set to begin August 10 in Denver at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The band’s new album, simply dubbed Stone Temple Pilots - their first in over 10 years - is the subject of all this promotion, and will see the majority of its songs performed live in cities like Milwaukee (8/16), Grand Rapids MI (8/19 at the Deltaplex), Chicago (8/20), Detroit (8/26 at the Fox Theater), Pittsburgh PA (8/28), and Toronto (8/29)...