Kristi Kates

Music Kristi Kates Country Weekly called Amos Lee and Lucinda Williams’ “Clear Blue Eyes” duet single ‘a heartbreaking piece of classic country.’
Williams has also joined Lee onstage at his solo shows.
And Lee’s latest album, Mission Bell, released in January of this year, features Williams on that same song, as well as other guest appearances from Calexico and Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam.
Williams’ new set, Blessed, hit stores this past March, and blends her Americana mix of rock, blues and country into another landmark album for the performer; recently married, she’s entering another chapter in her life both musically and personally, as well.
Both of these musicians, now on the road for a July tour, will be appearing - together - at Interlochen this month for a show that’s sure to be a standout.

Music Kristi Kates Duncan Sheik - Covers ’80s - Red General
Part karaoke extravaganza, part (one would think) stroll down an
experimental version of an ’80s memory lane for singer Sheik, this
collection veers between true-to-the-original covers and (more
intriguingly) Sheik’s own interpretations of these eighties classics.
Fortunately for the listener, Sheik chose some of the smarter ’80s tunes,
as opposed to the throwaways (of which there were many); standouts include
his takes on The Thompson Twins’ floaty “Hold Me Now,” Howard Jones’
previously synth-dark “What Is Love?”, and Tears for Fears’ Hughes-worthy
classic “Shout” heard through Sheik’s unique arrangement lens.

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Incubus will be kicking off their “Incubus HQ Live” project on July 12, the same day their latest album, If Not Now, When? is set to hit stores. The band is opening a gallery in Los Angeles where the band members will be available (to a point) for eight hours a day through how-to clinics and special performances; ech band member will have their own camera, so that fans can watch them online at incubushq.com. As if that weren’t enough live exposure, Incubus will also be touring this summer in support of the album, with a start date set for August 17 in Denver, Colorado…

Music Kristi Kates Gomez - Whatever’s on Your Mind - ATO/Red
With members that live in the UK and the U.S., Gomez convened in - where else? (huh?) - a recording studio in Virginia to work on their seventh studio set, which they produced with producer Sam Farrar (Maroon 5, Phantom Planet.) Written in large part by internet correspondence, the songs here carry through with Gomez’ trademark sound, whether it’s the acoustically-based resignation anthem “Options”; the piano-festooned title song; the uber-catchy “Place and the People”; or what is perhaps the most alt-rock track on the set, “Equalize.” It’s nothing unusual, but that’s not bad - it’s simply another set of solid new Gomez tunes.

Music Kristi Kates The Good Work Collective’s mission statement says it all about the new arts and music organization housed in a funky old building in Traverse City’s Old Town:
“From art showings, to live music, to culinary events, to meeting spaces for local non-profits and community groups, The Good Work Collective is a welcoming environment where individuals and inspiration meet. We’re not a think tank. We’re a do tank.”
Born in 2008 with a goal of being a “steward of the arts” in Northern Michigan as well as in Bozeman, Montana, Porterhouse Productions supports musicians and artists with a finesse not often seen in the more casual “Up North” environment.
Founded by Sam Porter and Abby Walton Porter as a dual-state entertainment production company, Porterhouse recently expanded its reach with The Good Work Collective, a ‘gathering space’ for everything from concerts, art displays and grass root projects to brainstorming sessions and artistic collaborations.

Modern Rock Kristi Kates Coachella and Bonnaroo may have already passed for this year, but never fear, music fans; there are plenty of musical destinations left both nationwide and overseas for the 2011 summer season.
So grab those extra funds that are burning a hole in your pocket, prep for those steamy summer temps with sunscreen and bottled water, and make your destination picks from our yearly preview picks list of this summer’s hottest festival tickets.

TEMPERATE TUNES
Summerfest, June 29-July 10, Milwaukee WI (www.summerfest.com)
If you’re going by the numbers, Wisconsin’s Summerfest is the biggest in the U.S., hosting hundreds of thousands of folks and a dozen stages. This year’s event will play host to live sets from another eclectic mix of performers from old-school (Meatloaf, Hall and Oates) to country-rock fusions (Sugarland, The Black Keys) to hip-hop n’ pop (Kid Cudi, Kanye West.) Bring: miniature American flags, Milwaukee Brewers sweatshirts, Pepto-Bismol tablets to combat the range of carnival foodstuffs.

Music Kristi Kates Most of today’s up and coming bands - with good reason - don’t like to be pigeonholed, nor do they like to be limited. Indianapolis band Max Allen Band, who will be performing in Traverse City the first week of July, are no exception.
“This band has been influenced by way too many genres and artists to list,” Max Allen explains. “We like to call what we do ‘rock fusion’ - there’s some rock, rap, Latin, funk, blues, bluegrass, baroque, R&B, electronica - if it sounds good and it moves us, we’ll play it.”
See for yourself when the band plays the Loading Dock in TC this Friday, July 1.

Music Kristi Kates “This is probably the best schedule we have been able to put together in the 17 years we have offered shows,” grins William Aten, organizer of Aten Place Concerts in Boyne Falls.
Aten - who, perhaps somewhat incongruously, also works as a mathematics consultant and data coach for the Charlevoix-Emmet ISD - runs the Aten Place Concerts shows with his wife, Maxine, and has watched as their “house concerts” have become part of a growing movement in Northern Michigan.
The Rhubarbary Farm House Concerts in Harbor Springs and the Black Cat Concert Series at the Dhaseleer Events Barn in Charlevoix are two other venues that are spearheading this growing trend - great music being showcased in low-key, homegrown venues, usually privately-owned homes or barns that have been converted into personalized and friendly local concert stages. Aten Place is no exception, and have been doing their musical thing since 1995.

Music Kristi Kates Roots on the River is the moniker that’s been given to a relatively new
music series in Manistee, at the impetus of two locals who simply wanted
to bring more music to the community.
“In 2007, Noah Joseph and I decided that with so many talented musicians
in Michigan, we wanted to support them,” organizer Erin Garcia explains.
“Recently joining the Manistee Jaycees, we thought this would be a great
community project to initiate. The community has really embraced Roots on
the River, and we are now celebrating our fifth season.”

Music Kristi Kates The Charlotte Ross Lee Concert Series at Pennsylvania Park in downtown
Petoskey was the dream of its namesake.
“She was the champion of this community event,” explains Carlin Smith,
president of the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce. “She raised the
money, booked the shows, and made all of the preparations. I look at it as
Charlotte’s legacy - a gift she left to our community.”

Music Kristi Kates Third Day - Move - Provident
Third Day’s 11th set, recorded in the band’s own studio in Georgia, features 12 tracks that blend together heavy, Southern-rock influenced instrumentals with soulful, introspective, pensive lyrics and hooks, with a focus on faith. While the songs here are very specifically focused and solid in their beliefs - some of the most inspirational being “Surrender,” “What Have You Got To Lose,” and “Don’t Give Up Hope” - the album adds yet another dimension via the band’s collaboration with The Blind Boys of Alabama on “Lift Up Your Face,” and encouraging tune that showcases both the band’s traditional rock abilities and their positive attitude.

Modern Rock Kristi Kates The seventh annual Afro-Punk fest will take place this year on August 28 and 29 in Brooklyn, and they’re bringing back the Battle for the Streets Skate and BMX Competition for the second time this year; making its debut at the event will be the Afro-Punk Bites and Beats, which will include food vendor trucks from around the world. But let’s get to the music - the lineup’s been announced, too, and will include sets from Ninjasonik, Jay Electronica, Rocky Business, Reggie Watts, and Toro Y Moi, among others, all rocking out in Brooklyn’s Commodore Barry Park…

Dining Kristi Kates  Having just passed its one-year anniversary, Sarah Moglovkin’s kitchen
store, Spice Harbor, is doing great and spicing up the culinary lives of
Harbor Springs and Petoskey residents.
Inspired by two of Moglovkin’s favorite retailers, Sur La Table and
Williams-Sonoma, Spice Harbor is like a miniature version of the kitchen
stores seen in bigger cities, with all of your cooking necessities, and
plenty of quirkly, smartly-designed kitchen accessories that aspiring
chefs probably didn’t even know they needed.

Books Kristi Kates What could Twitter possibly have to do with a 10-year-old boy who lived on Mackinac Island in the late 1800s?  Plenty, if you check out web address www.twitter.com/@boyatftmackinac, the “Boy at Fort Mackinac.” 
The Twitter account chronicles several seasons in the life of Harold Corbusier, who was the son of an American commandant at Fort Mackinac. Harold and his family lived in quarters on the west end of the fort, and he began writing his diary on his 10th birthday:
“I am 10 yrs old today. We had turkey and other good things for dinner. The ground has been covered with snow all winter.”
“Harold’s father served as an American Commandant while the Americans were at Fort Mackinac in the late 1800s, towards the end of the time that the fort was still operated by the Army,” explains Diane Dombroski, the membership and grants coordinator of Mackinac State Historic Parks.
“By 1875, the fort had become the country’s second national park after Yellowstone,” she continues, “but the federal government couldn’t maintain it so they turned it over to the state of Michigan in 1895. By that time, the soldiers were leaving the fort, as there was no longer a strategic reason to have a fort there.”
So why Twitter young Harold’s diary? Because Twitter has become a worldwide phenomenon. The online mini-diary messaging forum - via which people type messages  in a mere 140 characters or less - has exploded in its membership and “followers,” providing a new venue via which past can meet present.

Music Kristi Kates Moby - Destroyed - Mute
Moby’s latest set is a thematic one, focusing on the busy musician’s many hours spent in spare hotel rooms, impersonal airport lounges, and in transit. All of the songs were written on the road - many fueled by Moby’s insomnia - and many are also accompanied by photographs that Moby took, which can be acquired via a separate photography book of the same name. Opening the album is the evocative instrumental piece “The Broken Places” (several other “just” instrumentals are also included here, the best being “Sevastopol”); also included are danceable tracks “After” and “Blue Moon,” and the more introspective “When You Are Old.”