Kristi Kates | Author

Hot Club of Detroit Reinvents Reinhardt

Feb. 25, 2017

He was a Belgian-born French guitarist and composer – the first and most significant jazz musician to export his sounds from Europe – and today he influences a vast array of “hot club” outfits, musicians who structure their musical roster and performances around hi... Read More >>

March Madness Of A Different Kind

Feb. 25, 2017

Got a plan for your Sundays in March? Sleder’s in Traverse City is celebrating its March Madness month of music with shows every Sunday so you can get a good solid dose of great tunes right before starting another work week. Sleder’s Seamus Shinners books and presents the... Read More >>

The Boathouse's Creme Brulee

Feb. 25, 2017

The sweet luxury of a good crème brûlée can often obscure the rest of an equally good dessert menu just by sheer virtue of its elegant appeal; the dish itself has been served since the late 1600s. Consisting of a rich, vanilla-flavored custard base topped by a disc of ... Read More >>

Your 2017 Spring Break Music Destinations

Feb. 25, 2017

Every year, spring break offers a welcome escape for students and an equally good excuse for everyone else to abandon their regular winter routines and take a vacation. For many music fans, the very best vacations include plenty of live tunes. Thanks to some savvy festival organizers, man... Read More >>

FourScore

Feb. 18, 2017

Elbow – Little Fictions – Concord
Recorded in Manchester, England, and in Scotland, the latest from Guy Garvey and squad manages to be both quiet and bombastic at the same time, in turns and occasionally within the same track. It’s a b-i-g-sounding... Read More >>

Dave Matthews Gets Some Michigan Energy

Feb. 18, 2017

If you love the ‘90s and also a good acoustic jam, you’ll be excited to learn Dave Matthews’ summer plans. Since the full Dave Matthews Band isn’t touring this summer, Matthews is instead hitting the road with his pal Tim Reynolds to perform a series of unplugged-s... Read More >>

Martin's Musical Mixtape

Feb. 18, 2017

From his early, gritty journeys to his later, more accomplished drives down the open road, singer-songwriter Martin Sexton’s own trip through the music scene has been a steady trek that gives new meaning to the word “grassroots.”

Sexton bounced through a seri... Read More >>

In The Key Of F

Feb. 18, 2017

You’ve gotta be fast with your feet to carry the beat when you play foot percussion. The most common foot drum is the kick or bass drum seen on the typical drum kit behind any rock band, but foot percussion is actually an age-old Native American practice that also shares roots with ... Read More >>

Ambition in Three Dimensions

Feb. 18, 2017

Everyone thinks random thoughts while doing mundane tasks, but if you’re Brandon Williams, you take one of those thoughts and run with it – in his case, straight toward the rapidly advancing technology of 3D printing, the futuristic pastime that Williams has developed into a n... Read More >>

Light of Day's All White Tea

Feb. 18, 2017

To accompany this all white season, what better than an appropriately named steaming sweet cup of hot white tea?

This different twist on a winter warmer from Light of Day Organics is a certified organic, certified Demeter Biodynamic tea that’s lightly caffeinated and grow... Read More >>

You Said It! Your Guide to Michigan Slang

Feb. 18, 2017

Would you head over to Walmart’s to get a pop and pick up a new clicker with your friend, the fudgie?

You probably would if you live in northern Michigan. Each region of the country, right down to the state and often the town, has its own phrases, nicknames and slang terms i... Read More >>

Celebrate the Snowmobile in Gaylord

Feb. 18, 2017

You might consider Michigan to be the perfect place to host a snowmobile festival, and you’d be right for more reasons than just our abundant snow.

Did you know the earliest snowmobile was first patented in Michigan? Back in 1915, Ray H. Muscott of Waters, Mich., snagg... Read More >>

You, Too Can Go to Bonnaroo with U2

Feb. 11, 2017

A favorite early summer trek of many northern Michiganians is the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn. This year’s lineup for June 8–11 is offering some major names that will put tickets in high demand. Most notably, U2 is set to be one of the headliner... Read More >>

Paper Station's Perch and Ribs

Feb. 11, 2017

If you just can’t decide whether to have meat or fish for dinner, The Paper Station Bistro in Harbor Springs has an appetizing solution for you.

Its Thursday night perch and ribs special is a rich combination of a half rack of ribs slathered in barbecue sauce plus three piec... Read More >>

FourScore

Feb. 11, 2017

Japandroids – Near to the Wild Heart of Life – Anti/Epitaph
David Prowse and Brian King are only two guys, but they sound like a whole lot more as they stack their effect-laden vocals, pour on the drumbeats and generously scatter seasonings of guitar over... Read More >>

Shades of Blues at new Petoskey Festival

Feb. 11, 2017

Music festivals in northern Michigan, by sheer virtue of the weather, are primarily summer affairs. Other than a few exceptions put together by brave stalwarts like Traverse City’s Porterhouse Productions and Petoskey’s Crooked Tree Arts Center in conjunction with Blissfest, m... Read More >>

Stringed Theory

Feb. 11, 2017

Wil B. and Kev Marcus, known offstage as Wilner Baptiste and Kevin Sylvester, are the pair of talents who make up Black Violin, a hip-hop and classical music duo changing the way people view stringed instruments and perceive musical genres.

The musicians met in orchestra clas... Read More >>

From Masquerade Balls to Broomball

Feb. 11, 2017

Has it really been 89 years since the tradition of the Petoskey Winter Carnival began? Even as far back as the 1920s, Petoskey had a solid reputation as one of Michigan’s winter sports capitals. In 1928, the carnival began crowning a winter carnival queen. In the 1930s, she was gift... Read More >>

The North Carolines

Feb. 11, 2017

Meet the Band
Caroline Barlow from Raleigh, N.C., and Kurt Westie, originally from Bloomington, Ind., make up local band The North Carolines, a folk outfit brand new to the scene as of just last year. The pair’s common thread – pardon the expression &nda... Read More >>

Ten Strings and a Goat Skin

Feb. 4, 2017

From a hotel room in Glasgow, Scotland (“Pretty much the kind of environment where I’ll be writing most of my emails for a while,” quipped the band’s Jesse Periard), Ten Strings and a Goat Skin is prepping for yet another show as it continues what’s set to be... Read More >>