New Concert Venue

Oct. 11, 2006

Traverse City’s underground art scene is poised to take a huge leap forward with the establishment of new 2,500-square-foot concert venue at the InsideOut Gallery in downtown’s soon-to-be-hip Warehouse District.
Over the past few months, gallery owner Mike Curths has been busy installing a state-of-the-art P.A. and recording equipment, a 24-by-12-foot stage, and 700 acoustic tiles on the walls of the new concert space located directly behind his avant-garde art gallery.
In addition to concerts featuring local and national-touring musicians, Curths, 50, plans to host creative film events along with the eye-popping art exhibits his gallery is already known for.
“It will all be under the umbrella of InsideOut,” says Curths, who, along with his wife Kim, have created one of the most fascinating underground or “outsider” urban art scenes in the midwest. “Our goal is to have a very serious music venue, and with our sound system, we’ll rival anything in town.”
In that regard, the new venue invites comparisons with The Ark in Ann Arbor, The Magic Bag in Ferndale, or even the Grande Ballroom of rock’s golden age in Detroit.

MEDIA SUPPORT
Sista Otis of Detroit debuts the new space this Friday, Oct. 13 with a blend of funk, folk and hip-hop, followed by the dance-rock of The Dawn Patrol on Friday, Oct. 20 (full disclosure: this writer is a member of the band); the New York City blues of Trina Hamlin on Saturday, Oct. 21; and the folk-rock of The Kennedy’s on Nov. 3.
Curths also hopes to bring in national acts of a caliber on par with the Cowboy Junkies, John Prine, Loudon Wainwright III and Alejandro Escevado whenever their touring schedule of the Midwest permits. Sound engineer Rick Bedell will be spinning the knobs to produce audio of recording quality.
“This is going to be a non-smoking venue for adults,” Curths adds. “We’re not looking to compete with the bar scene -- it’s pretty much all about the art.”
In that regard, Curths is looking for more innovative musicians that fit the ethos of his gallery. He’s already hosted numerous concerts in the gallery itself, ranging from the folk and jazz of Claudia Schmidt to mobs of young metal and thrash bands.
Curths has also been working with Eric Hines, manager of alternative radio station WNMC-FM, to get media support for the new venue.
“We’ve teamed up with WNMC and are going to be their official venue,” he says. “We’re already offering a Radio Jazz Brunch on the last Sunday of each month which includes the live broadcast of Dave Walker’s ‘Jazz From the Tradition’ show and a live jazz band.” The brunch, which runs from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. garners donations for the radio station.

THE WAREHOUSE DISTRICT
And, referring back to that “soon-to-be-hip” comment that kicked off this story, Curths is anticipating a new neighbor in the Warehouse District in the form of the 75-seat Right Brain Brewery. The new Home Grown Organic Eatery also recently opened at the former Bubba’s restaurant on West Bay, all of which are expected to turn the Warehouse District into a west-of-downtown magnet.
Additionally, Curths plans to add a sculpture garden outside his gallery and a small outdoor stage for open mic performances on summer nights. “It will be a place for artistically-minded people in town to have something to do.”
Additionally, a Warehouse District Association is being formed with one goal being that of improving a pathway along the river to the area from downtown.
For those who haven’t a clue, the Warehouse District is the area between TC’s fish weir and West Bay, just down the alley west of Union Street. The InsideOut Gallery is located at 211 Garland Street, which is basically an alley one block south of West Bayshore. Stroll west from the Visitors Center across from the Open Space and you’re sure to find it.

MUSICAL ROOTS
Curths, a bartender and waiter by day at Stella Trattoria, has a background in both music and recording.
Originally from New York City, he moved to the Grand Rapids area with his family when he was in the seventh grade. By that time, Curths had already taken up playing the drums. He attended college in Grand Rapids and then went to live in southern California for many years on the heels of a divorce.
As a drummer, Curths found himself on the same bill with big touring bands but, “I just got tired of the ‘good old boys and the barroom noise’ and decided to go on the other side of the glass.”
By that, he means the glass of the recording studio. He got a degree in recording engineering from the Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts in Winter Park, Florida and launched a new career.
Eventually, he found his way back to Michigan. Some 15 years ago, area musicians may recall Curths in partnership with musician John Knight in the Full Circle Recording studio in Traverse City, which was one of the first of its kind in the area.

URBAN ART
By the early ‘00s, Curths was repping for his cousin, painter Tom D, whose pop-surrealist, outsider art is collected by patrons such as rock celebrity Courtney Love, actress Susan Sarandon, and author Tom Robbins.
“A few years ago, I had all of this art in my house and people said I ought to open a gallery,” he recalls. He secured a long-term lease for a sprawling building in TC’s Warehouse District and opened the InsideOut Gallery with an emphasis on art that is variously called “underground, urban, lowbrow, pop surrealism, or outsider” in nature. You won’t find the typical Northern Michigan impressionistic scenes of old barns and small town marinas on the walls here; what Curths is looking for is art that makes bold statements and challenges the status quo. The walls are covered with hundreds of some of the most arresting art you’ll find in Northern Michigan, including that of many local “unknown” artists.
“Today, the total gallery and concert space includes over 6,000 square feet,” he notes. “It’s the largest urban art gallery in the Midwest.” And, when Curths says he believes the InsideOut could go head-to-head with any similar gallery in New York or San Francisco, most visitors are likely to agree.

FILM AND EVENTS
If the concerts and exhibits aren’t enough, Curths also plans to make the InsideOut a major film destination. “We’re going to have a serious film venue here and are trying to get the Film Festival interested in screening some of its shows,” he says. “We plan to show avant-garde, banned, and bootlegged films as well as things like teen drive-in monster movies, musical documentaries and high school scare movies.”
In short, impresario Curths has a lot on his palette. In addition to the upcoming concerts, he’s also launching an exhibition on Oct. 28 which will include the works of Tom D and downstate painters Melissa Duimstra and Dave Warnhoven as part of his featured artist series on the last Saturday of each month.
“We’ve got a great show in October.”

For more info on InsideOut, see www.insideoutgallery.com.