The Radar tracks new music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels. Written by Lori Stratton (LS) and Christopher Porter (CP).

This week:
Lamb Life Orchestra, Mogi Grumbles, Olivia Cirisan, Larrair & Tru Klassick, Hypnogram, Skinned Knees, P-Ro x Hues, Ani Mari, and JDSY.

One Track Mind features a Washtenaw County-associated artist discussing a single song.

Standout Track: No. 1, “Enough About Me,” by Bill Edwards, an Ann Arbor singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

The title track off Edwards’ new album explores the need for one less personal and confessional collection of music in the world.

“I read American Songwriter magazine, and there’s an article featured on the cover that says, ‘So-and-so has put out their most personal album yet,’” he said.

“I don’t think a statement is intrinsically more important because it’s your personal history. It can be, if it’s something you’ve gone through and it’s really important and something that people will recognize and feel themselves, but there are other ways to do it too. My goal, particularly with this record, was to try and step into somebody else’s shoes and see the world from where they’re standing.”

Over the past 10 years, Dr. Pete Larson has been stretching the limitations of an eight-stringed lyre from Kenya called the nyatiti. It's the driving force of his new album and a new book he’s written about the instrument.

The Ann Arbor resident and University of Michigan epidemiologist became fascinated with the nyatiti while living in Kenya. Larson, a guitarist, saw it being played at a Nairobi club and immediately knew he had to learn how to play it. He studied for three years with Oduor Nyagweno, one of the last remaining elder players of the folk instrument.

The nyatiti has become the central sonic element of The Dr. Pete Larson Group, an evolving, improvisational project that typically enlists local indie music veteran Fred Thomas on guitar. On the group’s latest self-titled album, Larson is joined by Thomas, drummer Jon Taylor, percussionist Mike List, and Chris Koltay on synths, yielding a heavy, post-rock and Krautrock via Africa hybrid vibe that was created partly through purposeful constraints.

The Radar tracks new music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels. Written by Lori Stratton (LS) and Christopher Porter (CP).

This week:
Andrew W.K., Windy & Carl Meet Optigan Conservatory, Mark Kirschenmann, ArtPage, Bekka, new AGN7 releases, Pillow Princess, Bill Edwards, and Modus Operandi.

One Track Mind features a Washtenaw County-associated artist discussing a single song.

Standout Track: No. 2, “Addictant,” from Spectral Threads, an indie-rock band with members from Ypsilanti, Inkster, and Austin, Texas.

The band’s self-titled EP tackles themes of self-worth, spirituality, and trust, and includes tracks by three songwriters: Nathan Emmet, Sam Millett, and Jonathan Crayne.

On “Addictant,” Crayne explores becoming infatuated with a new lifestyle and the image it portrays. He sings, “So late at night / I dream of something that’s true / Then distracted by the glittering / Way back when everything depicted was new / Couldn’t escape from inside.”

A curated list of Washtenaw County concerts we're excited about this month, featuring shows at Ann Arbor Funhouse, Ziggy's, Kerrytown Concert House, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, North Star Lounge, The Ark, The Rabbit Hole, The Ravens Club, Ypsilanti Freighthouse, Reagle Beagle, Pease Auditorium, and Hill Auditorium.

The Radar tracks new music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels. Written by Lori Stratton (LS) and Christopher Porter (CP).

This week:
Sacha, Jacob Sigman, Reckless Manner, Enzo Lorenzetti, Blue Snaggletooth, rxckbttm & s0wingseason, and Launchfield.

Chirp often takes inspiration from physics.

The Ypsilanti jam band has a history of adopting kinetic terms for album titles, including 2022’s In Motion, and now, its newest and third release, Torque.

“Torque is like a rotational force, and I think there’s a lot of sweeping momentum through the tunes individually and as a whole,” said Jay Frydenlund, Chirp’s lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist.  

“In past compositions that I’ve written for Chirp, there’s been more of a linear curve of energy through an album or through a song. And this one, it felt like it’s a little more subtle, so it made me think of a rotating force versus something gently building. … There are tunes that you’ll hear, or there are at least sections you’ll hear, where the word that comes to mind is ‘tornadic.’”

One Track Mind features a Washtenaw County-associated artist discussing a single song.

Standout Track: No. 3, “Allowed,” from Cracked & Hooked. The Ypsilanti band’s latest EP, Spinnin’ The Dial, pays homage to the different formats of music local radio stations used to play.

“The varying styles of each song on the EP kind of inspired us to name it Spinnin’ The Dial,” wrote David Freund, Cracked & Hooked’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist, in an email interview.

“I think the fact I have such eclectic taste in music and have had that my whole life lends itself to the various styles of songs coming out of me while also staying in my creative lane, which is rock ‘n’ roll.”

On “Allowed,” Cracked & Hooked revisits the grief that resurfaces each fall from past losses of family members and friends. Three different verses in the song honor Freund’s late girlfriend, father, and friend and the impact they had on his life.

In 1983, the renowned American poet Hugh Anthony Cregg III opined on the state of 20th-century music in an alacritous observational stanza:

They say the heart of rock and roll is still beating
And from what I've seen, I believe 'em
Now the old boy may be barely breathing
But the heart of rock and roll, heart of rock and roll is still beating

It's hard to say if the versifier commonly known as Huey Lewis would still express these sentiments in the age of AI-aided pop, but you can still find true believers in the mystical power of raw rock 'n' roll hoochie koo.

One such gathering of rock 'n' roll never-forgetters happens every year in Ann Arbor courtesy of the Fuzz Fest. The 11th edition of this three-day celebration of three-chord truthers takes place August 27-29 at The Blind Pig. There will be 33 bands, 11 per night, each playing 30-minute sets back-to-back, alternating between the main stage and a floor set-up. The mysterious creative known as Eternal Eyes will shine psychedelic lights on the rock 'n' roll all night—and then, like Clark Kent, he'll don his other costume, that of rock 'n' roll lifer Chris "Box" Taylor, the human brain behind the Fuzz, who will pick up his six-string ax and swing it in at least two bands that I know about, Blue Snaggletooth and Mazinga.

Taylor's Fuzz Fest is a great time every year, and you never have to wait long to hear your next new favorite band. But if your rock 'n' roll lifestyle is limited by adult jobs and children's bedtimes, you might want to map your quest to the fest to bang heads and throw horns in the most efficient manner possible, so we've embedded jams for every band playing this year, from the headliners to the openers. Have a listen at work, plan your night(s) out, take that disco nap, and enjoy the heart of rock 'n' roll that still beats at Fuzz Fest.