That turn starts a new chapter for the Royal Oak, Michigan singer-songwriter and guitarist, who’s embracing a different sound and releasing her debut EP, Full Circle.
“I’ve taken the approach these days that if I’m not making music that I love and it isn’t just 100 percent me, then I don’t want to bother,” Burns said.
“I don’t want to make music that sounds like somebody else, and I don’t want to make music that’s trying to sound like somebody else. I feel like this is the first time I’ve made something of that nature where it says, ‘This is me.’”
Burns’ authenticity permeates all four tracks on Full Circle, which features a turbocharged indie-pop-rock sound in place of the previous folk, bluegrass, and Americana territory she explored as half of the former duo Escaping Pavement.
“This time, it’s all about finding the sound, making the introduction, and putting it out there in the world as a starting point,” she said. “It’s the start of something new.”
Dylan Dunbar’s “Free Candy” features eight short stories exploring everything from classic battles of good and evil to zombie outbreaks.
Dylan Dunbar is ready to bring some scary good stories to light.
The Detroit guitarist for Jennifer Westwood and the Handsome Devils has released a new book of strange and terrifying short stories called Free Candy: A Horror Story Collection.
It’s the first published work for Dunbar, who discovered a love for writing in 2020 upon tackling an addiction to alcohol.
“I’m now more than three years sober and couldn’t have imagined when I started writing how much of a positive impact it would make in my life—or that I’d be publishing,” he said.
Inspired by The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, Creepshow, and Tales from the Crypt, Free Candy includes eight intriguing short stories exploring everything from classic battles of good and evil to zombie outbreaks.
Dunbar is celebrating the release of his book on May 9 with a signing at Belle’s Lounge at Valentine Distilling in Ferndale, Michigan. Copies of Free Candy will be available for sale at the event.
The two bandmates from the Denver quartet created a makeshift studio at an Airbnb in Fairplay, Colorado to quickly capture the nine tracks for Hollow Head over six days.
“We didn’t go into this album with a theme in mind. The main thing that we wanted to do was write and record the majority of the songs together at once,” said Adame, the band’s vocalist-guitarist, about their new album.
“They all weren’t written at the same time, but most of them were written in a shorter period of time compared to A Spark of Madness. That’s more of a common theme with our songs.”
What resulted are nine tracks filled with honest, thoughtful, and vulnerable lyrics about processing internal struggles and sharing them with the outside world.
“That’s also why we decided to have the album be self-titled,” Adame said. “There wasn’t a lot of separation this time between Elliott and me—it was a lot more collaborative.”
Miller, Hollow Head’s vocalist-drummer, agreed: “It feels like our first true record. The other one was a bunch of different stuff pieced together.”
While the pop-rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist hails from New York City, she’s ecstatic about attending the University of Michigan this fall as a freshman to study music.
So much in fact that Orensteen has written a song called “Michigan,” which pays homage to the school and serves as the aspirational opener from her debut album, AmericanGirl.
“This song turned into a way that I could express my love for Michigan even though I had never been there [before] or had never seen it,” she said.
“I got in contact with the University of Michigan about using my song for their social media. I also sent in the song with my application, and I didn’t even tell my parents I was applying. And then I got in, and they said, ‘What?’”
Despite that surprise, Orensteen learned of her acceptance to U-M in February and has started planning for the fall.
She shares that sentiment in “Michigan” alongside hopeful acoustic guitar and electric guitar while singing: “I’ve never been to Michigan, but I’ve heard it’s nice / You’re going away, going to college, gonna start a new life / You’ll remember me / When you see my name in lights / And you’ll say, ‘Wow, she was right.’”
“I’ve always loved the University of Michigan, and I wrote this in one of my supplemental essays when I applied there,” said Orensteen, who will graduate from New York City’s Professional Children’s School in June.
“I never told my parents or anybody that I loved the University of Michigan, but I’ve always followed the school and their football team. I never thought I’d go there or get into the school.”
Orensteen’s “Michigan” is one of 13 coming-of-age tracks featured onAmericanGirl, which includes introspective lyrics about life and love and spirited pop-rock and pop-punk instrumentation.
I recently spoke with Orensteen about her background and influences, her latest album and songs, her creative process for the album, her producers and collaborators, and her plans for the summer.
The Stratton Setlist 