Month: January 2025

Cast Away — Ypsilanti’s Premium Rat Finds Connection and Community on Debut Album, “Stranded on Land”

Premium Rat features cinematic instrumentation on “Stranded on Land.” Photo — Levi Hubbel

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulp blog.

Premium Rat knows they can’t go it alone.

The Ypsilanti, Michigan indie-rocker embraces that mindset while exploring the need for connection and community on their debut album.

“That has been the journey of my life because I’ve always been a very independent person and a person who’s not good at asking for help,” said Mer Rey, who performs as Premium Rat, about Stranded on Land.

“This album tells the story of me learning that lesson—that no person is an island—and I can’t do it all myself.”

Premium Rat follows that story arc throughout Stranded on Land’s 12 tracks, which were curated against a backdrop of multi-genre sounds.

“The idea of Stranded on Land is starting the album feeling very disconnected from the world and people around me, feeling like I didn’t understand or belong in the world, and feeling very isolated and alone with that feeling,” said Rey, who features elements of pop punk, indie rock, dance-pop, indie folk, and Broadway music on the album.

“As the album goes on, it tells the story of me finding community, finding other people who also felt that way, and realizing, ‘Oh, I’m stranded on land, but so are a bunch of other people, and we’re actually stranded together.’ And that is how we [find] our way out and claim our freedom—by doing that together.”

Continue reading “Cast Away — Ypsilanti’s Premium Rat Finds Connection and Community on Debut Album, “Stranded on Land”” →

Tried and True — Ryan Trager Stays the Course on “Don’t Let Them In” Single

Ryan Trager stays true to his vision on “Don’t Let Them In.” Photo by Cybelle Codish

Ryan Trager doesn’t deviate from his path.

The Metro Detroit singer-songwriter follows his instincts and keeps the detractors at bay on “Don’t Let Them In.”

“For me, last year was so nuts with the election and everything. It’s easy to get swept up in all of that. In some ways, it connects back to us,” said Trager about his latest indie-folk single.

“I was thinking about the single and the meaning behind it and staying true to your own beliefs and behaviors. It’s easy to get swept up in the media, and we have so much access to things. You can lose yourself and lose the things that matter to you.”

In response, Trager pledges to keep himself grounded and focused on “Don’t Let Them In.”

Backed by earnest acoustic guitar, cello, and Mellotron, he sings, “They will give you a thousand reasons / And you’ll be tempted to believe them / But all their conviction is just a fiction / Oh please, don’t let them in.”

“I had had enough distance from the song that I needed to hear the message,” said Trager, who recorded the single in 2021. “It’s not letting anything stop you from doing whatever you want to do.”

To learn more, I spoke with Trager ahead of a February 8 show at Trixie’s Bar in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Continue reading “Tried and True — Ryan Trager Stays the Course on “Don’t Let Them In” Single” →

“Darkness on the Edge of Corktown” — Bruce Springsteen Tribute Show Features Detroit Singer-Songwriters and Benefits Motor City Mitten Mission January 17 at Lager House

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In December 2022, a group of Detroit singer-songwriters hosted a Bruce Springsteen tribute show to benefit the homeless.

Billed as Darkness on the Edge of Corktown at Lager House, the show featured local artists performing songs from The Boss’ extensive catalog and collecting donated winter clothing for people in need.

“We did it then for the first time and accepted clothing donations, but we didn’t have a nonprofit partner per se,” said Mike Ward, a folk singer-songwriter who co-organized the show.

“Everybody had a great time at it, and [co-organizer] Nick Juno was the one who said, ‘Hey, we should be doing that again.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you know what, you’re right, we should.’”

Two years later, Darkness on the Edge of Corktown returns January 17 for a second edition at Lager House.

The Springsteen-themed show includes performances from 25 singer-songwriters and benefits the Motor City Mitten Mission, a St. Clair Shores, Michigan nonprofit that supports the homeless.

“Darkness on the Edge of Town is one of Springsteen’s albums and it’s one of my favorite albums of all time. It works because we’re right at the edge of Corktown where Lager House is,” Ward said.

“For this show, we figured out the logistics of having a benefit for the Motor City Mitten Mission and we talked to executive director Gail Marlow. She’s totally into it because she does a lot of promoting with the Detroit Lions—she’s a tireless worker.”

The show also serves as a collection site to donate winter clothing and outdoor gear for the homeless. Only new donations will be accepted.

Show attendees can donate any of the following items—sweatshirts, sweatpants, long underwear, sleeping bags, backpacks, tarps, hand and toe warmers, and more—and receive a discounted entry fee of $5 that night.

People also can make monetary donations at the show or through the Motor City Mitten Mission’s website. All donations and proceeds from the show will go to the nonprofit.

“The Motor City Mitten Mission is a fantastic organization, so we felt like, ‘OK if we’re gonna do this, let’s do it right and reduce the price of admission with the donation of an item,’” said Ward, who started planning the event with Juno last summer.

“Everybody is volunteering for this event, and we’re working with general manager and talent buyer Katelyn Burkart at Lager House to coordinate it.”

In addition to supporting those in need, the show spotlights a myriad of talent from local artists, including Mark Jewett, Ryan Trager, Annie Bacon, George Montrelle, Audra Kubat, Jackamo, Emily Rose and Kate Hinote, Dave Boutette and Kristi Davis, and others. During the show, each artist will perform a different Springsteen song.

“We liked that format of everybody playing a song and everybody had a great time at the first show,” Ward said. “There’s so much camaraderie in this community, and we have all these different performers joining up with others and doing duets—it’s going to be fun.”

Darkness on the Edge of Corktown is January 17 at Lager House, 1254 Michigan Avenue, Detroit. The show is a benefit for the Motor City Mitten Mission. Admission is $5 with donation or $10 without donation. Doors are 7 p.m. and show is 8 p.m. For tickets, visit Lager House’s website.

Assembling “Disassemble” — Marty Gray’s Shoegaze Album Was Inspired by the Struggles of Family and Friends

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Marty Gray features a guitar-driven rock and shoegaze sound on “Disassemble.” Photo courtesy of Marty Gray.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulp blog.

Marty Gray empathizes with loved ones battling dementia, depression, and other personal challenges on his latest album, Disassemble.

“The whole album is autobiographical, it’s just about the people around me,” said the Ann Arbor singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. “It’s rare that there is a song about me, but I’m telling you how I feel about these people throughout the whole record.”

Gray explores that fragility and the observations of a concerned bystander on Disassemble. The album’s poetic lyrics, ethereal vocals, and cinematic instrumentation convey the emotions he encounters while witnessing family and friends decline.

“There are some songs about my friends and the things that they’re going through,” said Gray, who studied opera at the University of Michigan. “There are friends in my life that are losing the battle with depression. I have a couple of songs about my grandparents; I have one about my opa and one about my [late] oma … and my oma’s dementia and seeing what happened with her brain, her mind, and her life.”

Gray ventures into new sonic territory on his fourth album, too, trading his previous pop sound for guitar-driven rock and shoegaze.

“Part of this story is me falling in love with guitar,” Gray said. “And I’ve never been a fabulously talented guitar player. With shoegaze, you don’t have to be a ripper. If the story calls for it and if the story wants it to be big shoegaze with lots of reverb, lots of distortion, lots of everything … [then] let’s go for it.”

To learn more, I spoke with Gray about Disassemble ahead of a January 8 show at The Blind Pig.

Continue reading “Assembling “Disassemble” — Marty Gray’s Shoegaze Album Was Inspired by the Struggles of Family and Friends” →

“How’d You Write That?” — Bill Edwards and Mike Green Explore the Craft of Songwriting During January 10 Show at Trinity House Theatre

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Bill Edwards and Mike Green will include a mixture of performance and conversation for their show.

Bill Edwards and Mike Green want to demystify the songwriting process.

The Ann Arbor, Michigan singer-songwriters plan to explore the craft and share creative insights during a January 10 show—known as How’d You Write That?— at Trinity House Theatre.  

The show includes a mixture of performance and conversation: Edwards and Green will perform songs from their catalogs, interview each other about songwriting, and take questions from the audience.

“People don’t really talk about the process and talk about the nuts and bolts of how this song came to be or how a song comes to be,” said Edwards about the show’s format at the Livonia, Michigan listening room. “I think this will dig more into that.”

To prepare for the event, the duo sought inspiration from a songwriting group called Song Salon and a past TV show called Inside the Actors Studio.

“We bring in songs in any form and critique them … We just dig in, and we get really deep into the weeds of saying, ‘That word doesn’t work.’ We make suggestions, and my songs are all better as a result of being part of [Song Salon],” said Green, who also works as a booking agent.

“But it came out of that work, and I thought about Inside the Actors Studio and realized people would be interested in this. Trinity House is small enough that we can get a good-sized group of people in there, and it’s a home for many singer-songwriters in Southeastern Michigan.”

During the show, Edwards and Green will each perform 10 to 11 songs, including a mix of new material and past favorites. In 2023, Edwards released his latest album, So Far, and Green released his debut album, Listening for the Bell.

“Mike and I write differently,” Edwards said. “I tend to repeat a lot of the choruses in my songs, and Mike doesn’t so much. I’m interested to hear what influenced him to take that path and why he writes like that.”

The show also serves as a “pilot” for How’d You Write That? and allows the duo to test the waters before launching a regular series in the fall. They would curate the series and include singer-songwriters who are willing to interview each other.

“There’s not that many moving parts to it. It’s just something that we’re both interested in, and we think many people that we know will be interested,” Green said.

“Hopefully, there will be more than the people that we know. Based on the early social media stuff we’ve been doing, many people have said they’re interested.”

Bill Edwards and Mike Green perform January 10 for “How’d You Write That?” at Trinity House Theatre, 38840 Six Mile Road, Livonia, Michigan. For tickets, visit Trinity House Theatre’s website.