Royal Treatment – Greg Paddock Celebrates a Regal Relationship on ‘Love Me Forever’ EP

greg-paddock-750 — Greg Paddock wraps listeners in a warm embrace on “Love Me Forever.” Photo courtesy of Greg Paddock

When it comes to a long-term relationship, Greg Paddock reigns supreme on Love Me Forever.

The Detroit alt-rock singer-songwriter celebrates a regal connection with his romantic partner and muse on his latest EP.

“After Cotswold was released [in 2020], I was quite happy performing and promoting the music and letting it fuel my passion. But I was also quite content being alone and having no relationships,” Paddock said.

“However, as fate would have it, I was introduced to my ‘queen,’ and she hit me like a storm (in a good way) … it was love at first sight and what she taught me was that I was not happy being alone. I don’t think I’ve ever felt love like that … and she inspired me to start writing a love song to tell the world how it felt being with her.”

Throughout Love Me Forever, Paddock documents the cyclical nature of relationships, including finding true love and overcoming heartbreak. He wraps listeners in a warm embrace across four tracks filled with spirited vocals, heartfelt lyrics and cinematic instrumentation.

“When I was writing my last EP, I had gone through a few years of turmoil from recovering from a head injury, losing my father, seeing a nephew battle cancer and ending a long-term relationship at the end of all that,” he said.

“I remember one comment after that EP of people saying, ‘Geez, when are you going to write a happy song?’ I would jokingly say, ‘Well, give me something happy to write about.’ For the record, I am a very happy, outgoing person; the previous music was just my outlet for some things that weren’t so happy in my life.”

To learn more about his current release, I recently spoke with Paddock about Love Me Forever’s tracks, his writing and recording process with former Dishwalla frontman J.R. Richards, his live Sugartips Acoustic gigs with guitarist Ryan Harrison and his upcoming plans.

Continue reading “Royal Treatment – Greg Paddock Celebrates a Regal Relationship on ‘Love Me Forever’ EP” →

The Soundcheck – Strange Heart, Erin Zindle & Carolyn Striho, Letrick Olson, Steven Foster, Blank Tape Tax

The July edition of “The Soundcheck” celebrates the concept of summer through different emotions and experiences—love, authenticity, remembrance, nostalgia and connection. It’s time to think about “Your New Favorite Lover” while you “Stay Behind The Wheel” and later arrive at your destination and receive a warm greeting of Welcome to Pookie’s. There’s also a need to reflect on the life and love of “Willow” and remember what’s For Debbie.

Strange Heart, “Your New Favorite Lover”

Since releasing their sophomore album Falling Back Again in October, Detroit’s Strange Heart returns with a soulful new R&B single, “Your New Favorite Lover,” as well as a companion studio video and an official lyric video.

Rhythmic drums, gleaming electric guitar, humming bass and romantic piano wrap listeners in a heated embrace alongside frontman Josh Clemens’ fervent vocals.

He sings, “Ooooh I’m not trying to hide / What you see is what you get / Now you’re the owner of this wreck / Honestly, what did you expect of me / You only get the best of me / You’re begging for the rest of me / Honey, you’re not ready, but come and get it now.”

The track’s infectious, sensual groove is guaranteed to captivate new and current Strange Heart fans. Drummer Bobby Jankowski, bassist-vocalist Mike Schneider, lead guitar-vocalist Mike Leslie and Clemens have won me over, and I know they’ll delight you as well.

Strange Heart also blazes on stage with an eight-piece band (complete with horns), so check them out July 20 at The Whitney in Detroit and July 22 at Eastern Palace Club in Hazel Park.

Continue reading “The Soundcheck – Strange Heart, Erin Zindle & Carolyn Striho, Letrick Olson, Steven Foster, Blank Tape Tax” →

Back Home – Marty E. Relocates to Upper Peninsula and Releases ‘Benevolent Criminal’ Debut EP

Marty E 1 — Marty E. stands near the waters of Lake Superior. Photo – Virginia @lostinthewoodsmichigan

Marty E. relishes returning to his old childhood stomping grounds in the Upper Midwest.

The Bessemer, Michigan garage-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist-drummer recently relocated to the western Upper Peninsula near Ironwood after living in New York City for more than 20 years.

“Everybody asks me, ‘Why did you move from New York City to goddamn Ironwood?’ The reason is I grew up in northern Minnesota, and my parents and grandparents all grew up in this area, like Ironwood, Michigan and the Hurley, Wisconsin area,” said Marty E., who’s also known as Marty Erspamer and hails from Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

“My great-grandfather had emigrated from Tyrol in Austria, and he went to Cleveland, but had heard the mining business was booming up here. Along with his brother and his cousin, he jumped a train, hitchhiked and somehow got here. The three of them started building houses up here, so I have deep roots here.”

Those deep, familial roots inspired some of the raw, honest tracks on Marty E.’s debut solo EP, Benevolent Criminal, which is now available on vinyl. The six-track EP features a seamless blend of gritty, lo-fi alt-rock, punk-rock and garage-rock instrumentation fused with introspective lyrics about change, loss and renewal.

“When I was singing, Jaime [Hansen] and Keith [Killoren] both really helped pull workable performances out of me and [taught me] how to think about it and how not to freak yourself out and have a whiskey or have a beer,” said Marty E., who’s inspired by The Replacements, the New York Dolls and The Velvet Underground.

“You want it to come out how you hear it in your head. Hindsight is always 20/20 when you’re recording, and you’re like, ‘I could have done this better, and I could have done that better.’ What it is … is a snapshot of the time, and I’m just really happy that I was able to come up with a recording that what you hear reflects what was here.”

Continue reading “Back Home – Marty E. Relocates to Upper Peninsula and Releases ‘Benevolent Criminal’ Debut EP” →

Quick Changeover – Three Spoke Wheel Adapts to New Situations on ‘Metamorphosis’ EP

Band Shot One — Three Spoke Wheel’s Jeff Whitmore, Justin Gumina and Ryan Thomas confront daily stagnation and acquiescence on “Metamorphosis.” Courtesy photo

Three Spoke Wheel quickly transforms with each anticipated change.

The Detroit psych-progressive alt rock trio of Justin Gumina (guitar, bass, keys, backing vocals), Ryan Thomas (bass, guitar, lead vocals) and Jeff Whitmore (drums, percussion) seamlessly shifts and evolves amidst life’s ongoing challenges on their latest mind-altering EP, Metamorphosis.

“You can point to the pandemic as an obvious, big change for our society in general and how we’re gonna take control of that change and kind of own it and move forward from it. A lot of the lyrics are from people in my life who don’t really know how to change or need to find a way to take control of their own lives,” Thomas said.

“I hope people who listen to the lyrics get something out of it. It’s just a way to reflect on how change happens and how we don’t just have to let change happen. We can take control of it and guide it in the right direction.”

With Metamorphosis, Three Spoke Wheel boldly confronts daily stagnation and acquiescence across six fluid, purposeful tracks. Immersed in psychedelic, proggy and grungy sensibilities, the band fuels their thematic transformation with shapeshifting instrumentation and adaptive production.

“I think it captures a little bit more of a mature recording compared to our first album because we’ve all been growing together. We’re getting tighter as a group, and I came from a point of not singing at all to singing on a lot of stuff and trying to learn harmonies,” said Gumina, who recorded, mixed and mastered the band’s sophomore studio release.

“As far as the writing process, it’s been interesting because the ideas are coming from other places. Jeff wrote a lot of the original, acoustic versions of some of these songs, and we took and twisted them and made them into full songs.”

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Guitar-Driven Destination – MC Roads Brings Bluesy Alt-Rock to The Token Lounge Saturday

MC Roads - Press Shot — MC Roads combines blues and alt-rock for powerful guitar-driven sound.

MC Roads thoughtfully travels along a bluesy, alt-rock-fueled highway.

That highway unfolds a promising itinerary of guitar-driven destinations throughout the Motor City, including a Jan. 8 headlining set at The Token Lounge in Westland.

“To me, this is the magical part. I look for souls, and that’s what wisdom has taught me. I look for good people who want to work together like a family, and that’s when the magic starts,” said Mike Cross, MC Roads’ lead vocalist-guitarist and Sponge founding guitarist. “The songs are there, but the band comes in and embellishes it and makes it that bluesy alt-rock, guitar-driven sound.”

Along with Cross, MC Roads bandmates Bobby Guskovict (guitar, background vocals), KK Scofield (background vocals) and Dearl Poore (drums) will fuse that magical sound before a live audience Saturday. They’ll be sharing the stage with Stompbox and The Analog Dogs as part of a special show to benefit Detroit Dog Rescue.

“We’ve been working up the set, and there’s going to be some surprises. All of the tracks from No Nostalgia will show up in the set, and we have some new music that we’re excited to get out there in front of people,” Cross said.

“And we even have some covers. You never know, there might even be a song from my previous band in the set. It should be a good time with Stompbox and The Analog Dogs.”

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Seismic Love – Jeremiah Mack & the Shark Attack Chronicle Passionate Relationships on ‘Worth the Trouble’ EP

Worth the Trouble artwork — Jeremiah Mack & the Shark Attack’s “Worth the Trouble” EP documents the rise, fall and resurgence of a romantic relationship. Artwork – Tom J. Reed

Jeremiah Mack & the Shark Attack beautifully chronicle the rugged emotional terrain of a passionate relationship.

The Ypsilanti alt-rock trio of Jerry Heiss (vocals, guitar, keys, percussion and programming), James Johnson (bass) and Danarus Greene (drums) spotlight that fervent rise, fall and resurgence of romantic love throughout their latest reflective, five-track EP, Worth the Trouble.

“I did realize in retrospect that these songs fit together because it is a roller coaster ride of the different feelings you have with losing someone, breaking up or apologizing. I put a pretty vague story to the album myself of trying to link the songs together and seeing if it was coming from one point of view in chronological order. That wasn’t necessarily the intention, but I’m glad it does feel that way,” said Heiss, aka Jeremiah Mack.

“The same way that writing these songs was kind of therapeutic for me, I hope that other people are able to listen to them and feel that same wave of relief that someone else has gone through this and that it’s been OK.”

Throughout Worth the Trouble, Jeremiah Mack & the Shark Attack thoughtfully document the volatile feelings, thoughts and concerns that quickly emerge as one partner responds to the unexpected actions of another.

Each poignant track seamlessly flows from one encounter to the next against an expansive sonic backdrop filled with pop-rock, emo-rock, alt-rock and folk-rock sensibilities.

“I try to make each song that I write like a different kind of song, and Worth the Trouble does jump from genre to genre for each song. I never want someone to listen to two of my songs and say, ‘Well, that song sounds like the other songs.’ It keeps me entertained because I like a bunch of different styles, and it’s fun for me to play in all these different styles,” Heiss said.

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Bite Down – The Fragile Corpse Absorbs Lost Souls on ‘Let Us Prey’

With raw, dark sensibilities and passionate, mystical lyrics, The Fragile Corpse instantly sends an alt rock rush of blood to the head.

The Ann Arbor goth-grunge collective pierces the flesh, seeps into veins and ingests troubled souls on their new vampiric demo single, “Let Us Prey,” now available on Band Camp.

“I tried to add a little bit of vampire imagery in the song to help create a sense of the existential dread that life can feel like when you’re at a low point. Life keeps going and never stops, and sometimes you feel like you need a break,” said Matthew “Thew” Vayle, The Fragile Corpse’s vocalist-guitarist-drummer.

“Let Us Prey” deeply explores that murky internal abyss as coarse, turbulent electric guitars, gentle cymbal taps, steady drums and spirited bass submerge listeners in a raging emotional underworld.

Vayle calmly reflects, “I refine my taste on crimson wine/The ambrosial waste of god’s divine/If love is a sickness/I must be terminal/An immortal blight on the bloodline.”

“I find having that ability to relate to a piece of art often makes me feel less dreadful. The lyrics in songs like that can get pretty overdramatic at times, but I love that. Being in that state of mind can turn small things into daunting obstacles, and it can literally feel like the world is ending,” said Vayle, who’s inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins (think Adore) and Type O Negative.

“I wrote and recorded the song about three to four years ago and didn’t really touch it since. I was trying to put together a goth band at the time and wrote a few other gothy songs that are unfinished as well.”

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Heavy-Duty Blues – Paper Bags Enters New Terrain on ‘Shifting Metaphor’ EP

Geoff Hornby trades his acoustic guitar for an electric one on “Shifting Metaphor.”

One fateful day, Geoff Hornby made a seismic shift in sound.

The Paper Bags singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist traded his acoustic guitar for an electric one and ventured into Delta-inspired blues.

“The current sound – bluesy garage rock – was something that had been brewing inside me for a long time, since the days of playing with The Johnny Timbers during and right out of high school. I wanted to make kind of a blues-infused Nirvana record. And I had grown tired of the acoustic troubadour act – it was time to get heavy,” said Hornby, who lives in Southgate.

Hornby intricately fuses heavy-duty blues with raw, underground garage rock sensibilities on his latest five-track EP, Shifting Metaphor, with drummer Jason O’Dea. The gritty Paper Bags project quickly seeps into the thematic crevices of acceptance, anticipation and appreciation across timeless, authentic tracks inspired by Hornby’s favorite authors.

“As far as those themes, I didn’t intentionally write about any of them. I try not to write with so much intention anymore. It’s all going to get interpreted differently in the end anyway. When I write a set of lyrics, I start with a basic line or idea and just see where it takes me. I feel like most of the time they write themselves and take on a life of their own,” he said.

“Three of the tracks on the album were inspired by novels I’d read in the last few years – “6,000 Stars” was inspired by Graphic: The Valley by Peter Hoffmeister, “Thank You” by Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami, and “Butterflies” by Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle by Vladimir Nabokov. And “Always The Same” is tinged with some concepts found in the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche.”

Continue reading “Heavy-Duty Blues – Paper Bags Enters New Terrain on ‘Shifting Metaphor’ EP” →

Full Circle – Widetrack Returns to Pontiac for Saturday’s ‘November Two Remember’ Crofoot Show

Widetrack intentionally creates the perfect sonic circle.

The Waterford alt-prog, father-son duo of Ron Tippin (vocals, guitar, drums) and Zach Tippin (bass, guitar) will fittingly return to their musical birthplace of Pontiac for a Saturday show at The Crofoot.

“We are absolutely stoked to be playing our first Widetrack show together as a two-piece, premiering the public live debut of songs we wrote together for our newest album, The Unwakening,” said Ron Tippin, Widetrack’s founder.

“What makes it really special though is that The Crofoot is literally right across the side street from my old rehearsal and recording facility, where Widetrack was born back in 2006. It’ll be kind of like coming full circle for us.”

Widetrack will join eight other bands – Loud Thoughts, Roc Steady, Negative Gravity, Mars Hill, Stompbox, Cicrus, Letters from Abel and Motor City Vibrations – for Smash Concerts’ “November Two Remember” show and perform a six-song, 30-minute set with haunting, introspective tracks from their mystical four-album catalog.

“We’re really looking forward to playing that same stage with The Crofoot’s amazing sound and lights. We hope that people who’ve never heard us before will find our music and on-stage energy to be inspiring. Inspiring others is our deepest desire as musicians and as a creative force,” said Ron Tippin.

A Spirital Unwakening

Widetrack released “The Unwakening” in April.

With the Tippins at the helm, Widetrack continues to unleash their dark, proggy creative energy since releasing their hypnotic, otherworldly album, The Unwakening, in April. The reflective project ventures through a dozen digital tales to uncover the conflicting duality of our personal and online identities in a “Black Mirror-like” dimension.

“The idea of The Unwakening is how we immerse ourselves in this digital landscape, and it just makes our worst tendencies come out; we just wallow in it. All of our wisdom goes out the window and so does our better nature,” said Ron Tippin.

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Necessary Nourishment – The Stratton Playlist November 2020 Edition Refuels for Road Ahead

With November’s upcoming arrival, some soulful sonic nourishment is needed to weather and withstand the remainder of 2020.

Fortifying morsels of lo-fi folk, shiny indie pop, fiery classic rock, breezy dance, garage-filled indie rock, heartfelt acoustic ballads and groovy, emotive hip-hop strengthen the mind and spirit for the unknown road ahead.

The latest edition of The Stratton Playlist shares a satiating sonic respite before the chaotic journey resumes. Featured sonic companions include Grooblen, Au Gres, Michael Snyder-Barker and The Mighty Rhythm Bandits, The Kodaks with Jemmi Hazeman and Quells, Lily Talmers, Louis Picasso & The Gallery and more.

Interested in becoming part of The Stratton Playlist on Spotify? Send your submissions to strattonsetlist@yahoo.com. All artists and genres welcome.

The Stratton Setlist

Catch the opener. Stay for the encore.

Tag: Alt rock