Diont’e Visible. Photo courtesy of Diont’e Visible.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulpblog.
Diont’e Visible wants to purge some negativity from the world.
The Ypsilanti, Michigan, hip-hop artist unloads that emotional burden and finds relief on his latest single, “Just Throw It All in the Air.”
“When I wrote this song, I was inspired by the state of the world, or the lack thereof,” said Visible, aka Paris Diont’e Horgrow, about the hip-hop track.
“People need something to be happy about and to look forward to. It’s saying, ‘Let’s get rid of this whole system and just throw it all in the air.’”
Visible adopts that refreshing mindset and then expands “Just Throw It All in the Air” into a springtime anthem while rapping over jazzy beats.
Chirp’s Jay Frydenlund and Sam Naples groove at Danfest in August. Photo – Mark Samano
Filled with progtastic, funkified fusion, Chirp will bring upbeat, dancy grooves to celebrate autumn’s upcoming arrival Saturday at Ypsilanti’s Grove Studios.
The Ann Arbor prog-funk-jazz jam quartet will headline the Ypsi rehearsal and recording space’s annual fall-themed Equinox Party before intimate in-person studio and virtual livestream audiences.
“Ypsi audiences are always some of our favorites to play for, so we are extremely excited to play our first show at Grove Studios. It has a great music/arts scene, and my favorite part of playing for Ypsi audiences is all the creative folks we get to bump shoulders with at our shows there,” said Jay Frydenlund, Chirp’s vocalist and guitarist.
The Equinox Party will feature seven hours of live music across three mini concerts in a small, socially distanced gathering as well as livestream sets from each artist. Attendees can purchase limited in-studio VIP tickets for afternoon, evening and night shows as well as tickets for individual artist livestream performances to watch at home.
“The Equinox Party is our annual anniversary celebration and largest event of the year where we showcase a diverse collection of artists, many of whom we’ve worked with or met throughout the year,” said Erich Friebel, Grove Studios co-founder and director of community engagement.
“We’ve decided to really blow it up with the Equinox Party this year. We’ll be hosting three, two-and-a-half-hour shows with three to four artists each and an hour of transition in between shows to cycle the artists and audiences in and out to follow the 25-person gathering rule Ypsi is currently under.”
Grove Studios has flourished in the virtual music space since launching Grove Sessions, a regular livestream performance and interview series, in March. The sessions spotlight a range of emerging and established artists and musicians in Washtenaw County and metro Detroit.
“We’re already six months into our third year on Railroad Street in Ypsilanti, which is super dope considering we’re still weathering the effects of a global pandemic and a previous three-month shutdown,” Friebel said.
“That reality, along with social distancing and gathering restrictions, encouraged us to rethink how we support the music community by moving our events to a virtual format and becoming a burgeoning media production company. We also activated our outdoor courtyard stage in May with audio and video production, which has evolved into a high-tech livestream performance format with small in-studio audiences.”
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