Tag: DJ

The Last Hurrah — Riley Bean Hosts Final Groove On Up Festival September 13-15 in South Lyon

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Riley Bean performs as Beanstalk and hosts the Groove On Up music festival. Photo courtesy of Riley Bean

Six years ago, Riley Bean decided to bring a groove-filled music festival to Southeast Michigan.

The producer, drummer, and DJ launched the Groove On Up festival to spotlight local jam, soul, funk, hip-hop, DJ, and electronic acts on his South Lyon, Michigan farm.

“My personal music taste has always been groove-based as have many of the bands that I’ve been a part of over the years,” said Bean, who hails from Ann Arbor and performs under the artist moniker Beanstalk.

“I was just thinking about the amount of talent that Michigan has to offer and trying to have an accessible camping festival experience that folks can attend locally and not have to drive hundreds of miles for.”

This year’s Groove On Up festival, which runs September 13-15 at Bean’s 14-acre farm, features a mix of returning and new acts on three indoor and outdoor stages, including the new Portal stage. Local visual artists, food vendors, and flow artists/fire performers will also be featured.

The music lineup includes Act Casual, Selyna Alvarez, Al Bettis, Beretta Shells, Chill Place, Chirp, Liquid Thickness, Ma Baker, Rik Strange, The Rupple Brothers, Stormy Chromer, Violet Sol, and others.

Continue reading “The Last Hurrah — Riley Bean Hosts Final Groove On Up Festival September 13-15 in South Lyon” →

Virtual Airwaves – Brian Maloney Features Michigan Artists and Music on The Sonic Coast

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Brian Maloney runs The Sonic Coast, an online radio station that plays Americana, roots and rock music by national and local artists. Photo courtesy of Brian Maloney

In 2014, Brian Maloney instantly reconnected with his hometown and its musical legacy.

The Sonic Coast founder and chief music curator visited the Motor City to attend a Crain’s Detroit Homecoming and started pondering his next life chapter.

“I was in downtown Detroit for a couple of days with the event, and everywhere I looked, I was reminded of what a remarkable place this city and state are in the music industry,” said Maloney, who spent 40 years working in radio and now resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“The following ‘revelation’ about what to do in retirement happened in February of 2020 when I brought The Gasoline Gypsies down to North Carolina for a couple of shows and a media tour.”

The band sold out two shows 700 miles from Port Huron, Michigan and reminded Maloney about the draw of Michigan-made music.

“It became clear I was going to focus everything I had learned over the past 40 years on my two favorite things: Michigan and local music,” Maloney said. “So when I retired, The Sonic Coast was born.”

Today, Maloney oversees the burgeoning online radio station, which plays Americana, rock, folk, country, roots, soul and funk from national and Michigan artists.

“I saw a tremendous opportunity in the state to play local artists (abundant!) on a meaningful platform to give them exposure next to national acts that were getting limited exposure in Michigan. Unfortunately, traditional commercial radio doesn’t invest in/support local artists much anymore,” he said.

“It’s honestly more important than ever for a band to get played and promoted on a platform. Spotify, Pandora and others are simply a database of music for consumers. Sonic Coast plays, promotes and interacts with the artists.”

To learn more about The Sonic Coast, I chatted with Maloney about becoming a DJ, working in radio, taking leadership roles with several stations, growing his new online radio platform, celebrating Michigan artists and music, adding curators and supporting live music.

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Jam On – Ypsilanti’s Doogatron Drops Self-titled Debut Album, Hosts Release Party Tonight at Ziggy’s

Doogatron’s self-titled album is out today.

With an electrifying new album and turbo-charged release party, Doogatron doesn’t miss a beat.

The Ypsilanti techno trio is celebrating a jam-packed day with the arrival of their self-titled debut album and an 8 p.m. release party tonight at Ziggy’s.

DoogaTron’s Stevie Tee and Kyle will perform together and host separate DJ sets while two of Yspilanti’s finest producers and DJs, Jason Hogans aka :brownstudy and Sleezy Hamilton, and DJ Sean Brocash will round out the release party.

Tonight’s release party serves as the ideal environment for hearing and experiencing Doogatron’s debut album live through a robust sound system built on a mix of analog and digital synthesizers and technology. Their techno sound encompasses heady machine-funk combined with synth freak-outs.

“We’re getting to a point where we can open up the idea of what we’re doing with DJing and playing our stuff. We can do a whole night like that,” Tee said. “We’re going to do the first couple of hours, and then we’re going to turn it over to our friends and have fun and party with people afterward.”

Today’s album drop and release party have been nearly four years in the making. Together, Tee (bass synths, additional textures, samples and occasional vocals) and Kyle (drum machines/samples) DJed as Doogatron for about two years before switching to a live PA setup. At the same time, Tee recorded techno music with Mike (lead/synth pads) as part of a separate project called Chill Spector.

Continue reading “Jam On – Ypsilanti’s Doogatron Drops Self-titled Debut Album, Hosts Release Party Tonight at Ziggy’s” →