Tag: Emily Slomovits

From Now On — Detroit’s Mike Ward Looks to the Future on “The Time That Remains” Album

Mike Ward embraces the future on “The Time That Remains” album. Photo – Steven Glynn

Mike Ward lives each day to the fullest.

The Detroit singer-songwriter and guitarist reconciles the past and embraces the future on The Time That Remains.

“I feel like I know these songs the best,” said Ward about his new folk album. “When I released The Darkness and The Light, most of those songs I knew as well as these. I feel like these songs are a lot closer to me than anything I’ve done.”

For his seventh release, Ward gets up close and personal about love, loss, and wisdom across the album’s dozen tracks. He spent considerable time fine-tuning the album’s evocative lyrics, heartfelt vocals, and earnest instrumentation before going into the studio last fall.

“This is unlike any album I’ve done because the songs have been performed out more than any of my other albums,” Ward said.

“When we recorded it, we produced 15 songs, but we trimmed it back because we felt these were the songs that hung together [the best]. At one point, we had a working title called Prayers, Parables, and Pet Peeves, and those are the buckets [the songs] fell into.”

I recently spoke with Ward about The Time That Remains ahead of an August 3 album release show in Ferndale, Michigan.

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Travel Light – Linden Thoburn Emits Hopeful Tales on New ‘When the Sun Comes Shining Through’ Album

Linden Thoburn 3
Linden Thoburn creates a spring-like feel on “When the Sun Comes Shining Through.” Photo courtesy of Linden Thoburn

Linden Thoburn beautifully shines a light on the road less traveled.

The Brighton, Michigan country-folk singer-songwriter and guitarist shares hopeful tales of navigating life’s seasonal changes on her adventurous new album, When the Sun Comes Shining Through.

“There’s a lot of movement, and there’s a lot of leaving one state and going into another state. I write from listening to life and listening to myself, and that’s just what was there,” Thoburn said.

“It’s somebody who’s able to look back and be here, yet still be able to bring some perspective, hopefulness and realism, too. The journey continues, and if you’re really going to live this life and be here, you have to be awake to the journey.”

On When the Sun Comes Shining Through, Thoburn deeply embraces a pictorial journey filled with lonesome AM radio, cherry red vans, summer berries, Mississippi tributaries, bright wings and Avalon forests. Each radiant track leaves a lasting imprint on the heart and soul of bygone eras and unread chapters.

“A lot of 2022 has been getting this album ready to launch … and I keep thinking COVID is over, and the sun comes shining through, and then COVID keeps coming back,” she said with a laugh. “This album is like leaving COVID, and it’s like going from winter and heading into spring.”

Continue reading “Travel Light – Linden Thoburn Emits Hopeful Tales on New ‘When the Sun Comes Shining Through’ Album“ →