Tag: Jake Halkey

Coming Full Circle — Detroit’s Jackamo Returns to The Shelter for February 21 Headlining Show

Jimmy Showers, Alison Wiercioch, and Tessa Wiercioch of Jackamo. Photo taken from Jackamo’s Facebook page.

Jackamo remembers their first show at The Shelter.

It was December 2019, and the indie-folk band had played an opening set at the Detroit music venue.

“We opened for Brother Elsey just right before COVID,” said Alison Wiercioch, one of the band’s vocalists. “That was one of our first times playing as a full band.”

At the time, Wiercioch had performed with sister and vocalist Tessa Wiercioch, guitarist Jimmy Showers, bassist Steve Lehane, keyboardist John Raleeh, and drummer Steve Stetson.

“There’s something special, too, I think about a venue like The Shelter,” said Showers, who makes up the core of the band with the Wiercioch sisters. “I feel like the best place to see a band is at a small club show.”

Now, seven years later, it’s a full-circle moment for Jackamo: they’re gearing up for a February 21 headlining show at The Shelter.

“We said, ‘OK, we want to do a headlining show,’” said Alison Wiercioch. “We want to see what we can do and what type of room we can try to fill.”

The show will feature new music and old favorites from Jackamo, who’s been diligently working on their debut album at Royal Oak’s Rustbelt Studios.

“With the album coming out [later this year], we’re trying to find our sound and what we want to sound like,” said Tessa Wiercioch. “I feel like we almost went back to the basics. We thought, “Well, what are our biggest inspirations, and who are our influences?”

Those influences range from Lucinda Williams and The Staves to The Milk Carton Kids and The Lumineers.

“I was really inspired by The Lumineers’ album, III,” said Alison Wiercioch. “There were all of these music videos with stories, and I was following the storyline—I was enthralled. I looked forward to every time they would release a new music video for the songs. I think we have that idea of interweaving these songs together.”

To learn more, I spoke with Jackamo about their music ahead of the show.

Continue reading “Coming Full Circle — Detroit’s Jackamo Returns to The Shelter for February 21 Headlining Show” →

Spring Breakthrough — The 3148s Ditch the Michigan Winter Blues on “Cabin Fever” Single

Jason Seifert, Greg Jones, Tom Jones, and Ian Coote of The 3148s. Courtesy photo

Greg Jones wants to spring into action.

The Metro Detroit vocalist-guitarist is ditching the winter blues after being indoors all season.

“I find, for whatever reason, it feels like it gets worse every year,” said Jones, who performs in The 3148s. “When I was younger, I’d look at snowbirds and think, “That seems like a lot of travel and a lot of hassle.”

While he’s not headed south this time, Jones channels that pent-up frustration, misery, and restlessness on “Cabin Fever,” the energetic, hardcore-inspired single from The 3148s.

Along with bandmates Ian Coote (guitar, keys, mandocello, vocals), Jason Seifert (bass), and brother Tom Jones (drums), he sings: “Sunlight deprived and locked inside / All alone in a crowded house / Grinding my teeth, grinning in agony / Self-loathing in sheep’s clothing / As all the walls keep closing / In on me and my sweet sanity.”

“And now I say, ‘Let’s get these kids to graduate so that I can buy a house in Florida and live there for six months out of the year,’” Jones said. “You feel trapped, and it’s like the walls are closing in by the time you get to this time of year. I just wanna be outside, and I wanna be warm and comfortable. I haven’t seen the sun, and yeah, it drags.”

The adrenalized alt-rock-meets-punk instrumentation on “Cabin Fever” does anything but drag. The band’s fearless electric guitar, thumping bass, and charging drums pulsate alongside Jones’ angry vocals.

To learn more, I spoke with The 3148s about its latest releases and background ahead of an April 5 show at New Dodge Lounge in Hamtramck, Michigan.

Continue reading “Spring Breakthrough — The 3148s Ditch the Michigan Winter Blues on “Cabin Fever” Single” →

Sonic Youth – Allye Gaietto Reconciles Past Expectations on New ‘Hoping for More’ Album

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Allye Gaietto revisits her past self on “Hoping for More.” Photo – Rolando Ybarra

Allye Gaietto candidly shares an internal monologue with her younger self.

The Detroit indie folk-pop singer-songwriter and pianist reconciles past expectations, relationships and interactions on her perceptive new album, Hoping for More, which drops Aug. 26.

“It’s so much discovering of who you are, what your beliefs are and where you stand on all sorts of different things. I think, for a lot of us, our identity is about who’s around us and how we interact with people and how they see us,” said Gaietto about previous life experiences in her early 20s.

“I think for this record there are a lot of things … like I had my first serious relationship and then got dumped for the first time, and that’s one of the songs on the album. That was huge for me.”

With Hoping for More, Gaietto provides a huge release of deeply buried emotions that still feel tender and raw. Whether encountering relief, heartache or courage, she beautifully documents those experiences through contemplative lyrics, haunting melodies and lush instrumentation.

“It’s this funny contrast of me trying to reconcile like, ‘What do you think about me? What do I think about you? How do we feel about each other?’ with friendships, romantic relationships and parent relationships,” said Gaietto, who also released the single, “I Guess I Don’t,” earlier this year.

“After the album was finished, the new stuff I’ve been writing … sometimes I have to put myself back in that early 20s, new relationship mindset because it’s a goldmine for feelings and content.”

Continue reading “Sonic Youth – Allye Gaietto Reconciles Past Expectations on New ‘Hoping for More’ Album” →

Strike a Chord – The Indigo Curve Hits Hard with New ‘But I Wanna Write Love Songs’ Single

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The Indigo Curve seeks inspiration from Arctic Monkeys on their latest single, “But I Wanna Write Love Songs.”

Ish Chowdhury couldn’t get a hypnotic guitar riff out of his head.

The Indigo Curve vocalist repeatedly heard the punchy, terse chord progression of Arctic Monkeys’ 2007 track, “Teddy Picker,” and felt a rush of inspiration.

“I was just listening and thinking, ‘Damn, what a simple thing that is … it hits so fucking hard,’” said Chowdhury, who fronts the Detroit indie-rock quintet.

“I wanna write something like that, so I called our guitarist, Adam Liles, and showed him the riff I came up with. He replied, ‘That’s cool. Now figure it out in bar chords. That’s a good way to kill 45 minutes.’”

Those crucial 45 minutes produced a crunchy electric guitar riff, which Chowdhury also shared with bandmates Niko Kannapell (bass), Mike Liles (organ, keys) and Markus Kennedy (drums).

“I told Markus to go full-out, early Arctic Monkeys mode on it,” said Chowdhury about the band’s first new release since 2021’s “Lucidiscene.” “And Markus fucking did it. That dude is just the best drummer, man. Dude is an artist to the max.”

That maximum overdrive produced The Indigo Curve’s latest propulsive single, “But I Wanna Write Love Songs,” which fuses fiery electric guitar, thunderous drums, smashing cymbals, pulsating bass and smooth organ.

In tandem, Chowdhury sings, “Jekyll & Hyde in the back of the bag/The fact of the matter is a matter of fact/I don’t wanna fall in love/But I wanna write love songs.”

“I’m always in the middle of writing a song as Dr. Jekyll until the Hyde in me takes over … It’s funny because this song has absolutely nothing to do with love, but all the lyrics ended up leading to that,” he said.

“Mike named the song, and that’s how it really came together in the end. He just randomly said, ‘But I wanna write love songs,’ and that’s what we rolled with.”

The band rolled with the track at Royal Oak’s Rustbelt Studios and invited engineer Jake Halkey to help shape it. Also a drummer, Halkey added a larger-than-life drum sound to “But I Wanna Write Love Songs.”

“I think that was the most important part … the song is just meant to feel like driving 120 miles per hour against a marmalade sunset, head-first into a herd of goats crossing the road,” Chowdhury said. “I love goats. No goats were harmed in the making of this song.”

Goats aside, The Indigo Curve also dropped a frantic new video for their latest single. Directed by Andrew Brumfield of Love Streams Films, the kaleidoscopic video accelerates through retro pop-culture images, vintage TV screen shots and recent band studio footage.

“Andrew’s work lined up so well with the track, it was ridiculous. I couldn’t imagine any other music vid for that song,” Chowdhury said.

“Homie styled so hard on that thing. He was in the studio with us. ‘Brummy’ asked if we had any preferences or requests. I just remember saying, ‘Involve as little of us and more zombies,’ and I think he nailed that.”

With a new single and video out now, The Indigo Curve plans to drop additional releases, including singles or an EP, later this year.

“A full-length album is obviously what we want, but we’ll never do that until we know every single song belongs on there,” Chowdhury said. “But our new shit, man, that stuff is miles ahead of anything we’ve just released. You find yourself a little more each day, and we’re chillin’ in that sphere these days.”