For Craig “Bones” Maki, Detroit’s musical legacy extends beyond Motown, the MC5 and Eminem.
It includes a bygone era filled with early country music – imagine barn dances, radio shows and jukeboxes blaring emerging country, western, bluegrass and rockabilly stars right here in the Motor City.
As early as the 1930s, a growing series of country radio stations, nightclubs and record labels emerged to supporting Detroit’s thriving scene. Over the next four decades, several local country music stars, including the York Brothers, Chief Redbird, Swanee Caldwell and Eddie Jackson, proved Detroit could rival Nashville.
“I wound up finding out that there were a number of records made in Detroit during that era, and I was really interested in that because I had no idea that something like that had happened,” said Maki, who co-wrote “Detroit Country Music: Mountaineers, Cowboys, and Rockabillies” with Keith Cady in 2013. “I’m very curious about local history, so I wound up tracking down a few fellows.”
In 1990, Maki unearthed a goldmine of Detroit country music while spinning 1950s rockabilly records at WCBN-FM, a freeform Ann Arbor radio station at the University of Michigan. He took over as host of the specialty “Rockabilly Show” and played timeless tracks by past Detroit country artists. Maki continued that tradition when he later moved to “Honey Radio” (560 AM) in Oak Park.
“I started doing interviews for it just because I was so curious to learn more about the music, and a lot of the guys who were in the studio and in the ‘50s making it were still around and performing here and there,” said Maki, also a metro Detroit country singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Maki will celebrate that overlooked era of Detroit country music with the Blue Water Boys Feb. 21 as part of the Farmington Civic Theater’s “LIVE!” 2020 winter concert series. Special guests Rochelle Clark and Caleb Peters will open the show.
During their set, Maki and the Blue Water Boys will spotlight classics from Detroit country music legends as well as originals from Maki’s other vintage-inspired projects, including Big Barn Combo and the Sun Dodgers from the early 2000s. For the current band, it’s like opening a country music time capsule for today’s audiences to hear yesterday’s sonic treasures.
“We’re gonna do some tunes from the Big Barn Combo album, we’re gonna do a couple of tunes from the Sun Dodgers material, and we’re gonna do some songs that we think deserve more attention that were recorded by the guys we reported on in the book,” Maki said.
The Stratton Setlist 