Tag: Live music

Audra Kubat Promises Intimate Performance for March 6 Detroit Institute of Arts Show

Audra Kubat. Photo by Miles Marie, aka Nomadic Madam.

Audra Kubat sees vulnerability as her superpower.

The folk singer-songwriter shares that rawness and honesty with people during her live performances.

“When I get done with a set and someone tells me they cried, I think, ‘Yes, I have done it!’” said Kubat, who lives in Detroit’s NW Goldberg Neighborhood. “There are so few public spaces where that kind of release is encouraged, but I believe we so desperately need to have more shared healing opportunities.”

Luckily, that opportunity is right around the corner: Kubat is playing March 6 for “Friday Night Live,” an ongoing music series at the Detroit Institute of Arts that features local artists and other acts.

“The March 6 show will mostly be intimate and stripped back,” she said. “I want the words front and center for the audience, then for the melody to show up, then the supporting music, and finally resonance.”

Kubat’s show will feature new material and past favorites with several special guests.

I recently caught up with Kubat ahead of the show.

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DIY Approach – Manchester Underground Music and Art Supports Local Artists Through Monthly Live Shows

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“Pistol” Pete Midtgard performs with The Twistin’ Tarantulas in July 2023 at River Raisin Distillery for a Manchester Underground Music and Art show. Photo – Chuck Marshall of Life in Michigan

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulp blog.

Back in 1977, high school friends Steve Girbach and John Mooneyham bonded over listening to Rush, Judas Priest, and AC/DC albums after school.

Those listening sessions at Mooneyham’s house in Manchester, Mchigan eventually turned into serious discussions about forming a band and playing live shows.

It wasn’t until a few years after graduating from Manchester High School that Girbach and Mooneyham put their musical plan into action.

“Steve and I were talking and we said, ‘Why don’t we get some gear and we’ll put on shows and festivals?’ We had all these grand ideas people in their early 20s come up with,” said Mooneyham, who now co-runs the Manchester Underground Music and Art monthly concert series with Girbach.

“About a month later, Steve said, ‘I invited some guys over to your house to play some music and you’re gonna play bass.’”

Together, guitarist Girbach and bassist Mooneyham played in two cover bands, Allister and The DTs, and later hosted a music festival featuring 13 acts at a former amusement park in the Irish Hills.

Not long after that, The DTs called it quits and everyday life took over for Girbach and Mooneyham. What they didn’t realize at the time was that initial music festival helped lay the groundwork for what would become Manchester Underground Music and Art in 2019.

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