Tag: Ohio

Nostalgic Christmas — Olivia Van Goor Celebrates Holiday Music Past and Present on “Waiting for Santa” Album

Olivia Van Goor with her family’s dog, Murphy. Photo – Matt Ryan

This holiday season, Olivia Van Goor is stepping back in time.

The jazz vocalist-composer reimagines Christmas songs from TV specials and movies she loved as a child on her latest album, Waiting for Santa.

“I thought it would be fun to pick some of those songs that you forget about, that aren’t overplayed, or that aren’t overdone,” said Van Goor, who’s based in Royal Oak, Michigan.

“And speaking of Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, if you listen to the full version of ‘Put One Foot in Front of the Other’ at the very end, they go into a section that’s in seven instead of in four. That’s what I did in my recording at the end. I thought, ‘This is so hip [that it’s in] an odd meter. I don’t even remember that when I was a kid.’”

Waiting for Santa also includes Van Goor’s soaring renditions of “Silver and Gold” and “There’s Always Tomorrow” from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and “Believe” from The Polar Express.

“It was really fun to think about those songs, and they just so easily are turned into a very standard feel in the jazz world,” she said.

“And then going from that, it was really fun to reimagine more stories from those things and write the song, ‘Hermey’s Blues,’ with Mike [Harrison]. Hermey the Elf [from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer] didn’t ever get a song. I loved playing along with those ideas and feeling like I was accessing that part of my childhood.”

While the album’s six covers sparkle, Van Goor truly shines on the seven originals, which include a combination of songs she composed or co-composed with others. There’s also a track composed by bandmate Mike Harrison called “Mrs. Mistletoe.”

“I started coming up with ideas, and I had a bunch of ideas for songs that I thought were missing from the Christmas repertoire,” Van Goor said. “And then I was thinking, ‘I don’t have to do this all alone; I can co-compose with some of my friends,’ and that’s how the album came to be.”

Along with bandmates Reuben Stump (bass, vocals), Dave Zwolinski (drums), and Mike Harrison (piano), Van Goor presents a refreshing Christmas album featuring soulful vocals, nostalgic and festive lyrics, and enchanting instrumentation.

I recently spoke with Van Goor about Waiting for Santa ahead of several live shows in December.

Continue reading “Nostalgic Christmas — Olivia Van Goor Celebrates Holiday Music Past and Present on “Waiting for Santa” Album” →

Everything Will Be OK — Blockhouse Valley Learns From Life’s Disappointments on “It’s Alright” Album

Blockhouse Valley’s Danny Steinkopf, Cody Cooper, Ashleigh Glass-Cooper, and Jon Howard. Photo – Kyla Preissner

Blockhouse Valley finds a silver lining in life’s disappointments.

The Americana band embraces the growth and wisdom that comes from personal and professional challenges on It’s Alright.

“A lot of it was the decompression of our days and things that were weighing on us,” said Ashleigh Glass-Cooper, Blockhouse Valley’s vocalist, about the Metro Detroit band’s latest album.

“It also was thoughts we were having and things that were racing through our minds that we were able to capture in those times and hold onto for moments where we could make something better out of them.”

Glass-Cooper traded those thoughts and feelings with husband, musical partner, and mandolinist-guitarist Cody Cooper during their daily commutes home from work.

“It wasn’t that we sat down and said, ‘Let’s write songs about this,’” she said. “We tend to talk about [things] on our commutes, and our brains get a chance to decompress in ways that we don’t always set time apart for otherwise.”

Those conversations laid the groundwork for It’s Alright, which features eight tracks filled with soulful vocals, clever lyrics, and infectious instrumentation.

“We gave them a structure, a context, a musical home that we could potentially share with other people,” Glass-Cooper said. “And we think [the songs] are really relatable because we don’t want to dwell on all of the negativity. We don’t want to give it more power through what we’ve done, but we do want to provide that release.”

To learn more, I spoke with Glass-Cooper and Cooper about the album, its themes, and the creative process behind it.

Continue reading “Everything Will Be OK — Blockhouse Valley Learns From Life’s Disappointments on “It’s Alright” Album” →

For the Love of Music — Blockhouse Valley’s River Raisin Americana Celebration Showcases Breadth and Depth of Genre and Artists at April 26 Event in Monroe

The inaugural River Raisin Americana Celebration features six acts from Michigan and Kentucky.

As members of Blockhouse Valley, Ashleigh Glass-Cooper and Cody Cooper hold a deep appreciation for Americana music.

The married partners not only write, record, and perform in that genre for their Metro Detroit quartet, but now they’re hosting a new festival to celebrate their love of it.

Known as the River Raisin Americana Celebration, the inaugural event will showcase six acts that demonstrate the breadth and depth of Americana music on April 26 at Monroe’s River Raisin Centre for the Arts.

“As Americana music draws from and mixes a broad array of other genres, one of the key concepts for the River Raisin Americana Celebration is to bring a variety of musicians with diverse approaches, instrumentations, styles, and stories,” said Glass-Cooper, who’s also the festival’s executive director.

“To accomplish our vision, we invited all bands and artists to apply to perform in our inaugural concert. We were thrilled to receive over 100 submissions! We reviewed each submission and curated a show that we believe will have something for everyone.”

What resulted is a solid lineup of Americana musicians from Michigan and Kentucky, including headliner The Gasoline Gypsies, Luke Trimble, Silver Creek Revival, Daniel Neihoff, Mike Ward, and Blockhouse Valley.

“Americana is a genre that can feel grounded while also being surprising, delightful, and moving,” Glass-Cooper said. “I fully anticipate that our audience members will each discover something new to love, even if they are primarily attending as fans of one of the six acts.”

I recently spoke with Glass-Cooper about the festival and the inspiration behind it.

Continue reading “For the Love of Music — Blockhouse Valley’s River Raisin Americana Celebration Showcases Breadth and Depth of Genre and Artists at April 26 Event in Monroe” →

Total Immersion — Toledo’s John Eagan Offers a Spectrum of Electronic Sounds on “Signal” Instrumental Album

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John Eagan explores a range of electronic sounds on “Signal.” Photo courtesy of John Eagan

John Eagan creates an immersive sonic experience for listeners on Signal.

The Toledo, Ohio multi-instrumentalist and producer invites listeners to slip on a pair of headphones and absorb a spectrum of electronic sounds on his latest album.

“Everything I ever make is intended as headphone music,” Eagan said. “It’s not something to put on while doing the dishes. Some things are ambient—and in that sense—there are some things that people would label with the ambient term.”

As part of that electronic music exploration, listeners encounter six instrumental tracks that range from atmospheric to contemplative to chaotic to cinematic.

“I make music for people who are paying attention. It doesn’t even matter if it’s exactly matching whatever idea I might have. For that matter, sometimes the idea in my head is vague or nebulous,” said Eagan, who plays keyboards and percussion on Signal.

“I like a bit of ambiguity in music—it doesn’t have to be all spelled out. You might come up with something different than I had in my head and I’ll think that’s cool. It’s food for your imagination.”

To learn more, I recently spoke with Eagan about his background and the creative process for Signal.

Continue reading “Total Immersion — Toledo’s John Eagan Offers a Spectrum of Electronic Sounds on “Signal” Instrumental Album” →

Tale From the Darkside — Blockhouse Valley Shares Bewitching Rendition of “In the Pines” Traditional Folk Song

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Blockhouse Valley’s Danny Steinkopf, Cody Cooper, Ashleigh Glass, and Jon Howard. Photo courtesy of Blockhouse Valley

Blockhouse Valley fully embraces the dark side on “In the Pines.”

The Metro Detroit quartet of Ashleigh Glass (vocals), Cody Cooper (mandolin, guitar), Jon Howard (guitar), and Danny Steinkopf (upright bass) explores a wicked tale about a sinister woman and her late husband on its bewitching rendition of the traditional folk song.

“This song contains a lot of imagery in the lyrics that’s unapologetic in its darkness,” Glass said. “You don’t always see that in traditional tunes that have survived through generations of public sensibilities.”

Surrounded by vigilant acoustic guitar, mandolin, and bass, Glass sings, “Her husband was a hardworking man / Just about a mile from here / His head was found in a driving wheel / But his body was never found.”

“We wanted to highlight that darkness in this recording and the sense that the woman in this song is not a person that should be taken lightly,” she said.

To learn more, I spoke with Glass about the Americana group’s latest single ahead of a September 21 live set at Adrian’s Artalicious Fine Arts Fair.

Continue reading “Tale From the Darkside — Blockhouse Valley Shares Bewitching Rendition of “In the Pines” Traditional Folk Song” →

Dig Out – The Idiot Kids Mine Past Struggles and Make Room for the Future on ‘Chapels’ Album

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The Idiot Kids’ Nicholas Zambeck, Jon-Mikal Bartee and Andrew Maslowsky search for acceptance on “Chapels.” Photo – Jackleen Diana Eve

For Jon-Mikal Bartee, a new album with The Idiot Kids allows for a deep exploration of the past and a clear pathway for the future.

The lead vocalist-guitarist of the Detroit garage-punk trio mines personal experiences, thoughts and emotions related to sex, identity, addiction and trauma on Chapels. In turn, those excavations create more space for relief and renewal.

“That’s kind of what the whole album is about. Through trauma and addiction and all of that, trying to find acceptance. That’s just what it kind of turned into. It’s not like we sat down and said, ‘I want to write an album about my childhood,’” Bartee said.

“For me, listening to artists like Elliott Smith, Thom Yorke, Bob Dylan and people who talked about very personal things—sometimes in a more abstract way and sometimes a little more literally—that’s what I connected to. Just from hearing people talk about what they’re dealing with didn’t resonate in the same way as like putting it to a melody or a rhythm.”

Alongside bandmates Nicholas Zambeck (bass) and Andrew Maslowsky (drums, vocals), Bartee adopts that refreshing approach on Chapels, which features a dozen tracks filled with candid lyrics, earworm choruses and turbocharged punk-rock instrumentation.

“This is the kind of stuff, as a kid and as a teenager, I didn’t hear anyone talking about. Luckily, the world has come a long way in the last 20 years. But, at the same time, with more visibility, there’s also more hatred, so it’s kind of like this battling force back and forth,” said Bartee, who grew up in a religious family and came out as an adult.

“These are the songs I wish I had heard as a teenager or a young adult, and I was dealing with that internalized homophobia and religious trauma and whatnot. That’s why I ended up calling it Chapels because it all kind of went down to that.”

Continue reading “Dig Out – The Idiot Kids Mine Past Struggles and Make Room for the Future on ‘Chapels’ Album” →

Classic Take – Blockhouse Valley Creates Rootsy Renditions of ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ and ‘Auld Lang Syne’ for the Holiday Season

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Blockhouse Valley’s Danny Steinkopf, Cody Cooper, Ashleigh Glass and Jon Howard create radiant versions of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Auld Lang Syne.” Photo – Kyla Preissner

Four years ago, Metro Detroit’s Blockhouse Valley made plans to reimagine two classic songs for the holiday season.

While heading north to a performance at the Lexington Village Theatre, Ashleigh Glass (vocals) and Cody Cooper (mandolin, guitar) discussed creating a rootsy arrangement for “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

“We had a little time to play together before Cody’s performance that evening, and the arrangement came to us very quickly and naturally,” said Glass, who’s performed with Cooper in the Americana group since 2019. “So much so that we decided to film it there in the Airbnb and posted it to our social media that night.”

After their trip to Lexington, Michigan, the two shared their idea with bandmates Jon Howard (guitar) and Danny Steinkopf (upright bass) and created a radiant version that beautifully captures the holiday spirit.

“The textures added by the mandolin and upright bass truly polished the gem that we started with,” Glass said. “We are excited to share the emotional roller coaster of our rendition that embraces the familiarity of the classic and adds our warmth, relatability and spirit.”

To further capture that feeling, Blockhouse Valley also opted to record a Celtic-inspired version of “Auld Lang Syne” as a B-side to “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

“Cody’s arrangement truly astounded me! I love that our version plays into the Celtic roots of the traditional piece and elevates it beyond the typical drinking song interpretations,” Glass said. “We hope that this call to reflection and appreciation for your past, present and future will be a welcome addition to holiday traditions.”

I recently spoke to Glass about the group’s latest holiday singles, a Dec. 15 show at Four Keys Brewing in Blissfield, Michigan and plans for 2024.

Continue reading “Classic Take – Blockhouse Valley Creates Rootsy Renditions of ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ and ‘Auld Lang Syne’ for the Holiday Season” →

Midwest Americana – Blockhouse Valley Combines Regional Folk and Bluegrass with Rust Belt Grit on Self-Titled Debut EP

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Blockhouse Valley’s Ashleigh Glass, Jon Howard, Cody Cooper and Danny Steinkopf feature wistful stories about heartbreak, home and hope on their self-titled debut EP. Photo courtesy of Blockhouse Valley

With musical roots throughout the Midwest, Blockhouse Valley deeply cultivates a flourishing Americana landscape in southeast Michigan.

The metro Detroit quartet of Ashleigh Glass (vocals), Cody Cooper (mandolin, guitar), Jon Howard (guitar) and Danny Steinkopf (upright bass) combines robust elements of Appalachian folk and Tennessee bluegrass with gritty Rust Belt sentiments on their self-titled debut EP.

“Growing up, my prolific and prodigious grandparents helped shape my vision for my musical endeavors. I was exposed to artists like Dolly Parton, Marty Stuart and Chet Atkins, but my personal preferences skewed more toward rock, blues and indie music,” said Cooper, who hails from Sunbury, Ohio, and whose grandparents reside in northeast Tennessee’s Blockhouse Valley.

“When Ashleigh, a West Virginia native, and I started writing music together, we found a lot of shared experiences tied to the trials of living in the Rust Belt. We both lamented witnessing the impact of lost industry and economy on our parents’ and grandparents’ generations and were concerned about how it was shaping our peers and our perspectives in the Midwest.”

In response, Cooper and Glass penned six thoughtful tracks for the EP that reconcile past struggles and beckon future growth. Wistful stories about heartbreak, home and hope soar alongside rich harmonies and fervent acoustic instrumentation.

“The tie to Blockhouse Valley harkens to the short-lived promise of prosperity, the long-term costs lurking beneath the surface, and the ever-enduring splinter of hope that we might learn to do better as we learn from all we’ve seen,” Glass said.

“From this viewpoint, our music has been influenced by a wide range of artists, most notably Chris Thile and his bands Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek. They encapsulate so many elements that we relish, including bluegrass instrumentation that blends nods to their predecessors with truly virtuosic musicianship.”

Continue reading “Midwest Americana – Blockhouse Valley Combines Regional Folk and Bluegrass with Rust Belt Grit on Self-Titled Debut EP” →

At Home – Ann Arbor’s Pajamas Hosts Headlining Show Friday at The Blind Pig

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Pajamas opens for Karina Rykman at The Parliament Room at Otus Supply in Ferndale. Photo – Austin R. Grinnell

Filled with gratitude and anticipation, Pajamas wants to show their hometown some love.

The Ann Arbor rock-funk jam quartet of Graham Low (drums, vocals), Nick Orr (guitars, vocals), Dan Schuler (bass, vocals) and Owen Kellenberger (keys, vocals) eagerly awaits their first headlining show Friday at The Blind Pig in nearly two years.

“Since we do perform in Ann Arbor pretty regularly, this one is going to be a love letter to our friends and fans, something unique and special. We’ve put a lot of work into making this happen. It’s a chance to celebrate our town, our community and where we are now as a band,” Orr said.

“I think people have a lot to look forward to with this show. We’ve hired a professional lighting engineer to accompany the music with an incredible light show. The Blind Pig is an Ann Arbor institution, and we’ve all been attending and playing shows there for years.”

As part of their show, Pajamas will share The Blind Pig stage with Toledo’s Cactus Jack, a quintet of talented friends quickly gaining traction with live Michigan audiences.

“We met Cactus Jack by putting a show together with them at the Tip Top Deluxe in Grand Rapids. It was our first time playing together, but I think we fit together really well musically,” Orr said.

“They’re really talented players with very good original songs. We got along really well and are happy that they were available to play with us again for this upcoming show. This show will be their Blind Pig debut, so it’s extra cool for that reason.”

Another extra “cool” reason to celebrate Pajamas’ Blind Pig return – new material to preview and experience from their forthcoming second studio album as well as some improvised covers.

“I’m really proud of the music that we’ve written for it, and I think it showcases how far we’ve come and where we’re currently at as a band,” said Orr, who previously released Onesie with the band in 2018. “It feels like we are hitting our songwriting stride, and more importantly, finding our own sound and voice. I think with this second full-length album we just know who we are and what we are about musically.”

Continue reading “At Home – Ann Arbor’s Pajamas Hosts Headlining Show Friday at The Blind Pig” →

Grit ‘N Glam – Jeremy Porter and The Tucos Release New ‘Put You on Hold’ Video

Jeremy Porter and The Tucos elegantly bring grit and glam to their stylish new video for Candy Coated Cannonball’s “Put You on Hold” single.

The Detroit rock trio of Jeremy Porter (guitar, vocals), Gabriel Doman (drums, vocals) and Bob Moulton (bass, vocals) seamlessly fuse energetic live performance footage with colorful animation to illustrate “Put You on Hold’s” storyline about a girl becoming captivated with city life.

“I wanted to go for a bit of a throwback to the Aerosmith videos with Alicia Silverstone – sort of a very loose plot about a party girl that maybe worked with the song, but didn’t necessarily follow the song’s lyrics to a tee,” said Porter, who worked with director-photographer David Kellogg on the video.

“There are nods to the lyrics here and there, and in general, like the song, it’s about a crazy night out for a not-so-crazy girl, but the concept and its tie-in to the lyrics aren’t overthought. We glammed the look of the band up a bit for shits ‘n giggles to do something different, get out of our comfort zone and have some fun.”

Porter and The Tucos demonstrate that glamorous fun while dressing head-to-toe in white or black and adorning sunglasses and scarves, thanks to stylist Alessandra Lipman. They proudly sport those hip stage fashions in a darkened gym located at the Plymouth Arts & Recreation Complex (PARC).

“PARC is an old high school here in Plymouth that’s been converted into an art space with studios that local artists can rent and stuff like that. I wanted something big like a high school gym, and it just seemed perfect,” said Porter, who’s partnering with Ghettoblaster Magazine to premiere the video today.

“I also like to keep my money in my community when possible and support the arts when I can. David and I met the manager there, and she showed us around, and we agreed it was our spot. The gym has the feel of the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ video a bit, which I liked.”

In tandem with the band’s live performance footage, the “Put You on Hold” video includes compelling animated characters and background scenery by Jones William. It explores the main character’s social outings with friends as well as her dating life and city adventures.

“(Jones) answered a Craigslist ad and was honestly one of the very few worth following up with. We never talked, just through email, a language barrier was an issue, and I wasn’t sure what I was gonna get. In the end, he delivered, and I was pleased with the work he did,” Porter said.

The band’s “Put You on Hold” video ultimately came together with Kellogg, who brought a “youthful, enthusiastic energy” to the camera.

“I met David through Instagram when we were recording. His work caught my eye, and he ended up doing all of the photography, including the cover, for the record. And even though he’s younger, he still gets the ‘70s/‘80s references we were throwing out – he’s well-traveled, so to speak,” Porter said.

“He didn’t have much to do with the concept or animation part, but he was very involved in scouting and choosing the location and everything that went into the performance part – lighting, setup, direction and all that. He and I also edited it together.”

Continue reading “Grit ‘N Glam – Jeremy Porter and The Tucos Release New ‘Put You on Hold’ Video” →