Tag: Peter Madcat Ruth

Fun Fest Gears Up for Fifth Edition at Ypsilanti’s Frog Island Park on August 9

Dani Darling performs at the inaugural Fun Fest in 2021. Photo – Tim Blackman II

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

Taylor Greenshields didn’t anticipate he’d be doing Fun Fest this long.

The Ypsilanti audio engineer, producer, and drummer started the annual event in 2021 after envisioning Frog Island Park’s amphitheater as the ideal space for an outdoor music festival.

“Yeah, it’s crazy that it’s the fifth year,” said Greenshields, who’s curating and hosting the event on August 9. “The first year was like a test run, and then seeing people enjoy the fest so much the next couple years, I had to keep it going.”

Since then, he’s featured an eclectic group of local artists performing at Fun Fest, including Travis Auckerman, Stormy Chromer, Ki5, The Macpodz, Thornetta Davis, and others.

“It’s almost like the festival is its own organism at this point,” said Greenshields, also the owner and operator of Fundamental Sound Co., an Ypsilanti-based recording studio.

“The festival has grown in many ways over the years by having different activities for kids [and] all sorts of different vendors, bands, and artists. Just the word getting around about the festival has really evolved over the last few years [as well].”

Now, he’s gearing up for the fifth edition of Fun Fest, which includes returning acts Al Bettis, Dani Darling, Ma Baker, and Violet Sol. It also features the new additions of Marcus Elliot, Peter Madcat Ruth’s C.A.R.Ma Quartet, and Jacuzzi Beach to the festival’s lineup.

“I want to keep the lineup different every year, but wanted to bring back some of the staples from the first couple Fun Fests,” he said. “I like how Marcus represents Detroit and Madcat represents Ann Arbor, and we are bringing them together in the middle in Ypsi.”

I recently did an email interview with Greenshields ahead of the festival.

Continue reading “Fun Fest Gears Up for Fifth Edition at Ypsilanti’s Frog Island Park on August 9” →

Songbird — Dave & Kristi Embrace the Spirit of the Chickadee on Their New Folk Album

Dave Boutette and Kristi Davis in the studio at Ann Arbor’s Big Sky Recording. Photo by Misty Lyn Photography.

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

Dave & Kristi feel a special connection to the chickadee.

The Dexter duo embraces the songbird as a symbol of joy and hope on their new folk album, The Chickadees.

“The chickadee reference is about the spiritual part of you that lives on,” said Kristi Davis about her latest release with husband and musical partner Dave Boutette.

“That’s the hopeful part, and they represent good luck, happiness, knowledge, truth, and adaptability. That’s exactly the stuff that we need right now.”

Davis and Boutette channel the chickadee’s positive spirit as they reflect on love, loss, and aging across the album’s 13 tracks.

“As far as things that are on the record, we’ve experienced a lot of loss in the last two or three years,” Boutette said. “And also this summer we’re both turning 60. It’s everything from family members and friends passing.”

The duo unexpectedly lost three family members and a pet during the last few years.

“Our dog passed very unexpectedly and a week later my dad passed,” said Davis, who sings and plays percussion on the album. “Dave lost his mom and his brother. There’s a little memorial to them on [the album], but it’s been an inspiration for the music.”

Some songs from The Chickadees also reference Dave & Kristi’s growing concerns about the nation’s changing political climate and its impact on our future.

“There are different parts of our foundation that we’ve been walking on for a long time and counting on for a long time that have shifted and are slipping,” said Boutette, the duo’s co-lead vocalist and guitarist.

“We’re OK, we have a roof over our head, and there’s food in the cupboard. It’s just that we’re older now—things are different underneath us now. We’re in uncharted territory, and we’re just trying to make our way through it.”

Dave & Kristi explore those themes and reflections through singable lyrics, rich harmonies, and emotive instrumentation.

To learn more, I spoke with the duo ahead of their June 1 album release show at Ann Arbor’s Old Town Tavern.

Continue reading “Songbird — Dave & Kristi Embrace the Spirit of the Chickadee on Their New Folk Album” →

Deep Roots – Shari Kane & Dave Steele, Red Tail Ring Celebrate Original Folk, Acoustic Blues Music Sunday at The Ark

Shari Kane and Dave Steele will bring their acoustic blues to The Ark Sunday night in a dual headlining show with Red Tail Ring. Photo courtesy of Shari Kane and Dave Steele
Red Tail Ring’s Michael Beauchamp-Cohen and Laurel Premo will share their folk music and traditional ballads at The Ark Sunday night. Photo by David Birkam

Two Michigan-based duos will bring deeply-rooted music, innovative instrumental work and lush harmonies to The Ark for a Sunday show.

Shari Kane & Dave Steele and Red Tail Ring’s Laurel Premo and Michael Beauchamp-Cohen will co-headline the show and share a bevy of original folk music, traditional ballads and acoustic blues.

“We will do some of our own songs and play as a fourpiece with them,” Steele said. “They put a whole new dimension on what we play.”

For Sunday’s show, Kane & Steele will throw a four-handed acoustic party filled with street swing, stomp blues and mountain twang, including tracks from their 2015 album, “Feels Like Home.”

Together, the husband-and-wife acoustic blues duo recorded 12 covers from blues guitar legends Robert Johnson, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Blake, Robert Lockwood Jr., and Mississippi John Hurt and two original songs, “If I Don’t Jump” and “The Last Day of Summer,” in their Ann Arbor area home studio.

“I didn’t know initially that Dave loved Blind Blake or Blind Willie McTell or all of these people who were like home to me,” said Kane, who originally met Steele in summer 1991. “When I saw him on the street busking at the art fair, really what I was saying was I didn’t know you loved the same music that I love. That’s become home for us, and that’s really where we come from.”

Their love of acoustic blues led Kane & Steele to a fruitful 30-year musical partnership after performing previously with Peter “Madcat” Ruth and Big Dave & the Ultrasonics. Steele’s smoky vocals, percussive rhythm and innovative lead lines blend magically with Kane’s crisp finger-picking style, rootsy leads and stinging slide work.

Continue reading “Deep Roots – Shari Kane & Dave Steele, Red Tail Ring Celebrate Original Folk, Acoustic Blues Music Sunday at The Ark” →