Riley Bean performs as Beanstalk and hosts the Groove On Up music festival. Photo courtesy of Riley Bean
Six years ago, Riley Bean decided to bring a groove-filled music festival to Southeast Michigan.
The producer, drummer, and DJ launched the Groove On Up festival to spotlight local jam, soul, funk, hip-hop, DJ, and electronic acts on his South Lyon, Michigan farm.
“My personal music taste has always been groove-based as have many of the bands that I’ve been a part of over the years,” said Bean, who hails from Ann Arbor and performs under the artist moniker Beanstalk.
“I was just thinking about the amount of talent that Michigan has to offer and trying to have an accessible camping festival experience that folks can attend locally and not have to drive hundreds of miles for.”
This year’s Groove On Up festival, which runs September 13-15 at Bean’s 14-acre farm, features a mix of returning and new acts on three indoor and outdoor stages, including the new Portal stage. Local visual artists, food vendors, and flow artists/fire performers will also be featured.
Michael Skib features the hypnotic sounds of progressive rock, heavy metal, and shoegaze on “This Bewitching Season.” Photo – Alex Hancock
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulp blog.
For Michael Skib, winter brings a sense of enchantment.
The Ann Arbor singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer feels most creative during the darkest and quietest time of the year.
“It’s the best time for reflection, introspection, and creation because I’m not going to be out and about,” said Skib, who’s also half of the electronic-experimental duo Mirror Monster.
“I do find myself wanting to try and capture the melancholy that I feel because snow and darkness are beautiful. Those are the reasons why I’m drawn toward this type of music.”
That beautiful melancholy is woven throughout Skib’s latest album, This Bewitching Season, which features the hypnotic sounds of progressive rock, heavy metal, and shoegaze.
“I’m a seasonal person in the sense that there are different types of music that I listen to in different types of seasons,” he said. “I’m very sensitive to the way my environment impacts [my writing].”
Alongside those seasonal influences, Skib chronicles a spiritual quest for truth, peace, redemption, and salvation across the album’s nine tracks. His candid lyrics, ethereal vocals, and fearless instrumentation entice listeners to vicariously accompany him on his journey.
“One of my goals with this album was to reconnect with myself … and honor the experiences and where I came from and how I became the person that I am today,” said Skib, who’s inspired by Opeth and Devin Townsend.
“I’ve done a lot of therapy, and one of the therapeutic practices that I found to be very helpful is to go back to your younger years and see situations you were put in.”
I recently spoke to Skib about his background, previous projects, the album’s religious themes, select tracks, his creative process for the album, and upcoming plans for new material.
The Late Station will host a special one-year anniversary show tonight in Ypsilanti.
A special celebration of Ypsilanti’s emerging do-it-yourself (DIY) music culture will take place tonight at The Late Station.
Hosted by After Hours Radio, the 8 p.m. show will commemorate the DIY music venue’s one-year anniversary with a stacked lineup featuring Liquid Thickness, Varsity Letter, Dis Orda, Tequila Deer, and Vest and Tyler.
It’s the ultimate mixed genre show filled with funk, acoustic folk punk, hip hop, post-punk, EDM and chiptune. Eclectic lineups are one of The Late Station’s specialties – the venue accurately reflects the diversity of music, sounds, approaches and performance styles coming from one of Michigan’s brightest music scenes.
“There’s this aspect of community that organically happens here, and it’s been great over this past year seeing similar faces in the same location,” said Greg Hughes, bassist for After Hours Radio, an Ypsilanti-based progressive groove-heavy indie rock trio. “I love seeing so many people coming back to the same stage experiencing different lineups and shows and having so many different talented artists perform here as part of it all.”
Along with bandmates Nate Erickson (vocals, guitar) and Mark Dunne (drums), Hughes started The Late Station in 2018 after performing at University of Michigan co-op open mic nights as a college student and experiencing the Chicago DIY music scene.
“When I was living in Chicago, they have a very vibrant DIY scene there, and there are lots of venues like The Late Station there where they’re not necessarily big houses with students living in them,” Hughes said. “It’s musicians or artists who want to create their own art space specifically devoted to their craft. After I moved back here, I just wanted to recreate that.”
To date, After Hours Radio has hosted 24 shows at The Late Station. For each show, bandmates, friends and volunteers help book shows, promote events, run the door and assist with gear. The band also accepts donations from attendees at each show to help fund shows and other venue-related needs.
For tonight’s show at The Late Station, After Hours Radio is accepting $5 donations to help pay for venue repairs, including the iconic sign by the stage. Donations can be made through PayPal or at the door.
Tonight’s show also allows After Hours Radio fans to embrace the versatile artistry and musicianship of the show’s five special guests. Here’s a quick look at each artist and what they’ll be bringing to tonight’s performance.
Three Michigan bands will go undercover to perform classic tunes Wednesday during a Halloween show at one of Ypsilanti’s burgeoning DIY underground music venues.
“All these bands chose their own covers, and they’ll be doing complete 30-minute cover sets,” said Greg Hughes, the After Hours Radio bassist who co-runs The Late Station with his three bandmates. “I started recruiting bands a little over a month before the show, which is a lot to learn in a short amount of time for a true Halloween costume cover set.”
To get in the Halloween spirit, some bands will wear costumes to impersonate artists while others will come as they are. With costumes and holiday-themed wear, Strange Flavors, The Sneeks and Liquid Thickness will ensure the crowd grooves to spooktacular cover sets.
“We will be encouraging the crowd to wear costumes, that’s kind of the whole idea,” said Hughes, who’s been booking shows at The Late Station since February. “It’s an informal welcoming space that serves as a platform for different kinds of artists and genres.”
The Stratton Setlist 