Julianne Ankley understands the numbing effect of a breakup.
The Americana singer-songwriter explores that unexpected sensation and its lasting impact on her latest single, “Polar Train.”
“To me, the song is not so much about the pain of dating the wrong person,” said Ankley, who resides in Port Huron, Michigan. “It’s the aftermath ‘numb’ feeling that can follow post-breakup.”
Backed by bluesy electric guitar and driving instrumentation, she sings, “Those things you did turned me on / You cast your spell, now you’re up and gone / Leavin’ me chilled right to the bone / Didn’t realize that I’d soon be one.”
“At the time that I was writing this song, I was curious and drawn to this very attractive person who I thought might not be the best fit for me,” Ankley said. “It was about the inner struggle of knowing what might result if I let them pursue me.”
The folk singer-songwriter, historian, and storyteller is driven by curiosity and a desire to understand, express, and connect with listeners.
“I want to know something,” said Juno, who lives in Metro Detroit. “I want to say something; I want to feel something. And I want the listener to feel something, too.”
Whether he’s writing and singing about women working in cigar factories or calling for the release of a wrongly imprisoned activist, Juno’s songs hit an emotional and thoughtful mark.
“I’m a topical folk singer with songs often inspired by front-page headlines, historical events, museums, or personal stories shared by everyday people,” he said.
“My music, whether personal or historical, aims to honor the power of storytelling and connect people to both the past and present.”
His engaging stories and songs are best heard in intimate settings, like coffeehouses, taverns, small theaters, and house concerts.
“House concerts are a favorite setting at this stage of my career,” said Juno, who hails from Flint and has been writing and performing since the early ‘80s.
“Intimate and conversational spaces allow me to set up songs, tell their stories, and create memorable, meaningful events with listeners up close.”
I recently spoke with Juno about select songs from his catalog and his upcoming plans.
Kelsey Detering plays her Dream Rio bass. Courtesy photo.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulpblog.
Kelsey Detering has found her groove.
The Ann Arbor indie-rocker recently started playing bass and features new wave-inspired basslines on her four latest singles.
“Musically, I feel like I found myself starting at the end of 2023,” said Detering, who’s traded her previous Ceolsige (pronounced see-ole-sidge) artist moniker for Kelsey. (pronounced Kelsey period).
“I found myself as an artist and as a person, and everything locked in. That’s what happened to me, and I thought, ‘This is so different than Ceolsige, and it feels different.’ I’m hearing music differently since I started playing bass, and I’m writing and approaching it differently.”
Initially a pianist, Detering credits Duran Duran bassist John Taylor with inspiring her to pick up the bass—a Rio Dream bass.
“I learned all the [Duran Duran] basslines and started to branch out to other basslines and players, too,” she said. “That’s really the foundation of my playing. The first [bassline] I wrote was for ‘Throw the Stone,’ and you can hear [John Taylor’s influence] all over that. He was inspired by [Blondie], it’s a thread that goes through it.”
Detering’s including “Throw the Stone” and three other songs on a new Kelsey. EP, which will be released during her July 17 show at Lo-Fi Bar in Ann Arbor.
It features collaborations with singer-songwriter/guitarist Chris DuPont and guitarist/pedal steel guitar player Michael Harrington and drummer Billy Harrington of The Brothers Harrington.
“If you come to the show, you can get this packaged EP of all the singles I’ve released so far,” she said. “‘Wasted’ is the bridge song because half of it was tracked with these singles and the other half was finished in the album sessions.”
In addition to releasing a new self-titled EP, Detering has been working on her full-length debut album for Kelsey. at Ann Arbor’s Solid Sound Recording Company.
“In the fall of 2023, I had a lot happen in my personal life, and it inspired this whole album,” Detering said. “It was a lot of feelings that I had and a lot of new things I had never felt before.”
I recently spoke with Detering about her latest projects ahead of her show.
The Detroit singer-songwriter and guitarist reconciles the past and embraces the future on The Time That Remains.
“I feel like I know these songs the best,” said Ward about his new folk album. “When I released The Darkness and The Light, most of those songs I knew as well as these. I feel like these songs are a lot closer to me than anything I’ve done.”
For his seventh release, Ward gets up close and personal about love, loss, and wisdom across the album’s dozen tracks. He spent considerable time fine-tuning the album’s evocative lyrics, heartfelt vocals, and earnest instrumentation before going into the studio last fall.
“This is unlike any album I’ve done because the songs have been performed out more than any of my other albums,” Ward said.
“When we recorded it, we produced 15 songs, but we trimmed it back because we felt these were the songs that hung together [the best]. At one point, we had a working title called Prayers, Parables, and Pet Peeves, and those are the buckets [the songs] fell into.”
Tom Alter explores the passage of time on “Under the Firmament.” Photo – Jay Jylkka
The passage of time weighs heavily on Tom Alter’s mind.
The Fraser, Michigan, singer-songwriter examines lessons from the past while addressing challenges of the present and future onUnder the Firmament.
“When I write, I usually write songs about things that are staying in my mind for a while,” said Alter about his latest indie-folk-rock album.
“It can be issues or life events that are sticking with me, and I can’t let go. Time is an aspect of it, and I think it is just living and the common experiences that we all have.”
Alter chronicles those experiences through nine perceptive tracks, which feature contemplative lyrics, haunting guitars, and atmospheric instrumentation.
“At my age, I’m even writing more about time now on the songs I’ve been writing since then,” he said. “I think the theme will continue into my next album and project. I think it’s … trying to grapple with life and how it impacts us as individuals and as a community.”
The Ann Arbor singer-songwriter follows her instincts and unleashes her authentic self on Wild in Me.
“It’s been a big journey,” said Merritt, aka Jess Oberholtzer, about her new folk-rock-soul EP.
“Over the past five years or so … I went through a divorce, the pandemic, and coming out. It’s been a real transformative time. I look back, and I’m so grateful that I took those steps because I feel so much closer to my true self now. Even though things are a little bit scary as far as what the future holds, I just feel solid in myself.”
Merritt embraces that bold mindset through an honest and inspirational collection of songs about self-discovery, growth, and freedom. The four tracks on Wild in Me come to life through soulful vocals, cathartic lyrics, and soaring instrumentation.
“I tend to write about things that are closely held and deeply felt,” said Merritt, who previously performed as Jess McCumons.
“I feel happier after I feel something intensely, even if it’s challenging. To me, revisiting and sitting in those feelings, even if they’re not sunshiny all the time, actually does feel very healing, cleansing, and empowering.”
The Ann Arbor, Michigan singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist searches for clarity and purpose on his new country album, A Home in My Heart.
“It’s not all autobiographical, but I like to think that it’s all feelings I have had,” Edwards said. “I think the idea of hope is important, even if it’s hard to find in these times right now, but it’s something that you have to hold yourself to.”
He shares that sentiment over 10 introspective tracks, which explore taking risks, overcoming obstacles, and having a positive attitude.
“It’s been 18 months since I’ve released anything, so that seems like a decent interval,” said Edwards, who last released So Far in October 2023.
“It’s not like right on the heels of the last one. It’s only 10 songs—this record. I tried to constraint myself; I actually said, ‘I’m gonna do 10 tracks,’ and then I kept writing and recording. I switched in and out a couple, and I played it for my wife and got her input. I played it for some other people and got some input, so this is where I ended up.”
Edwards landed nicely with A Home in My Heart due to its seamless storytelling, infectious lyrics, and upbeat instrumentation. Sonically, the album includes timeless elements of country wrapped in heartland rock, blues, and folk.
“It’s a limited palette compared to some [previous albums],” said Edwards, who plays all the instruments on the album. “That was another intentional thing. I really wanted the record to have a sound rather than going off in all kinds of different directions.”
I recently spoke with Edwards about the inspiration and creative process behind the album.
Claudia Hoyser features empathetic lyrics and earnest instrumentation on “Girl in Blue.” Photo – Justin Hammond
Claudia Hoyser wants people to feel seen and heard after a breakup.
The country singer-songwriter shares that sentiment while processing heartbreak on her single, “Girl in Blue.”
“There are so many people out there that are doing that every day and putting on a strong face for everyone else,” said Hoyser, who’s from Rochester, New York. “I wanted to give like a ‘Hey, hello, I see you’ to people that are feeling that way.”
Hoyser gives that sonic nod to listeners through empathetic lyrics and earnest instrumentation. Backed by atmospheric electric guitar and hopeful acoustic guitar, she sings, “Looks like a real good time / Laughing over her glass of white wine / Crazy how nobody can tell that she’s dying inside.”
“It’s saying, ‘Oh my god, I can’t even face people right now. I’m so heartbroken, I don’t want to go. I don’t want to get out there,’” Hoyser said. “But you have to put on your strong face and prove to yourself and everybody else that you can still keep going, even though what you actually feel is completely broken and alone.”
To learn more, I spoke with Hoyser about her music and background ahead of a March 14 show at Black Crystal Café in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Lilly MacPhee closes a difficult chapter and finds catharsis on “This Too Shall Pass.” Photo courtesy of the artist.
Lilly MacPhee knows moments of heartbreak and disappointment are fleeting.
The Detroit singer-songwriter acknowledges those emotions and their ephemeral impact on her latest indie-folk single, “This Too Shall Pass.”
“It was the first song I had written when I moved back from Nashville, and it was an accumulation of everything I had been through over the years. When I was living in Nashville, my best friend Jackie [Pappas] and I would talk on the phone several times a day,” said MacPhee, who briefly relocated to Nashville in 2023.
“I would vent to her, or she would vent to me about something. But when I would vent to her, she would always say, ‘Lilly, this too shall pass,’ and it [stayed] with me. And then I thought, ‘That sounds like a song. Thank you, Jackie.’”
On “This Too Shall Pass,” MacPhee closes that difficult chapter and finds catharsis in family and friends. Comforted by serene acoustic guitar, she sings, “I kissed lips that spoke lies / Met grief eye to eye / Cried to the ones who cared / When silence was too much to bear.”
“Songwriting itself is like therapy—it’s how I view it. You get everything out and it makes you feel better. A song like that is bittersweet,” she said.
“You hope people don’t relate to it, but you’re OK if they do because it’s a comforting feeling for them to know that they’re not the only ones experiencing heartbreak, grief, or whatever else they might be going through in life.”
The folk-jazz singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist felt inspired to create one after seeing a revue with daughter Grace Hazlett at Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester, Michigan.
“She was working at the theatre and would get us free tickets sometimes, and we went to a revue of ‘30s and ‘40s songs. There’s no dialogue, no plot—they’re just doing these songs—and I just had a great time,” said Hazlett, who’s from Waterford.
“I was thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun as a songwriter to try and write a revue of songs like this in that style?’ And that’s an oxymoron because it wouldn’t be a revue, but that idea was kicking around in my head.”
What resulted is Calling Winston, an original musical Hazlett co-wrote with Grace Hazlett, a theater professional. It revolves around Winston Coleman, a fictional Tin Pan Alley songwriter and jazz musician who spent most of his career trying to get his songs featured in Hollywood musicals.
At age 85, Coleman reflects on his life and career while spending time with J.P., his great-nephew. During their visits, J.P. learns about Coleman’s past and the nation’s history through several references to famous Hollywood musicals.
While Calling Winston takes place in 1990, the musical’s 20 songs span nearly three decades—from 1929 to 1956—with the final song being Coleman’s latest creation.
“I needed to come up with someone who wrote the songs because it couldn’t be me,” Hazlett said. “I had to come up with a fictional songwriter, and I came up with this guy, Winston Coleman, and started filling in his details.”
The show will feature Hazlett performing the musical’s songs in a concert format with narrator/singer-songwriter Marty Kohn and singer-songwriter Amy Petty.
“Grace is gonna come up here [from Cincinnati], and [she’s] gonna do some costumes and dress us,” Hazlett said. “I’m playing all the instruments and doing the male vocals, and Amy is doing the female vocals. We’re going to have a [visual presentation] by Wolf Tytschkowski and Margaret Hazlett to show credits, photos, and movie posters. It’s going to enhance the experience.”
To learn more, I spoke with Hazlett about Calling Winston ahead of the show.
The Stratton Setlist 