Tag: Sounds of the Zoo

Living the Dream — Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert Builds Community Through Kalamazoo’s Sounds of the Zoo Music Festival

Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert, founder, curator, and director of Sounds of the Zoo. Courtesy photo.

When it comes to curating a music festival, Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert looks to Willie Nelson.

She remembers watching Nelson and other artists perform during Farm Aid when it aired on TV while she was growing up.

“I never went to it, but somehow, through the TV, it made me feel like there were legitimate people running it,” said Hudson-Prenkert, who’s based in Kalamazoo and is the founder, curator, and director of the Sounds of the Zoo music festival.

“There was something different about Farm Aid from a regular trying-to-make-money music festival. Obviously, we know it’s for farming, but it’s about quality. You get good artists to come in, and the artists want to be there.”

She took that inspiration and ran with it for planning, organizing, and spearheading the inaugural Sounds of the Zoo festival in 2022. The festival was the perfect antidote for reinvigorating local live music coming out of the pandemic.

“I feel like the Farm Aid mentality, to me, was given a mission and had the right people in play. It was the curated invite and not the mentality of saying, ‘You’re not worthy,’” Hudson-Prenkert said.

What resulted is a free-admission festival filled with 50-plus acts performing at eight locations over a week. It also includes music industry workshops and documentary screenings.

“I have different genres of music, and this is a community,” Hudson-Prenkert said. “It’s a mission-driven music festival, so it means all things.”

Hudson-Prenkert is gearing up for the fourth Sounds of the Zoo festival, which runs September 22-28, and features performances from Hannah Laine, Super Dre, Jordan Hamilton, Luke Winslow-King, Louie Lee, Jennifer Westwood and The Handsome Devils, Yolonda Lavender, The Go Rounds, and others.

There’s also a “Push the City Cypher” competition, the premiere of the Kalamazoo Gals documentary, busking stations, and workshops by Maggie Heeren and Chris Simpson.

To learn more, I recently spoke with Hudson-Prenkert about her background and the festival.

Continue reading “Living the Dream — Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert Builds Community Through Kalamazoo’s Sounds of the Zoo Music Festival” →

Sounds Like Michigan — Michigan Music Alliance Celebrates Relaunch With November 23 Fundraiser Show at Grand Rapids’ Wealthy Theatre

Editor’s note as of November 23, 2024: Frontier Ruckus is unable to perform at tonight’s Sounds Like Michigan show due to COVID.

The Michigan Music Alliance is ready to take center stage and shine a spotlight on the state’s music community.

The statewide nonprofit is marking its official relaunch with Sounds Like Michigan, a live music fundraiser taking place November 23 at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“We’ve spent the last year working behind the scenes to set the organization up for long-term success, especially when it comes to the educational programming we provide to Michigan musicians,” said Nicholas James Thomasma, interim executive director of the Michigan Music Alliance. “Now, it’s time to celebrate, and Sounds Like Michigan is a celebration of Michigan music.”

Detroit-Ypsilanti indie-folk-rock trio Frontier Ruckus is headlining the event, which also includes Detroit R&B artist ARI B, Grand Rapids alt-Latin band Cabildo, and Grand Rapids indie-rock band The American Hotel System.

“It’s an eclectic bill with a mix of well-known and up-and-coming artists from both sides of the state,” Thomasma said. “It’s bridging the gap between the two communities and showcasing the collaborative spirit of the Michigan music scene.”

During the show, the Michigan Music Alliance will unveil its programming for 2025 and acknowledge grants awarded for more than $23,000 from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council and the Great Lakes Energy People Fund.

It also will feature a Sounds of the Zoo-hosted silent auction for attendees to bid on exclusive items, including:

In addition, attendees can purchase 50/50 raffle tickets and limited-edition merchandise. Meanwhile, VIP ticket holders will receive a private performance and meet-and-greet with Frontier Ruckus before doors open. All proceeds from the show will go to the Michigan Music Alliance.

Local Spins editor and publisher John Sinkevics will emcee Sounds Like Michigan, which features the West Michigan music website as an event partner along with WYCE (88.1-FM) and Triumph Music Academy. Event sponsors include Our Family, Founders Brewing Co., Studio C, and Tee See Tee.

Tickets for Sounds Like Michigan are on sale now via the Grand Rapids Community Media website. VIP tickets are $100 and general admission tickets are $35.

The Michigan Music Alliance’s Sounds Like Michigan fundraiser show is November 23 at the Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy St. SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Doors are at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. For details, visit the Michigan Music Alliance’s website.

Virtual Airwaves – Brian Maloney Features Michigan Artists and Music on The Sonic Coast

Maloney Music 4
Brian Maloney runs The Sonic Coast, an online radio station that plays Americana, roots and rock music by national and local artists. Photo courtesy of Brian Maloney

In 2014, Brian Maloney instantly reconnected with his hometown and its musical legacy.

The Sonic Coast founder and chief music curator visited the Motor City to attend a Crain’s Detroit Homecoming and started pondering his next life chapter.

“I was in downtown Detroit for a couple of days with the event, and everywhere I looked, I was reminded of what a remarkable place this city and state are in the music industry,” said Maloney, who spent 40 years working in radio and now resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“The following ‘revelation’ about what to do in retirement happened in February of 2020 when I brought The Gasoline Gypsies down to North Carolina for a couple of shows and a media tour.”

The band sold out two shows 700 miles from Port Huron, Michigan and reminded Maloney about the draw of Michigan-made music.

“It became clear I was going to focus everything I had learned over the past 40 years on my two favorite things: Michigan and local music,” Maloney said. “So when I retired, The Sonic Coast was born.”

Today, Maloney oversees the burgeoning online radio station, which plays Americana, rock, folk, country, roots, soul and funk from national and Michigan artists.

“I saw a tremendous opportunity in the state to play local artists (abundant!) on a meaningful platform to give them exposure next to national acts that were getting limited exposure in Michigan. Unfortunately, traditional commercial radio doesn’t invest in/support local artists much anymore,” he said.

“It’s honestly more important than ever for a band to get played and promoted on a platform. Spotify, Pandora and others are simply a database of music for consumers. Sonic Coast plays, promotes and interacts with the artists.”

To learn more about The Sonic Coast, I chatted with Maloney about becoming a DJ, working in radio, taking leadership roles with several stations, growing his new online radio platform, celebrating Michigan artists and music, adding curators and supporting live music.

Continue reading “Virtual Airwaves – Brian Maloney Features Michigan Artists and Music on The Sonic Coast” →

New Moon Songwriting Challenge Facilitates Artist Co-writes and Collaborations in April

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An upcoming songwriting challenge encourages artists to seek out new collaborations with other songsmiths.

Starting April 1, artists can partner with another songwriter (or two) to co-write and enter an original, unreleased song in the inaugural New Moon Songwriting Challenge.

Open to all ages and genres, artists can submit their co-written songs by recording a video of their performance and posting it on Instagram using the hashtag #newmoonsong and tagging the following songwriting challenge sponsors by April 30: Electric Moon Studios (@electricmoonstudiosgr), Chelsea Whitaker Photography (@chelseawhitakerphotography), Sounds of the Zoo (@soundsofthezoo) and Crooked Tree Creative (@crookedtreecreative).

Entrants also must follow all four of those Instagram accounts to participate. The songwriting challenge ends at midnight on April 30, with submissions limited to one entry per artist.

Participants can be from anywhere, but each entry must include a collaboration between at least two or more artists.

“Our hope is that artists have the chance to create something new with someone they might not have collaborated with before,” said Elle Lively, a Grand Rapids, Michigan artist development consultant and collaboration facilitator with Crooked Tree Creative and a songwriting challenge organizer and sponsor.

“The whole purpose of this challenge is to bring artists together who choose to participate in something a little different.”

A panel of judges will review all entries via Instagram and select the grand prize and runner-up winners by May 7.

The grand prize winner will receive a recording session with Electric Moon Studios to record the song, a promo photoshoot with Chelsea Whitaker Photography, a live showcase opportunity with Sounds of the Zoo, a video shoot with Dogtown Studio and an artist consulting session with Crooked Tree Creative.

The runner-up will receive a recording session with Electric Moon Studios, an artist consulting session with Crooked Tree Creative and a promo photoshoot with Chelsea Whitaker Photography.

Songwriting challenge service providers are located in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Michigan, so winners must be willing to travel to redeem the services.

All artists that submit entries will have their songs featured in a social media post. They also will receive a 10-percent discount on related services from select sponsors through October.

For more information, visit Crooked Tree Creative’s Instagram post.